The Telegraph & Argus celebrates its 150th anniversary this year and in honour of the occasion we are printing a story from our archives every day for 150 days.

Today we look at the Telegraph & Argus, Wednesday 27 May 1936: With grey skies and gangways covered with white canvas two thousand passengers had gathered to cheer on the Queen Mary on her maiden voyage to New York. Every hotel bedroom was full, and the streets were lined with fresh flowers to welcome the spectators. The man of the hour however was Bradford’s very own Sir Edgar Britten, born in Rand Street, Great Horton in 1894. Leaving the area at the age of six, he was one of the few skippers who sailed with a master’s certificate in sail and steam. At the time of the announcement of his appointment as commander of the great Cunard-White Star liner in 1935 a “Telegraph and Argus” reporter spent two or three hours in his old neighbourhood endeavouring to trace anyone who remembered the lad, but with little success. Captain Britten was not the only local connection attached to the Queen Mary, one of the engineers in charge of the wonderful machinery was a former Bingley boy, Mr. William Garnett, son of Robert William Garnett, of Church Hill, Baildon, a well-known resident of Bingley and prominent golfer. Queen Mary had been the flagship of the Cunard Line from May 1936 until October 1946 before being replaced by the Queen Elizabeth.