Shipbuilding in Bristol

[moulie11]

Hi all,

Just trying to research some social history here. I have a chap at the moment who was born and raised in Bristol and, as can be expected, he entered into the shipbuilding industry. However, at some stage in the mid-1840's he left Bristol and instead, found employment in Southampton and also West Cowes, on the Isle of Wight.

I know that Bristol was an important port, particularly during the 18th Century - especially as it was heavily involved in the slave trade - but also know that it soon began to suffer from competition from other ports, such as Liverpool. Does anyone know when the decline in Bristol began? Might this have been a motive for leaving Bristol in the 1840's for another port town?

Any suggestions or thoughts would be most welcome.

moulie

[Uncle John]

I think Bristol was still going strong then. It's just that Liverpool in particular was growing rapidly. Different ports specialised in different cargoes. It just happened that the main export from Liverpool was people!

[Helen Henderson]

Hi Moulie
My husbands family owned a pub on Broad Quay in Bristol in the 1850's & 60's and I have a fabulous book called "Bristol - a people's history" by Peter Aughton which might help you. Basically the Avon up to Bristol is tidal and difficult to negotiate a lot of the time. Once Brunel had introduced a trend for larger ships ironically it sounded the death knell of the port as the larger ships couldn't negotiate the Avon Gorge. If you can get hold of a copy of the book it explains everthing in detail and is a wonderful reference for anyone with Bristolians in their tree.

[moulie11]

Thank you both for your replies.

I am slightly sceptical whether the decline at Bristol would have been great enough to warrant his leaving there and moving to another port. Part of me thinks that there must be more to it than that...

However, I had also read elsewhere something very similar to your comment, Helen. i.e. that after Brunel had launched the S.S. Great Western and S.S. Great Britain, the port couldn't cope/became less favourable with the larger ships and thus, began to decline. Yet, I wonder if this would have impacted upon shipbuilding itself?

moulie

[Uncle John]

It says much for the decline of shipbuilding in Bristol that SS Great Britain's original dry dock was still there, more or less unaltered, when she was towed back nearly 150 years later. Southampton and Liverpool are on much wider estuaries.

[moulie11]

Wow, that's a fair point, John. Well, it seems that he would have had better prospects at Southampton; that gives a catalyst for his moving. He stayed at Southampton for the rest of his life and was in the shipbuilding trade until well into his 70's, so there was clearly sufficient work there.

moulie