Shipbuilder: Thomas & William Smith, North Shields - History
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In 1810 William Rowe's wooden yard at St Peter's Newcastle was taken over by Alderman Thomas Smith, a rope manufacturer and his sons William & Thomas. Following Thomas's death, his sons carried on the ship building business. This firm became known as T & W Smith and built mainly wooden vessels at St Peter's until the 1860s. In 1863 the St Peter's Yard and the adjacent John Rogerson's Yard were combined into one business known as the Tyne Iron Shipbuilding Company Ltd. T & W Smith had also operated in North Shields since 1814 when they had leased a dry dock known as Laing's Dock and they also opened another ship yard at Limekiln Shore at North Shields, immediately down river from Coble Dene and there they built iron vessels. It is then said that Laing's Dock became too small for their needs and in 1850 they opened a new dock on land next to the Limekiln Shore shipbuilding yard. They constructed a covered shipbuilding berth there in the 1850s, which ultimately became one of three owned by them at the Limekiln Shore Yard. The berths were made of timber with extensive glass panelling above and to the sides. The covering of the building berth meant that ship building could continue in all weathers and also a higher Lloyd's vessel classification could be achieved. Therefore the cost of building ships was reduced and in turn the value of the ships that they produced was increased. After 1890 the yard concentrated on ship repair and became known as Smith's Dock Co Ltd in 1891. On 1st September 1899, the business was amalgamated with HS Edwards and Edwards Brothers under the name of Smith's Dock Co Ltd. |