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This book approaches the well-documented study of European mass migration to the United States of America from the viewpoint of mass migration as a business venture. The overall purpose is to demonstrate that maritime and migration histories are interlinked and dependent on a deeper understanding of the social, economic, and political factors at work in the nineteenth century Atlantic community. It centres on both the evolution of the port of Rotterdam as a migration gateway, and the crucial role of the Holland-America line as a regulator of the North American passenger trade. The first part of the book explores the simultaneous rise of transatlantic mass migration and long-distance steamshipping between 1830 to 1870. The second part, divided into five chapters, explores how mass migration became a big business between 1870 and 1914, and scrutinises how steamship companies organised and provided initiatives for transoceanic migration, plus the role of shipping agents and agent-networks, and how passenger services were constructed within transatlantic networks. Over the course of the text it becomes increasingly clear that by approaching mass migration as a trade issue, the role of steamship companies in the facilitation of transatlantic migration is rendered both intrinsic and pivotal. It consists of an introduction containing contextual information, two sections providing historical overviews, five chapters exploring different aspects of the shipping industry’s response to mass migration, conclusion, bibliography, and six appendices of passenger, destination, agent, and advertising statistics.

This work is a reprint of a 1962 book, British Shipping and World Competition, by maritime economist Dr S. G. Sturmey. It seeks to explain why the tonnage of ships registered in the United Kingdom declined from forty-five percent of the world total in 1900, to sixteen percent by 1960. It presents four possible answers and proceeds to examine them in detail: changes in approaches to competition resulting in changes to the economic structure of the industry; international interference in competitive structures; unrelated factors, such as government policies that didn’t directly concern shipping but still caused an impact; and the internal actions within British shipping relating to changes in industrial circumstances. It is comprised of fifteen chapters, an appendix tabling the contribution of British shipping to the balance of payments, a bibliography, comprehensive index, epilogue, and a foreword from the series editor which states that the Sturmey’s arguments remain resonant in the field of maritime history in the present day. Sturmey makes a particular effort to place the activity in the British shipping industry into an international context for the sake of comparative analysis. It concludes that the decline of the industry was primarily due to internal decision-making rather than external factors - a conclusion that was considered divisive and provocative upon initial release, but has stood the test of time. The epilogue attempts to predict the future of British shipping post-1960, suggesting shipowners could improve the industry’s prospects: however, few of these predictions came to be.

This study explores the history of tramp-shipping in the United Kingdom, between 1750 and 1914. It defines ‘tramp’ as steamships exclusively hulled with iron or steel. The purpose of the journal is to keep the history of tramp-shipping from fading into obscurity, as the author believes the tramp steamer does not invoke sentimentality nor provide enough glamour to sustain the same level of maritime interest enjoyed by sailing ships or ocean liners. The study is split into four major sections, the first concerning tramp-shipping, ownership, and capital formation; the second concerning trade, specifically copper ore and African guano; the third studies tramp seamen - particularly sea masters; and the final and largest section considers individual tramp-shipping regions, further subdivided by region - Wales, the Northwest, the West Country, the Northeast, the Southeast, and Canada. The volume is punctuated with statistics, tables, charts, glossaries, and concludes with a bibliography of author Robin Craig’s further maritime writing.

This book provides a comprehensive economic history of the British Whaling Trade, divided into two eras of significant technological difference. The first part concerns the traditional whaling trades that structured the industry for three centuries, from 1604-1914. The second part concerns the modern whaling trade between the years 1904-1963, characterised by technological advance and tremendous international competition. Gordon Jackson approaches the enormous subject of British Whaling from the perspectives of both the national economy of Britain, and the international whaling industry as a whole. The book consults official statistical material to determine the size and performance of various whaling fleets; eye-witness accounts and state papers for the early history of the trade; log books, and trade and customs records for the eighteenth century; and the documents of the Southern Whaling Company, Salvesen, and Unilever for insights into the modern whaling period. The book concludes with appendices containing statistical data concerning whale oil, whale stocks, and the price of goods, two bibliographies of further reading, and a conclusion that free competition and market demand simply exhausted whale stocks beyond any possibility of restoration.

