# G.K. Stothert & Co

51°26′56″N 2°36′56″W﻿ / ﻿51.44884°N 2.615590°W﻿ / 51.44884; -2.615590
G.K. Stothert & Co was a British engineering company primarily known for shipbuilding and repair founded in 1852 in Bristol, England.

## History

The Bristol offshoot of the Bath based company which later became Stothert & Pitt had been set up in St Phillips in 1837 by Henry Stothert with the hope of gaining orders from the Great Western Railway. By 1844 they had diversified into shipbuilding, producing two 105 ton iron screw steamers named Avon and Severn which were built for running between Newport and Bristol. The railway works part of the company eventually became Avonside Engine Company, and the shipbuilding part moved to Hotwells in 1852. It was officially known as the Clifton Marine Engineering and Iron Shipbuilding Works. Under the control of George Kelson Stothert it separated from the parent company in 1855, and partnerships were formed with Ernest Theophilus Fripp (between 1855–1859) and George Priestly Marten (1859–1862); after that, G. K. Stothert held sole control until 1899. When he died in 1908, the business was established as a limited company carrying his name. The business remained in operation under his name until 1933, although shipbuilding stopped in 1904.
A fire occurred at the yard in 1893; later correspondence states that this destroyed the company's records to that date.
After G. K. Stothert passed away, the obituary written by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers noted that he "...was one of the pioneers of iron shipbuilding in this country".

## Location

In 1852, the company started leasing an existing shipyard adjacent to the Cumberland Basin that was owned by the Society of Merchant Venturers. The premises had been used by George Lunnell between 1834 and 1851. The site consisted of slipways, Hotwells Dry Dock (now Pooles Wharf Marina) and Merchant's Dock (now filled in, although the old entrance is still visible).
In 1897, part of the site was sold to the Great Western Railway to allow a line to be built to Canon’s Marsh; these works restricted access to the shipyard from Hotwell Road and reduced the size of Merchant's Dock.

