Description

Admin History:

The Humber Ports were developed by a number of public and private bodies from the late eighteenth century to the present day. Their administration is a history of acquisitions, mergers, nationalisation, and privatisation culminating in the current operation of the Ports by Associated British Ports (ABP).

Hull has been a port since the Medieval Period, but the Hull Dock Company was responsible for the construction of the City's first Dock in 1778. Almost all subsequent docks—with the exception of the Alexandra Dock and the King George Dock—were built by the Hull Dock Company. The Hull and Barnsley Junction Railway and Dock Company (H&BR) was founded to provide competition to the Dock Company, and opened Alexandra Dock in 1885. The competition between these two rival dock companies led to the acquisition of the Hull Dock Company by the North Eastern Railway (NER) in 1893. Dock and railway rivalry eased around the turn of the century and both the H&BR and the NER would collaborate in the construction of King George Dock. The H&BR became part of the NER in 1922, and the following year the NER became a constituent of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). Thus once again bringing all of Hull's docks under the control of a single company.

The Aire and Calder Navigation developed the Port of Goole in order to facilitate the export of coal from its canal network. Rail links to the town were developed by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, which would become part of the London Midlands and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923.

Grimsby, like Hull, has also been a port since the Medieval Period. Its first docks were however developed by the Grimsby Haven Company, which had been incorporated in 1796. In 1845 it became the Grimsby Dock Company. The following year this company became a constituent of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, which assumed responsibility for the Port. In 1897 it was renamed the Great Central Railway Company, which itself became part of the LNER in 1923.

The Port of Immingham was developed by the Humber Commercial Railway and Dock Company in association with the Great Central Railway. In 1923 both of these companies were grouped together to form the LNER.

In 1948 the Humber Ports were nationalised and became the responsibility of the British Transport Commission (BTC). They were administered by its Docks and Inland Waterways Executive. The railway companies that had previously operated the ports were also nationalised, along with facilities operated by the Aire and Calder Navigation at Goole. The BTC was abolished under the 1962 Transport Act, and its assets were passed to five successor bodies. The British Transport Docks Board (BTDB) was one such body, which was created to run the UK's ports (with the exception of harbours used mainly by railway steamer services).

In 1968 the BTDB acquired the powers of the Humber Conservancy Board, formerly the Humber Conservancy Commissioners. The Humber Conservancy Commissioners were established by statute in 1852 and their constitution and powers were altered by Parliament on various occasions thereafter. Under the Conservancy Act of 1907 the Commissioners were dissolved and the Humber Conservancy Board was established. In addition to the responsibilities of the Commissioners, the Humber Conservancy Board also took over beaconage, buoyage, lighthouse, and pilotage functions on the Humber from Hull Trinity House.

The BTDB was abolished by the 1981 Transport Act and was privatised as Associated British Ports (ABP).

Description:

The collection consists of historical records deposited by Associated British Ports (formerly the British Transport Docks Board prior to privitisation in 1981) on numerous separate occasions. These records are concerned with two subjects: Humber Conservancy and the Humber Ports.

The Humber Ports comprise the docks at Hull, Goole, Immingham, and Grimsby which were nationalised in 1947. The collection includes records created in the course of the operation of these ports by the British Transport Docks Board (1962-1981) and the Docks and Inland Waterways Executive (1947-1962) as part of the British Transport Commission. It also incorporates records inherited from various private companies which ran the ports prior to nationalisation: the London and North Eastern Railway (Hull, Grimsby, and Immingham), the London Midland and Scottish Railway (Goole), and the Aire and Calder Navigation (also Goole). This inheritance further includes records created by the predeccessors of the Big Four Railway Companies, which were involved in the management of these ports prior to the Railway Grouping of 1923. This includes the North Eastern Railway, the Hull and Barnsley Railway, and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway.

The matter of Humber Conservancy [C DPD/1] is primarily covered by records inherited by the British Transport Docks Board in 1968 as a result of the Harbours Act (1964), which led to the Docks Board acquiring the powers and responsibilities of the Humber Conservancy Board (1907-1968), which created most of the records under this heading [C DPD/1/3]. The Humber Conservancy Board was the pilotage commissioner, buoyage, beaconage, and local lighthouse authority for the Humber Estuary. The majority of the records therefore relate to these areas of responsibility, but also include papers regarding the management of the Humber Foreshores leased from the Crown. The records of Humber Conservancy also incorporates material inherited by the Conservancy Board from its predecessors at its formation in 1908; Hull Trinity House [C DPD/1/1] and the Humber Conservancy Commissioners

[C DPD/1/2].

A second much smaller acculmulation of Conservancy material can be found amoungst the collected papers [C DPD/4/2] of William Hammond Bartholomew, Engineer and General Manager of the Aire and Calder Navigation. Bartholomew was the Aire and Calder Navigation's representative to the Humber Conservancy Commissioners, and these papers were acculmulated in connenction with this role. In addition to the Conservancy material, this collection reflects Bartholomew's professional interests in canal and dock matters.

An additional artificial collection [C DPD/2] created by P. K. Brown has been incorporated into the collection, which he created while serving as Chief Docks Engineer for the Humber Ports. This collection primarily contains material created by the Hull Docks Company (1774-1892), and was intially deposited with Hull Maritime Museum prior to its transfer to the City Archives.