Captain Hayward was an English sailor. He was in command of the first ferry to cross the English Channel from Folkestone to Boulogne-sur-Mer in June 1843.
In June 1843, because of difficulties with Dover harbour, the South Eastern Railway company developed Boulogne-sur-Mer-Folkestone route as an alternative to Calais-Dover. The first ferry crossed under the command of Captain Hayward.
On the day of the inauguration, a special train left London at 6 a.m. The distance of 82 miles from London to Folkestone was covered in 2 hours and 40 minutes. The ferry, under the command of Captain Hayward was boarded by the party which included several members of parliament and reached Boulogne at 12:30 p.m.
After a reception by the authorities in Boulogne, after 2 hours and 10 minutes the ferry left port still under Captain Hayward's command. The ferry reached Folkestone at 6:30 p.m. and the train arrived in London at 10:05 p.m.
The crossing is considered to be the first one day roundtrip from London across the English Channel.
To honour the event, English rosarian Henry Bennett named a rose cultivar after Captain Hayward.
Famous quotes containing the word captain:
“Do you know who’s sneaked into my stateroom at three o’clock this morning? Nobody, and that’s my complaint!”
—S.J. Perelman, U.S. screenwriter, Arthur Sheekman, Will Johnstone, and Norman Z. McLeod. Groucho Marx, Monkey Business, a complaint shipboard stowaway Groucho makes to the ship’s captain (Ben Taggart)