G.K. Stothert & Co

The Bristol offshoot of the Bath-based company which later became Stothert & Pitt had been set up in St Phillips in 1837 by Henry Stothert (as Henry Stothert & Co.) with the hope of gaining orders from the Great Western Railway.^[1] Edward Slaughter became a partner in 1840, resulting in the company being renamed Stothert, Slaughter & Co. By 1843 they had diversified into shipbuilding, producing two 105 ton iron screw steamers named Avon and Severn which were built for running between Newport and Bristol.^[2][3][4] The shipbuilding part of the company moved to Hotwells in January 1852, taking over the Hotwells shipyard that had previously been operated as George Lunell & Co. The yard already had some experience of building steam engines and iron hulled ships. Stothert, Slaughter & Co. launched their first ship from this site (the Juno) in May 1853^[5]. The shipyard was officially known as the Clifton Marine Engineering and Iron Shipbuilding Works.^[2] With Henry Stothert retiring and control passing to his nephew George Kelson Stothert (who had served an apprenticeship under Edward Slaughter) in 1854, it then separated from the parent company . Partnerships were formed with Ernest Theophilus Fripp (between 1854 and 1856),^[6] Frederick James Dickinson (briefly during 1856),^[7] and George Priestly Marten (1859–1863);^[8] after that, G. K. Stothert held sole control until 1899.^[9] When he died in 1908, the business was established as a limited company carrying his name.^[10][11] The business remained in operation under his name until 1933,^[4] although shipbuilding stopped in 1904.^[2][3] The railway works part of the company eventually became Avonside Engine Company.

A fire occurred at the yard in 1893; later correspondence states that this destroyed the company's records to that date.^[12]

After G. K. Stothert died, the obituary written by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers noted that he "...was one of the pioneers of iron shipbuilding in this country".^[13]

In 1852, the company started leasing an existing shipyard adjacent to the Cumberland Basin that was owned by the Society of Merchant Venturers. The premises had been used by George Lunnell between 1834 and 1851.^[14] The site consisted of slipways, Hotwells Dry Dock (now Pooles Wharf Marina) and Merchant's Dock^[15] (now filled in, although the old entrance is still visible).

In 1897, part of the site was sold by the Merchant Venturers (despite protests from G.K. Stothert) to the Great Western Railway to allow a line to be built to Canon's Marsh;^[16] these works restricted access to the shipyard from Hotwell Road and reduced the size of Merchant's Dock.

The company opened a branch at Sharpness during 1878^[17], although this may have been quite short lived. The company opened an Avonmouth branch shortly after the completion of the Royal Edward Dock in 1909^[18], which was in operation until at least 1920. This was housed in a building to the north of the Dry Dock.

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Several large vessels were built within the first few years of operation, including the Scamander,^[19] Meander^[20] and Araxes,^[21] ranging between 780 and 1156 tons and being built in 1854 and 1855 for the Moss Line of Liverpool.^[2][3] Scamander and Meander were chartered by the French Government for service during the Crimean War, and G.K. Stothert also went to Crimea during 1855.^[22]

The company became known for producing river and canal tugs. They built thirteen used by or on behalf of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal Company and it successors. This commenced with an initial order for three for their haulage contractor in 1860 (Moss Rose, 1860,^[9] Mayflower, 1861^[23] and Violet, 1862^[9]) and ended with a final order for two for the Severn & Canal Carrying Company in 1904 (Active and Victor)^[2][24] which are believed to be the final vessels launched by G.K. Stothert.^[25] In addition to the thirteen, the Danks, Venn and Sanders tug Pioneer was used by its owners on the Canal from 1858 onwards^[26] and may have passed into the hands of the Canal Company at a later date.

The only timber vessel recorded as being launched by the company was the sailing ship Rebecca Mary, launched in 1876^[27].

The yard numbers the company used seem to have covered all works undertaken, rather than just vessels; Mayflower's current boiler (dating from 1909) is yard No. 303.^[28]