![[Gordon Steam Shipping Co., Ltd. houseflag]](../images/g/gb~hfcgw.gif)
image by Ivan Sache,
4 May 2021
Last modified: 2021-05-29 by rob raeside
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image by Ivan Sache,
4 May 2021
The Great Central Railway's (GCR) involvement in shipping was as the
successor to the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company (MS&LR),
formed in 1846 from the amalgamation of three railway companies plus the Grimsby
Docks Company. In the same year it acquired the rights to operate the
long-established ferry services across the Humber from Barrow, New Holland and
Goxhill. The MS&LR promoted the Deep Sea Fishing Company at Grimsby in 1854, the
Great Northern and the Midland Railways also having an interest in the same.
They sponsored by part-ownership some private shipping companies operating to
the near Continent from 1856, but obtained full powers in their own right in
July 1864, taking over five existing vessels and operating from Grimsby to
Hamburg, Rotterdam and Antwerp. The first new ships were a quartet brought into
service in 1865.
The Great Central, formed in 1897, took over a substantial
fleet comprising Humber ferries and Continental steamers, several of which were
to survive into LNER days. They continued a steady investment in new ships for
all services, such that the LNER needed to do no more than build three new
paddle ferries for the Hull - New Holland route.
In 1935 a managing company,
Associated Humber Lines (AHL), was formed to manage the GCR fleet plus that of
the Goole S.S. Company which managed the London Midland Scottish Railway (LMS)
fleet based at Goole (in succession to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway
Company), and also two Hull-based companies in which the LNER held managing
interests. However, all vessels continued to be owned by their respective
companies, until A.H.L. became an owner in its own right from 1957. The Grimsby
fleet retained the GCR funnel colours of white with a black top for some years
before adopting the AHL colours which were based on the buff, red and black of
the LMS with 'AHL' superimposed on the red band.
The London and North
Eastern Railway (LNER) Encyclopedia
http://www.lner.info/ships/GCR/
Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of
Great Central Railway (#1812, p. 123) as triangular, red with a white star
placed near the hoist.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#88
The
flag is shown on the official postcard of the "Immingham" (sailed 1906-1915), serving
the Grismby-Rotterdam line.
http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/LNER_GCR1.html#anchor1597903
Ivan Sache, 4
May 2021
![[Great Eastern Co. (London) Ltd. houseflag]](../images/g/gb~gesco.gif)
image by Jarig
Bakker, 10 January 2006
Great Eastern Co. (London) Ltd., London - per fly, diagonal orange over
green, in center black "G".
Source:
Loughran (1995)
Jarig Bakker, 10 January 2006
![[Great Grimsby Albion Steam Fishing Co., Ltd. houseflag]](../images/g/gb~hfgga.gif)
image by Ivan
Sache, 1 May 2021
The continuing strength of the Grimsby fish trade was confirmed by the MS & L
Railway Company opening a second fish dock covering eleven acres in 1877. The
next decade would see extensive improvements in steam trawler design. The Great
Grimsby Steam Trawling Co. Ltd, commissioned two steam trawlers, the "Zodiac"
and the "Aries", in 1881. The steam trawler would enable fishing in grounds
beyond the North Sea and were more productive than smacks as they could operate
in calm weather. In the 1880s the adaptation of the purpose built steam trawler
was relatively slow, but during the 1890s the transition from sail to steam was
rapid. By 1899 there were 6,340 registered net tons of sail compared to 25,082
registered net tons of steam, 37.7 per cent of the national steam tonnage.
"The story of traditional fish smoking in Grimsby"
http://www.seafoodacademy.org/LinkedDocuments/smoking/Grimsby%20Traditional%20Fish%20Smoking%20-%20text%20only.pdf
(no longer online)
Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912)
shows the house flag of Great Grimsby Albion Steam Fishing Co., Ltd. (#1473, p.
107) as yellow, in the center a thick red cross patty.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#72
Ivan Sache, 1 May 2021
![[Great Northern Steamship Fishing Co., Ltd. houseflag]](../images/g/gb~hfgns.gif)
image by Ivan Sache, 29 April 2021
Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of Great
Northern Steamship Fishing Co., Ltd. (#1074, p. 88), a Hull-based company, as
quartered per saltire blue and red with a white disc in the center.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#53
Ivan Sache, 29 April 2021
![[Great Yarmouth Shipping Co., Ltd. houseflag]](../images/g/gb~s0699.gif)
image
by Phil Nelson, 6 April 2000
from Stewart and Styring's Flags, Funnels and Hull Colors 1963
![[Great Yarmouth Shipping Co., Ltd. houseflag]](../images/g/gb~gy1.gif)
image by
Jarig Bakker
Based on
The flagchart "Vlaggen in de haven van Amsterdam" (flags in the harbour
of Amsterdam), no date. Per saltite white and blue, clockwise letters G S Co Y
which read correctly anticlockwise. Basically the same design as above but with
different colors and smaller letters
Jarig Bakker, 6 July 2004
Great Yarmouth Shipping Co. Ltd. According to Brown 1943 and 1951 there was an
earlier flag of blue, two narrow white horizontal bands well spread with a white
"S" between them [see below]. Possibly suspect as the letter
hardly seems appropriate. The change, if there was one, to the yellow and black
flag is shown by Stewart in 1953.
Neale Rosanoski, 15 June 2004
![[Great Yarmouth Shipping Co., Ltd. houseflag]](../images/g/gb~g232.gif)
image by
Rob Raeside
Brown's Flags and Funnels, 1951, also shows a flag blue with narrow white
horizontal strips at 1/3 and 2/3 of flag height; in the center a white capital
S.