This volume concerns the history of the Australian port of Fremantle, located on the edge of Western Australia and the Indian Ocean, throughout the hundred years of frequent changes to its structure and function between 1897 and 1997. Tull’s aim is to use Fremantle as a prime example of the complex network of a Port, as a community and a place of vast and varied maritime business endeavours. He seeks to erase the perception of ports as ‘passive links in the international transport chain’ in order to draw ports to the attention and further research of maritime historians. The chapters are arranged thematically rather than chronologically, and includes statistical appendices, a bibliography, and an index, for ease of navigation.

This book is a collection of sixty interviews with key figures in British shipbuilding, ship repair, and marine engine-building industries across the United Kingdom, plus government and civil service members in the sector from the 1960s to the 1980s. The aim of the project is to understand the economic, social, and political environment of the shipping industry from the perspective of those who worked in it. The interviews place the twentieth century decline of British shipbuilding into a firm context. The topics covered include international competition (a recurring, pertinent theme); labour difficulties; industry modernisation; the attitude of shipowners; the strong belief in traditional methods which kept many of those in the industry from recognising the cheaper, faster, and better quality work taking place overseas and leaving Britain behind; ship production and production control; the postwar boom; shipyard overcrowding; the decline of the domestic industry in favour of the international; marketing weaknesses; trade disputes and trade unions; and nationalisation and privatisation concerns. Opinions and viewpoints often conflict, particularly between the perspectives of those working within the industry and the civil servants working outside of it, but the interviews are presented as a unit, and the reader is encouraged to draw their own conclusion. The result is a unique historical archive that offers a multitude of firsthand perspectives on the British shipping decline, open to interpretation by historians and future researchers. It includes a preface, introduction, and select bibliography. The interviews are grouped together by location and role.

This journal comprises the edited diaries of Canadian seafarer, Joseph Salter, arranged chronologically from 1839 through to 1899, chronicling the many voyages of his career. He took employment with John Leander Starr, a Halifax Merchant, between 1839 and 1841, then moved into ship owning and the purchase of the Moncton, New Brunswick shipyard in 1846. The mid-nineteenth century was a difficult time for shipping, and Salter declared bankruptcy in 1858. He continued to work in maritime industries but gradually moved toward landward business and politics, as shipping went into decline. The diaries provide a comprehensive view of the life of ship-owner, shipbuilder, ship’s agent, and shipbroker during the age of sail. The diaries are introduced by editor Nancy Ross, great-granddaughter of Salter. Chapter 1 serves as Salter’s introduction, Chapters 2 through 16 record his various voyages: to British Guiana; Jamaica; Sierra Leone; Grenada; and his maritime business dealings and later life. Interspersed with his diaries are collections of his letters and several of his renderings of ships and boats. Appendix 1 lists the vessels under his ownerships; Appendix 2 concerns patent applications; Appendix 3 details his genealogy; and Appendix 4 gives a history of the Moncton Shipyard in New Brunswick.

John Holt (1841-1915) was a successful British merchant who made several voyages to West Africa during his lifetime to establish business and trade in the era of British Imperialism. His diaries are presented in two accounts; the first, from 1862-1872, documents his life as a merchant on the West African island of Fernando Po, initially working for James Lynslager and eventually purchasing the trade company and expanding it significantly. Holt’s own vessel, Maria, and his affiliation with the African Steam Ship Company, made his maritime trade activities particularly succssful. The second account records his voyage in the Maria from Liverpool to Fernando Po in 1869-1872, and documents his trade relationships across West Africa. The volume is rounded out by diary entries from the ten-day voyage of the Peep o’Day along the Krou coast, and concludes with John Holt’s family tree. This volume presents a comprehensive account of Holt’s life as a means of preserving history and adding to the field of study of mercantile livliehoods and shipping trade industries under British imperialism. It also seeks to celebrate the individual accomplishments made in John Holt’s career.

This book is a reprint of Jaap R. Bruijn’s 1993 book, The Dutch Navy, which offers an English-language overview of the history of the Dutch Navy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is divided into three chronological periods: the ‘old’, ‘new’, and ‘second-rate’ navy. Rather than presenting a history of naval conflict, this volume approaches Dutch naval history from the following four angles: operations, administration, officer duties, and sailor duties. It consists of a series foreword, a new introduction detailing recent developments in naval historiography, the original introduction providing a history of Dutch maritime history from the middle ages to the beginning of the seventeenth century, a conclusion, and a bibliography and index. It explores the astounding amount of naval power belonging to such a sparsely populated nation, plus the rapid rates of success and decline. It confirms that the Dutch navy - with its logic, innovation, and missteps alike - provides an excellent case study of both the development of European bureaucracy and armed forces in the Early Modern period.

