IN October, Miller & Miller Auctions sold an 1859 watercolour painting completed by former Port Dover resident and ship captain Alexander McNeilledge for $24,780.

An article written by Phil Ross of Port Dover for Miller Times offers insight into the stories behind the work and its creator.

Mr. Ross writes that Capt. McNeilledge was born in Greenock, Scotland, in 1791. At the age of eight, he sailed to Newfoundland with his father, who was a ship captain. After working as a cabin boy and log keeper, the younger Capt. McNeilledge followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a captain at age 30.

“As such, Capt. McNeilledge travelled the world, and his exploits are the stuff of seafaring legend,” Mr. Ross writes.

“He was shipwrecked on Long Island in 1807, saw the Duke of Wellington in Lisbon, [and] even caught a glimpse of deposed French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in exile on the island of St. Helena in 1817.

“Capt. McNeilledge covered vast swaths of the globe, sailing to ports as far afield as China. He ran a naval blockade off Buenos Aires and endured robbery and plunder at the hands of pirates on the storied Spanish Main.”

Eventually, Capt. McNeilledge made Port Dover his home. In the 1840s, he started creating navigational maps and charts of Lake Erie for fellow sailors, which Mr. Ross writes “were widely used until the early 20th century.”

“His journal filled a need, for without the captain’s well-observed navigational instructions and maps, many more vessels would undoubtedly have joined the underwater fleet,” he writes.

Later in his life, Capt. McNeilledge took up drawing or painting ships as gifts for visiting sailors, friends, family, and neighbours.

“The drawings were often personalized by naming the ship after the wife, the mast after the husband, and smaller vessels after the children. Most were accompanied by captions depicting fanciful and fictitious voyages, and many were inscribed with humorous autobiographical comments, such as ‘Captain Alex McNeilledge—76 years—Use no specks—Chew no tobacco—Take only a wee drop as required.’”

Mr. Ross writes that the painting sold in October was presented to Mrs. John English in August 1859. He describes the watercolour and ink work as being “in excellent condition, with strong colours.”

“It would have been something to have been at that August 1859 dinner to witness firsthand when [Capt.] McNeilledge presented this lovely gift to his hostess, Mrs. John English. It was surely a grand evening with the captain entertaining everyone with stories of his many adventures travelling the world. No doubt he had quite a lot to talk about,” Mr. Ross writes.

The inscription on the painting’s verso reads: “To Mrs. John English from Capt. Alex McNeilledge of Greenock farm Woodhouse CW near Port Dover, Lake Erie. Done at Nanticoke, August 13th, 1859.”

“This work depicts the clipper ship Ann and the clipper brig Ann Elizabeth accompanied by the Helena and pilot boat Thomas with the notations ‘Clipper Ship Ann, John English Master, from Europe with an assorted Cargo & Choice Liquors for Walpole. Consigned to Sam Innes Esq. Nanticoke C.W. about taking a Pilot …’ and ‘Clipper Brig Ann Elizabeth, William English Master, leaving her Pilot for Australia.’”

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Originally published January 7, 2026