The General Steam Navigation Company (GSN), incorporated in 1824, was London's foremost short sea shipping line for almost 150 years. It was the oldest shipping company in the world to begin business with seagoing steam vessels.
Foundation
Context In 1815, the first steam shipping line on the Thames was started. The paddle steamer Marjory, serviced a line between London and Gravesend. Many more steamboats followed, and the lines were soon extended to Margate. At the time both places were already popular tourist destinations. At the time, the brothers Thomas and John Brocklebank, were traders in timber and had a shipyard at Deptford Creek.
The Ramsgate and Broadstairs Steam Packet Company In about 1821, Thomas Brocklebank arrived at Margate on the first steamboat to ply that route. On disembarking the local authorities charged him 2s 6d for himself and 2s 6d for his hand baggage. This was the equivalent of about a week's income for an average salary. Brocklebank immediately saw a business opportunity and decided to convert one of the barges he had on the stocks to a steamboat. He ordered engines and soon launched her as Eagle Packet. She was used for a route between London and Ramsgate, where people could disembark without charges.
Brocklebank built some more vessels, and formed the Ramsgate and Broadstairs Steam Packet Company. This company had shares dated 29 April 1822. It employed Brocklebank's Thames paddle steamer on the route between London and Ramsgate. In 1822 Brocklebank built the slightly larger Royal Sovereign for the same route. In 1824 the City of London was built. In May 1824 Brocklebank sold the Eagle.
Early years (1825-1850)
Foundation and first years
The initiative to form the General Steam Navigation Company came from William J. Hall and Thomas Brocklebank. On 11 June 1824 a contract was signed to found the company. It had a large nominal capital of £2 million in £100 shares, but the first installment was only two pounds 10 shillings, and would never exceed £15. The company had a wide ranging vision of establishing steam lines across the globe, but also wanted to station steam vessels for towing at multiple places on the British coast.
GSN's first board had 18 members. Amongst these were the Calais shipping line owners William Jolliffe and Sir Edward Banks, the wharfinger William J. Hall, and the Ramsgate shipping line owner Thomas Brocklebank. Mr. Matthias Attwood MP was the first chairman. He would be succeeded by his son Matthias Wolverley Attwood (1808-1865). (Matthias Attwood should not be confused with his younger brother the MP and banker Thomas Attwood. Others have that Sir Joseph Banks and Thomas Brocklebank would only later become the managing director.
When the company was established, it immediately acquired four existing steamers for lines to Hull and Ramsgate. It then ordered six more for lines to Yarmouth, Ostend, Brighton and Dieppe. The tonnage of these ships was about 240, with 40 hp. In 1825 a new line from London to Leith was added, serviced by the United Kingdom of 160 feet. In 1825 the GSN operated 14 steam vessels on lines from London. Many of the ships in this overview can be identified with ships in an 1822 overview of early steam vessels.
The overview illustrates how the company's operations started. In 1824, Jolliffe, Banks, and Brocklebank brought in their four steam vessels. The board then carefully placed orders for six new ships: four built by Everden at Deptford on land leased from Brocklebank, and two by Wallis at Blackwall. In 1825 however, many existing ships were hastily bought after little prior inspection. In 1826 GSN faced a financial crisis. Only about half of its fleet was actually employed, and not all of these permanently. Many of the second hand ships which had been bought required extensive repairs, and the ships that had been ordered cost a lot of money before they generated revenue.
Some shareholders were worried by the continued calls for additional funding, and in March 1827 they reacted by attempting to dissolve the company. This did not succeed, but in the autumn, the three executive directors who had been in charge up till then were replaced by three committees. The change led to tighter procedures and better accounting, and the company becoming profitable. In 1831 Parliament granted limited liability via the (1 & 2 Will. 4. c. liii), and incorporation followed in 1834.
+ First ships of the General Steam Navigation CompanyShipBuilt TonnageShipyardEngines In 1822 Note Lord Melville 1822 136 / 220 Jolliffe, Banks & Co. 2 * 40 hp Butterly London - Calais Jolliffe & Banks Earl of Liverpool 1823 131 N/a Jolliffe & Banks Royal Sovereign 1822 135 / 220 Brocklebank, Deptford 2 * 40 hp Butterly London - Ramsgate Brocklebank's Ramsgate line City of London 1824 146 Deptford N/a Brocklebank's Ramsgate line Superb 1820 155 / 246 Scotts 2 * 35 hp Napier Liverpool - Greenock Mountaineer 1821 118 / 190 Cornwallis, Greenock 2 * 35 hp Napier Liverpool - Dublin Belfast 1820 132 / 190 Ritchie & Co., Belfast 2 * 35 hp Napier Liverpool - Dublin Talbot 1819 77 / 156 Wood & Co., Glasgow 2 * 30 hp Napier London - Calais Waterloo 1819 134 / 210 Scotts, Glasgow 2 * 30 hp, Cook London - Calais Rapid 1822 84 / 140 Cornwallis, Greenock 2 * 30 hp Napier London - Rotterdam Eclipse 1819 87 / 190 Brent, Rotherhithe 2 * 30 hp Boulton & Watt London - Margate Hylton Joliffe 1825 174 / 300 Scotts 80 hp Scott, Greenock N/a ex-Trinacria Brocklebank 111 Attwood 143
Early shipping lines
In 1826 GSN had eight shipping lines: London to Ramsgate and Margate London to Calais: Attwood, Lord Melville London to Lisbon. Vigo, Porto and Gibraltar: George IV, Duke of York London to Boulogne: Rapid London to Ostend: Earl of Liverpool, Mountaineer London to Rotterdam: Belfast London to Hamburg: Sir Edward Banks, Hylton Jolliffe Brighton to Dieppe: Eclipse, Brocklebank, Talbot.