The book combines the approaches of maritime history and ecological science to explore the evolution of life-forms and eco-systems in the ocean from a historical perspective, in order to establish and develop the sub-discipline of marine environmental history. Documentary records relating to the human activity, such as fishing, plus naturally occurring paleo-ecological data are analysed in order to determine the structure and function of exploited ecosystems. The book is divided into four chapter groups, the first concerned with Newfoundland and Grand Banks’ fisheries, the second with the potential of historical sources to provide a history of marine animal populations, the third explores the development of fisheries in the southern hemisphere during the twentieth century, and the final section explores the limitations of data and existing analysis of whale populations. The epilogue reiterates the suggestion that collaboration between historians and biologists is the key to furthering the sub-discipline.

This volume is dedicated to Maritime Business History, by means of commemorating the career of Professor Peter Neville Davies, a prominent member of the Economic and Social History department of the University of Liverpool (a career spanning the dates 1964-1992). The volume is divided into four sections. The first is a tribute and appreciation of Professor Davies, which also acts as an introduction to his work for unfamiliar readers. The second section focuses on business aspects of British maritime history, with particular attention to the impact of British shipping overseas, and the rise and decline of ship building industries. The third section is specific to Liverpool and Merseyside, and explores the local maritime history of the area, including trade with the Mediterranean, local shipbuilding, the Mersey port system, and nautical archaeology. The final section explores subjects within international maritime history, particularly within Norway and America. All essays and topics covered aim to collectively and significantly develop the field of maritime business history, and all are directly related to Professor Davies’ academic interests, as a means of celebrating Professor Davies own accomplishments during his career. The journal concludes with a comprehensive bibliography of Professor Davies’ work.

This book is concerned with the role played by the sea transport industries in the development of global markets. It claims that the sea transport industry in fundamentally intrinsic to the political and economic interactions between nations. It seeks to demonstrate that the elements of shipping, internationalisation, and globalisation are intertwined. The purpose of this journal is to trace the development and examine the consequences of globalisation as it relates to maritime history. The four main issues under consideration are:- information networks and cooperation in transoceanic shipping; the expansion of markets; technological change; and the adaptability of entrepreneurs, institutions, and nation states to changing business environments. Geographically, the focus of the contributing essays splits between Europe and Japan.

This book maintains that container shipping is vital to the actualisation of globalisation, and that without it, globalisation would remain a concept rather than reality. It argues that container shipping has been academically overlooked as a global business sector in favour of more prominent sectors such as oil or arms trade, and aims to provide a complete history of containerisation from the 1950s to the turn of the millennium. This history explores the growth of the container industry due to prominent innovation in vessel design, early adoption of the internet, large international mergers, and significant physical alterations to the global port system. With particular emphasis on the east-west trade, the chapters cover the growth and development of the container industry, to the social changes experienced by seafaring labour forces, the cultural impact of the container - bringing a domineering land-presence to maritime activity, through to the environmental concerns surrounding the industry. The study is not a quantitative economic analysis of the industry, rather, an updated history that strives to demonstrate the importance of transport infrastructures to any consideration of global business sectors, by providing evidence of the container industry’s stimulation of the global economy.

This book is an in-depth case study of the Furness Withy and Co Shipping Group, which operated both tramp and liner services and was one of the five major British shipping groups of the early twentieth century. It demonstrates how British shipowners of this period generated success by exploring Christopher Furness’ career in relation to the social, political, and cultural currents during a time of tremendous shipping growth in Britain and the establishment of some of the largest shipping firms in the world. It approaches the study from three angles. The first analyses how the Furness Group expanded its shipping activities and became involved with the industrial sector. The second illustrates the organisational and financial structure of the enterprise. Finally, the Group’s leadership and entrepreneurship is scrutinised and placed within the wider context of twentieth century British business. The case study begins in 1870, with an introduction explaining how Christopher Furness came to join the family company, Thomas Furness and Co. in order develop services, expand, and instigate the changes and mergers that brought the Furness Group into existence. There are thirteen chronologically presented chapters, a bibliography, and seven appendices of data including an ownership timeline, tonnage statistics, acquisitions, a list of maritime associates, and a timeline of Christopher Furness’ life. The book concludes in 1919 with the de-merging of the Furness Group’s shipping and industrial holdings, the resignation of the Furness family from the company’s board, the sale of their shares, and the move into managing the firm’s industrial interests.