Jarig Bakker, 6 July 2004
![[Green and Wigram houseflag]](../images/g/gb~grwig.gif)
image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 24 October 2010
Green & Wigram
It was a white flag divided by a red centred cross. A blue
rectangle was superimposing the centre of the cross.
The origin of the flag
according to source is at follows:
“The vessel SIR EDWARD PAGETT hoisted a
flag with the cross of St. George in 1824, but when she reached Spithead the
Port-Admiral indignantly ordered it to be struck. Thereupon the captain, equally
indignant, is said to have picked up a pair of sailor’s breeches, cut a patch
from their seat, pinned it over the centre of the flag, and re-hoisted.”
I
guess, this is a variant of the story Ivan Sache told of Federal Steam Navigation Co. Ltd.
Source:
Campbell and Evans (1953); page 40.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 24 October 2010
![[Green Blackwall Line houseflag]](../images/g/gb~grblwl.gif)
image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 24 October 2010
It was a white flag with the red cross of St. George superimposing a blue
rectangle in the centre.
Source:
Campbell and Evans (1953); page 40.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 24 October 2010
Photograph of example of flag from National Maritime Museum in Greenwich (London):
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/430.html
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 13 April 2019
![[Green, Robinson & Co.. houseflag]](../images/g/gb~grero.gif)
image by Ivan Sache, 3 December 2005
A nicely designed house flag is shown on a handbill (middle of page) at
http://www.proni.gov.uk/exhibiti/austral/bound.htm, namely that of Green,
Robinson & Co. “established by Willis & Co., in 1843”. The handbill advertises a
sailing planned for 20 July 1864 – obviously the transport of emigrants was
important to the company.
A white triangular flag with a thin red border bears a red crescent and a red
eight-pointed star.
I have not been able to find much, except for the fact that Willis & Co. was a
Liverpool firm – but others say Scarborough.
Jan Mertens, 30 November 2005
![[Grimsby Steam Alliance Fishing Co., Ltd. houseflag]](../images/g/gb~hfgas.gif)
image by Ivan
Sache, 25 April 2021
Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of
Grimsby Steam Alliance Fishing Co., Ltd. (#532, p. 62) as white with a red
lozenge inscribing a blue handshake inscribed in a white disc.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#27
Ivan
Sache, 25 April 2021
![[Greenshields, Cowie & Co. houseflag]](../images/g/gb~hfgrc.gif)
image by Ivan
Sache, 30 April 2021
Greenshields Cowie & Co Limited was established in 1938, although our records
can be traced back to the 18th century. In 1887, Greenshields and Company merged
with Charles George Cowie, Son and Company.
Both companies originated from
Liverpool, and 200 years on, GSC still has offices there. During the American
Civil War, Charles Cowie built a fleet of seven modern iron riggers, one of
which was the "Fleur De Lis", still present in Greenshields Cowie’s logo today.
https://www.greenshieldscowie.com/about-us/
Corporate website
Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of
Greenshields, Cowie & Co. (Knight Steamship Co., Ltd.) (#1261, p. 97) as white
with a blue fleur-de-lis placed above a blue and red horizontal stripe.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#62
Ivan Sache, 30 April 2021
![[Gresham Steam Shipping Co., Ltd. houseflag]](../images/g/gb~hfgrs.gif)
image by Ivan
Sache, 3 May 2021
Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of
Gresham Steam Shipping Co., Ltd. (W. Pickering & Co.) (#1707, p. 118), a
Newcastle-based shipping company, as red with a white border and the black
letters "WP&Co." in the center.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#83
Ivan
Sache, 3 May 2021
![[Griffiths, Lewis & Co. houseflag]](../images/g/gb~hfgrl.gif)
image by Ivan
Sache, 1 May 2021
Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of
Griffiths, Lewis & Co. (#1491, p. 107), a Cardiff-based shipping company, as
blue, in the middle, three yellow ostrich feathers.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#72
Ivan Sache, 1 May 2021
![[Grimsby & East Coast Steam Fishing Co., Ltd. houseflag]](../images/g/gb~hfgec.gif)
image by Ivan
Sache, 4 May 2021
Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of
Grimsby & East Coast Steam Fishing Co., Ltd. (#1806, p. 122) as horizontally
divided white-red, in canton, a white rectangle bordered blue.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#87
Ivan Sache, 4 May 2021
![[Grimsby & North Sea Steam Trawling Co., Ltd. houseflag]](../images/g/gb~hfstc.gif)
image by Ivan
Sache, 26 April 2021
Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of
Grimsby & North Sea Steam Trawling Co., Ltd. (#691, p. 69) as blue with the
white letters "STC".
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/34/
Ivan
Sache, 26 April 2021
![[Grimsby Steam Fishing Co. houseflag]](../images/g/gb~hfgsf.gif)
image by Ivan
Sache, 10 April 2008
Lloyds Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912)
shows the house flag of "Grimsby Steam Fishing Co., Ltd." (#253, p. 49), a
company based in Grimsby, as red with a yellow cross in the middle. Grimsby was
once the largest fishing port in the world. The Cod Wars with Iceland (1958,
1972, 1975-76) and the depletion of fish stocks in the Atlantic Ocean caused the
decline of the trawler fleet of Grimsby.
Ivan Sache, 10 April 2008
![[Grimsby Victor Steam Fishing Co., Ltd. houseflag]](../images/g/gb~hfgvs.gif)
image by Ivan
Sache, 25 April 2021
Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of
Grimsby Victor Steam Fishing Co., Ltd. (#619, p. 66), a Grimsby-based company,
as white with with a red "V" in the center.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/31/
Ivan
Sache, 25 April 2021