## Vessels

Several large vessels were built within the first few years of operation, including the Scamander, Meander and Araxes, ranging between 780 and 1156 tons and being built in 1854 and 1855 for the Moss Line of Liverpool.
The company became known for producing river and canal tugs. They built thirteen used by or on behalf of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal Company and it successors. This commenced with an initial order for three for their haulage contractor in 1860 (Moss Rose, 1860, Mayflower, 1861 and Violet, 1862) and ended with a final order for two for the Severn & Canal Carrying Company in 1904 (Active and Victor) which are believed to be the final vessels launched by G.K. Stothert. In addition to the thirteen, the Danks, Venn and Sanders tug Pioneer was used by its owners on the Canal from 1858 onwards and may have passed into the hands of the Canal Company at a later date.
The yard numbers the company used seem to have covered all works undertaken, rather than just vessels; Mayflower's current boiler (dating from 1909) is yard No. 303.
| Year | Name | Yard No. | ON | GRT | Type | Propulsion | Client |
| 1843 | AVON | | 3944 | 105 | Passenger | Screw | Bristol New Steam Packet Company |
| 1844 | SEVERN | | 3947 | 104 | Passenger | Screw | Bristol New Steam Packet Company |
| 1851 | JENNY JONES/BALMORAL | | 3953 | 166 | Passenger / Cargo | Screw | Cardiff Steam Navigation Co |
| 1852 | QUEEN | | 3950 | 342 | Passenger | Paddle | Hayle Brilliant Steam Navigation Company |
| 1853 | JUNO/DAKOTAH | | 3818 | 298 | Cargo | Steam | T. Fyson, Bristol |
| 1854 | SCAMANDER | | 25998 | | Cargo | Steam | William M. Moss & others, Liverpool |
| 1855 | ARAXES | | 10550 | | Cargo | Screw | William M. Moss & others, Liverpool |
| 1856 | MEANDER | 8 | 3907 | 985 | Cargo | Screw | Ross & Co., Liverpool |
| 1856 | THOMAS POWELL | | 26800 | 401 | Cargo | Screw | Thomas Powell & others, Newport |
| 1856 | TAFF | | 14351 | 148 | Passenger | Paddle | Bristol General Steam Navigation Company |
| 1856 | PROSPERO | | | | | | |
| 1856 | GLEANER | | | | | | |
| 1857 | ARTIZAN | | 20481 | 454 | Cargo | Screw | G. K. Stothert, Bristol |
| 1857 | CAMILLA | | | 447 | Cargo | Screw | |
| <1858 | PIONEER | | | | Tug | Screw | Danks, Venn and Sanders |
| 1858 | TRINCULO | | | | | | |
| 1860 | ENTERPRIZE | | 29213 | 97 | Coaster | Screw | Stephen Steed & William Osborn, Bristol |
| 1860 | MOSS ROSE | | N/A | 33 | Tug | Screw | T. Hadley, Purton |
| 1860 | EDMUND IRONSIDES | | | | | | |
| 1861 | AJAX | | 29215 | 124 | Cargo | Screw | Bristol General Steam Navigation Company |
| 1861 | DOLPHIN | | 44110 | 32 | Tug | Screw | Bristol General Steam Navigation Company |
| 1861 | MAYFLOWER | | 105412 | 32 | Tug | Screw | T. Hadley, Purton |
| 1861 | PIONEER | | | | | Screw | Weaver Navigation Trustees |
| 1862 | ALARM | | 44109 | 21 | Tug | Screw | Bristol General Steam Navigation Company |
| 1862 | VIOLET | | N/A | | Tug | Screw | T. Hadley, Purton |
| 1862 | SEVERN | | 44257 | 98 | Tug | Paddle | Bristol Channel Steam Towing Co., Cardiff (although launched for W.H. Martin & Co.) |
| 1863 | (SMALL YACHT FOR WEAVER NAVIGATION ENGINEER) | | | | | Screw | Weaver Navigation Trustees |
| 1864 | RELIEF | | 50266 | 104 | Tug | Paddle | The New Steam Tug Co. Ltd., Liverpool |
| 1865 | RESOLUTE | | 51410 | 271 | Tug | Paddle | New Steam Tug Company Ltd., Liverpool |
| 1865 | CLIFTON | | | 777 | | Screw | General Steam Navigation Co. Ltd., London |
| 1865 | ORION | | 52779 | 777 | Passenger / Cargo | Paddle | General Steam Navigation Co. Ltd., London |
| 1865 | MAHA LUKSHMI | | | | | | |
| 1866 | NIGER | | 53182 | 128 | Tug | Paddle | Anthony Hutton, Bristol |
| 1867 | MYRTLE | | 105414 | 32 | Tug | Screw | T. Hadley, Purton |
| 1868 | PRINCESS OF WALES | 41 | 53195 | 104 | Tug | Paddle | Frank Mulleny, Bristol |
| 1868 | NEWPORT | | 53191 | 153 | Cargo | Screw | John Stothert, Bristol |
| 1869 | STAR | | 63394 | 79 | Tug | Paddle | Joseph Hazell & others, Cardiff |
| 1869 | ALERT | | 106257 | 31 | Tug | Screw | C. J. King & Sons, Bristol |
| 1871 | IXIA | 49 | 65302 | 227 | Coaster | Screw | Turner, Edwards and Co., Bristol |
| 1871 | WELSH PRINCE | 50 | 65304 | 154 | Coaster | Screw | Richard Charles Ring, Bristol |
| 1871 | HAZEL | | 184871 | | Tug | Screw | T. Hadley, Purton |
| 1875 | VOLUNTEER | | 85820 | 24 | Tug | Screw | C. J. King & Sons, Bristol |
| 1875 | SEA KING | | 91051 | 45 | Tug | Screw | C. J. King & Sons, Bristol |
| 1876 | SPEEDWELL | | 105413 | 40 | Tug | Screw | Sharpness New Docks and Gloucester & Birmingham Navigation Company |
| 1876 | WORCESTER | | | | Tug | Screw | Sharpness New Docks and Gloucester & Birmingham Navigation Company |
| 1876 | BIRMINGHAM | | | | Tug | Screw | Sharpness New Docks and Gloucester & Birmingham Navigation Company |
| 1877 | GLOUCESTER | | | | Tug | Screw | Sharpness New Docks and Gloucester & Birmingham Navigation Company |
| 1876 | REBECCA MARY | | 74861 | 96 | Cargo | Sailing Vessel | George Farren, Caernarvon |
| 1878 | NETHAM | | 78453 | 113 | Coaster | Screw | Richard C. Ring, Bristol |
| 1879 | DOURO | 51 | 78459 | 430 | Cargo | Screw | G. K. Stothert & Co. |
| 1880 | SEA QUEEN | | 91052 | 53 | Tug | Screw | C. J. King & Sons, Bristol |
| 1881 | LORD TREDEGAR/ WILLIAM PARFITT | | 106255 | 179 | Dredger | Screw | Alexandra (Newport) Dock Company |
| 1882 | GALLOPER | | 86493 | 67 | Tug | Screw | Young & Christie, Cardiff |
| 1883 | CLIFTON GROVE | 89 | 85810 | 249 | Coaster | Screw | William Butler & Co. Ltd., Bristol |
| 1883 | TEL-EL-KEBIR | 90 | 89165 | 163 | Coaster | Screw | L. J. Bowen, Cardiff |
| 1884 | ATALANTA | 92 | 85813 | 143 | Barge | Screw | Severn & Canal Carrying Co |
| 1885 | SEA PRINCE | 114 | 91053 | 97 | Tug | Screw | C. J. King & Sons, Bristol |
| 1888 | CONHAM | | | | | | |
| 1889 | PENMON | | | | | | |
| 1890 | FLAGSTAFF | | 97233 | 113 | Coaster | Screw | William E. Davies, London |
| 1892 | TREDEGAR | 167 | 98828 | 115 | Coaster | Screw | William Galbraith, Bristol |
| 1892 | CARBON | 170 | 98829 | 126 | Barge | Screw | Alfred J. Smith Ltd., Bristol |
| 1892 | STOKE LEIGH | | | | | | |
| 1893 | MERTHYR | 184 | 102483 | 143 | Coaster | Screw | |
| 1897 | RESOLUTE | | 105415 | 62 | Tug | Screw | Severn & Canal Carrying Co |
| 1897 | RELIANCE | | 117716 | 62 | Tug | Screw | Severn & Canal Carrying Co |
| 1901 | RECRUIT | | 112850 | 59 | Tug | Screw | William Cory and Son Ltd., London |
| 1901 | MAESTEG | 243 | 111318 | 156 | Barge | Screw | Bristol Lighterage Co. Ltd. |
| 1901 | GARTH | 244 | 114861 | 156 | Barge | Screw | Bristol Lighterage Co. Ltd. |
| 1903 | SALAMANDER | | | | Fire Float | | Bristol Fire Brigade |
| 1904 | VICTOR/SEVERN VICTOR | 278 | 147385 | 44 | Tug | Screw | Severn & Canal Carrying Co |
| 1904 | ACTIVE/SEVERN ACTIVE | 280 | 147381 | 53 | Tug | Screw | Severn & Canal Carrying Co |