History of Britt Brothers Boat Builders
Chester L. (1866-1945) and Andrew B. (1869-1941) Britt, sons of a Harpswell, Maine, boatbuilder, moved to Lynn, Massachusetts in the 1880s and opened their first boatbuilding shop in 1902. Building first dorries, then yachts, the company gradually expanded, reaching its peak in the early 1930s. A fire in 1934 destroyed their West Lynn shop, but they continued to operate from their branch boatyards in Lynn, Saugus and Revere. Their clients included not only the wealthy, but also the U.S. government, for which they constructed patrol boats.
Scope and Contents of the Papers
The Records of the Britt Brothers Boat builders consist primarily of newspaper clippings concerning the history of the company, the deaths of its founders, and various yachts launched by the company. The correspondence, dated after the deaths of the original Britt Brothers, comes from yacht owners researching vessels constructed by the Britts. The papers also include letterhead, timecards, and business cards for the company, as well as an early brochure or annual report. A copy of a Britt family portrait is also part of the collection, as is a catalog for marine supplies, which contains hand written notations.
Restrictions
Restrictions on Access
Available for use in the Manuscripts Division.
Restrictions on Use
Various copying restriction apply. Guidelines are available from the Manuscripts Division.
Index Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the G. W. Blunt White Library. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Persons:
Britt, Andrew B. (1869-1941)
Britt, Chester L. (1866-1945)
Corporate Bodies (Including Vessels):
Britt Brothers Boat Builders
Venture (Sloop)
Places:
Lynn (Mass.)
Revere (Mass.)
Saugus (Mass.)
Subjects:
Boatbuilding
Yachts
Document Types:
Business cards
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
Commercial catalogs
Correspondence
Letterheads
Photographs
Time cards
Occupations:
Boatbuilders
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Administrative Information
Coll. 316, Manuscripts Collection, G. W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc.
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
| Records of the Britt Brothers Boat Builders; 1913-1990 | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Correspondence; 1951-1960 (10 items) | |||||||||||
| 2 | Clippings; 1926-1928 (5 items) | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Clippings; 1934-1939 (14 items) | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Clippings; 1940-1945 (5 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Clippings; 1959, 1964 (2 items) | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Clippings; n.d. (14 items) | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Clippings; n.d. (8 items) | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Clippings about Sloop VENTURE; 1937, 1990, n.d. (10 items) | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Copy of daguerreotype of Britt family; c. 1880s (1 item) | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Britt Brothers letterhead, time cards, business cards; c. 1919, 1930, n.d. (33 pieces) | ||||||||||||
| 11 | A.S. Morss Company Marine Hardware catalog with notations; 1913 (1 vol.) | ||||||||||||