The line to Ramsgate and Margate had been Brocklebank's Ramsgate and Broadstairs Steam Packet Company, that was continued by GSN. In order to limit competition GSN made an agreement with the Margate company, in which Sir Robert Banks had an interest. In 1831 the "New Margate Company" reintroduced competition, but also led to a new agreement. By 1838 the Margate Company had been bought by GSN, which continued a service to Ramsgate. It left Margate to the "New Margate Company" in exchange for 9d for each Margate passenger in Summer. In 1849 GSN would buy the "New Margate Company"'s vessels.
The line to Calais had been inherited the line to Calais with the Lord Melville and the Earl of Liverpool. It then bought the Rapid, so it could use the Earl of Liverpool for a new line to Ostend.
The line to Lisbon, Vigo, Porto and Gibraltar was part of plans to establish a London - Cádiz and a London - Saint Petersburg line. These obviously required bigger ships. George IV and Duke of York measured between 500 and 600 tons burthen, and had 130 hp engines. These were a technological success, proving they were able to withstand the storms in the Bay of Biscay and the Baltic Sea. However, the shareholders were not happy with these lines. In March 1827 they agreed to sell the ships to the executives Banks and Jolliffe at a huge loss. By August 1827 the George IV and Duke of York had indeed been sold.
The first line from London to Rotterdam had been opened by the Rapid of captain Smith in July 1822. In August 1822, the "London and Rotterdam Steam Packet Company" started to operate on the same route and immediately came to an agreement on a schedule with the owners of the Rapid. Its first ship was the King of the Netherlands. The Rapid continued on this line throughout 1823, but then seems to have left. In April 1825 the Queen of the Netherlands joined the King of the Netherlands. In 1826 GSN started to compete by employing the Belfast, which connected to the Rhine steamboats of the Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij (NSM), which was important for tourism. GSN and the "London and Rotterdam Steam Packet Company" soon entered into an agreement about freight rates and services. However, in April 1830 the NSM started to compete by commissioning the big . That same year, the "London and Rotterdam Steam Packet Company" sold the Queen of the Netherlands to GSN. In August 1831, the King of the Netherlands also left the London to Rotterdam line. At the end of the 1820s GSN started to operate a freight business. The import of live cattle and sheep from Rotterdam became very important.
The line to Hamburg was started with the Hylton Jolliffe in June 1825. In 1831 the Post Office tendered a contract for the mail from London to Hamburg. It was awarded to the St George Steam Packet Company for £13,350. Within a few months, St. George's transferred the contract to GSN, and when it had to be renewed two years later, there was only a single offer by GSN for £17,000. It was widely believed that GSN achieved both the transfer and the single offer by paying about £2,000 a year to its competitor.
The line from Brighton to Dieppe provided a short route from London to Paris at a time that there were no railways from Paris to the coast. It would occasionally start and end at Newhaven, i.e. when it was not safe to land at Brighton. The local competitor the "Brighton and Dieppe Steam Packet Company" employed the Quentin Durward, and had better use of the Brighton Pier. After fierce competition, the competitors came to an agreement, and published a common schedule and fare for two GSN ships and one "Brighton and Dieppe" ship.
Acquisition of the London and Edinburgh Steam Packet Company In 1836 GSN entered the coasting trade by acquiring the "London and Edinburgh Steam Packet Company". The London and Edinburgh had begun a London to Leith service in 1821. Its first ship was the City of Edinburgh of 420 ton burthen. The second ship was the James Watt Soho of 510 ton burthen and 120 hp was launched in July 1823. The smaller Tourist of 1821, also belonged to this company. The data of these ships shows that they were generally bigger than the early GSN ships.
Facilities in London In 1827 the GSN decided to start its own engineering workshops. These were located at Deptford. By 1836 these employed 100 men. In 1838 they were extended to simultaneously handle two vessels, and got a crane that could lift 66 tons. This was essential for placing engines and boilers in the ships. After 1829 all new vessels got engines by GSN itself. Hulls for wooden ships were built by local shipyards. Most iron ships were built by Ditchburn & Mare at Bow. The engineering gave GSN a cost advantage. They also allowed GSN to redress many defects in its early ships. In the 1830s the works assisted in lengthening most of the existing GSN fleet.
GSN operated wharves in Coldharbour and near London Bridge, with some piers and buildings designed by company architect and surveyor Robert Palmer Browne. In 1867 GSN would become the owner of St Katharine's Wharf.
Conclusions about the GSN up to 1850 After some troubles and failed experiments in the first years, the GSN proved a very successful concern in the 1830s and 1840s. Solid profits allowed it to expand, to build up reserves, and to pay a good annual dividend to the shareholders.