Clelands Successors Willington Quay

William Cleland (1822-1876)

William Cleland had Clyde origins and was initially a manager for T & W Smith of North Shields. In the 1860s he left Smiths and moved to the yard of Palmer Brothers at Howdon. However after Palmers became a limited company in 1865 he left to begin business for himself. The business was incorporated as a limited liability company in 1872. William Cleland died in 1876 leaving two sons, Thomas (27) and William (20). He also had a brother James (47) who was described ib a local cencus as an "iron shipbuilder". It is thought that between them they carried on the family connection in the firm.

Herbert Foxton Craggs (1869-1955)

Herbert Foxton Craggs was born in Stockton in 1869 the son of George & Agnes Craggs. He married Gwendoline Williams, at Cardiff in 1899 and they had sons Kenneth Foxton Craggs and Frank Foxton Craggs.
Herbert eventually became a partner in the family shipbuilding firm of R.Craggs & Sons at Middlesbrough & Stockton, but he and his father George retired from the company in 1900 leaving George's brother Henry to continue in charge.
In 1901 Herbert & George then founded the Goole Shipbuilding & Repairing Company along with C Pyle a local shipowner. Herbert became chairman at Goole in 1922 and he had other business interests in Hull.
In 1932 he and some business partners acquired Clelands (Shiprepairers) Ltd for £3,250. This establishment had more or less ceased trading and was pretty dilapidated by the years of depression. They registered a new company on 31/10/1932 - Clelands (Successors) Ltd. However the yard did not open for business until 1934.
Herbert Craggs was a man of considerable courage and foresight in buying a run down business at that time, but he had faith in the future and over the next two decades he saw the business improve and expand. In 1955 the yard was twice the size of what he had bought in 1932.
In 1935 largely out of sympathy with the men of Willington Quay who were seeking work, he decided to revive building operations at the yard. Preparations were started in 1935 culminating in the HULLGATE, yard no.35 (a significant number), which was probably a Goole design. Her completion was the beginning of the Hull Gates Shipping Co.
Over the next two decades Herbert Craggs was instrumental in the new developments at Willington Quay, the varied types of craft that were built and the introduction of sideways launching. He also oversaw the acquisition of more land to build the large prefabrication shop and the offices, the latter not completed until after his death.
He died in 1955 and was succeeded as chairman by his son Kenneth Foxton Craggs.
Above details courtesy of John J Dobson