This guide covers the following major collections hosted at the Merseyside Maritime Museum:- records deposited or presented under the 1958 Public Records Act; official organisations, including the Merseyside Docks and Harbour Board (MDHB), antecedents, and successors; shipping and trade associations; and shipowners. Other, smaller categories are published in the accompanying Part II (Vol 17 of Research in Maritime History, ISBN: -0-9681288-7-4) and together they form a comprehensive catalogue of contents. The guide summarises each collections as follows:- a brief historical introduction; a list of main items; an archival code; a datespan; a quantity of records; and a reference to any key printed sources held in the museum’s Reading Room. The museum archives are made up of crucial maritime documentation and are an invaluable resource for maritime historians. The museum focuses primarily on Liverpool due to its previous status as the second major port of the United Kingdom, it also houses a great deal of national and international records in a vast variety of media.

This guide follows the Guide to the Records of Merseyside Maritime Museum Volume I (Vol 8 of Research in Maritime History, ISBN: -0-9695885-7-7) and covers the remaining collections hosted at the Merseyside Maritime Museum relating to a wide variety of subjects:- merchants; shipbuilding; slavery; emigration; maritime families; maritime charities; seafarers; the Titantic; and the Lusitania. This guide follows the same format as the previous:- a brief historical introduction; a list of main items; an archival code; a datespan; a quantity of records; and a reference to any key printed sources held in the museum’s Reading Room. The subjects are broken down into ten thematic chapters, for ease of navigation.

This book is a collection of ten essays concerning various aspects of ports, port towns, and port history, by means of tribute to the maritime historian, Gordon Jackson. The volumes begins with an appreciation of Gordon Jackson’s career, and concludes with a bibliography of his published work. The first four essays concern British ports - Hull, Liverpool, and Dumfries in particular - and the remaining six concern international ports - a wide range stretching across the ports of Fremantle, Yokohama, Dubai, and Bremen. The essays cover topics such as politics and port management; port development throughout history; post-war port development; individual case studies; the construction of artificial ports; and port policies.

This book presents an in-depth study of the impact of the steamship on Britain during its first forty years, roughly between 1810 and 1850. It relates the early steamship to several industrial themes including diffusion; construction; modernisation; the role of government - particularly the difficult attempt to align laissez-faire politics with the greater need for public safety measures due to technological advance; business and finance; plus public reaction and tourism. The aim is to establish the significance of the steamship as a conduit of modernisation and societal change. It consists of a foreword, introduction, and fourteen chapters devoted to specific themes, structured to ensure each chapters build on the preceding chapter’s progress. Collectively, they demonstrate that the development of both experience and enterprise with steam power both gained and refined during this period made the mid-century expansion of steamship technology across Britain possible. Ultimately, it establishes that steamship services began to adapt to oceanic routes, steam began to integrate into the world economy, and the age of sail began to draw to a close.

This study provides a history of the Port of Liverpool between 1905 and 1938, during its decline. It is particularly interested in the history of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, Liverpool’s enormous and sole port authority. Adrian Jarvis contrasts the decision-making process of the Board with the financial history of the docks, in attempt to evaluate the Board successes and failures. The study accounts for and explores the factors which contributed to the decline of Liverpool’s shipping industry, with topics ranging from the growth of railways, the advances in shipping technology, the success of commercial liners, to the Great Depression and Great War. The study is complemented with an appendix exploring the efficiency of ports; a bibliography; a note on the sources; an index; and a conclusion that asserts the overall merit of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board when considering the tremendous and often unpredictable challenges the Board faced, such as wartime disruption.

This book compiles seven essays concerning changes to merchant shipping over the hundred and fifty years between 1850 and 2000, and spanning a range of countries, with particular focus on Norway, Greece, Japan, and England. The essays are linked by the theme of change: from traditional to modern shipping; in fluctuating cargo demands; from sail to steam; wood to iron; in improvements in communication technologies; in political natures and affiliations; in seafaring skillsets; in the advent of containerisation and advent of globalisation. The overall aim is to construct a solid international context for the merchant shipping industry in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries - primarily to aid a major Norwegian deep-sea merchant marine project. The book contains an introduction that sets out these aims, and seven essays by maritime historians which form part of the international contextual whole, though all can be approached individually.