Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 45157-h.htm or 45157-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/45157/45157-h/45157-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/45157/45157-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/reminiscencesofl00forwuoft REMINISCENCES OF A LIVERPOOL SHIPOWNER 1850-1920 by SIR WILLIAM B. FORWOOD, K.B.E., D.L. Author of "Recollections of a Busy Life": "Economics of War Finance": etc. Illustrated with 22 Plates Liverpool Henry Young & Sons, Limited MCMXX. [Illustration: The Port of Liverpool--1873 _From the Picture by S. Walters_] PREFACE The following sketches were contributed to the Liverpool Press (_Liverpool Daily Post_, _Liverpool Courier_, _Journal of Commerce_), and they are now published at the request of many friends. Advantage has been taken of the opportunity for revision, and to add further reminiscences. A chapter has also been added descriptive of the part played by the British merchant seaman in the war; and another, published in 1917, portraying the attitude and work of the British shipowner during the war. To do adequate justice to the history of our shipping during the past sixty years would occupy several volumes. In the following pages all that has been attempted has been to outline the principal events in the fewest possible words, in the hope that they may serve for future reference; and also keep alive that interest in our mercantile fleet which is so essential to the prosperity of our Country and the welfare of our people. Bromborough Hall, Cheshire, _August, 1920_. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE The Passing of the Sailing-Ship 1 CHAPTER II The Era of the Steamship 15 CHAPTER III The Evolution of the Marine Engine 24 CHAPTER IV The Makers of our Shipping Trade 29 CHAPTER V Our Merchant Ships and the War 55 CHAPTER VI Shipping and the War 69 CHAPTER VII The "Red Jacket," 1857 87 CHAPTER VIII The "Queen of the Avon," 1858 94 CHAPTER IX The "Great Eastern," 1861 99 CHAPTER X The Building of an East Indiaman 106 CHAPTER XI Our Riddle of the Sands 113 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1--The Port of Liverpool, 1873 _Frontispiece._ 2--The Sailing-Ship "Princess Charlotte" _Facing page_ 8 3--The SS. "Savannah" " " 16 4--The SS. "Great Western" " " 18 5--The SS. "President" " " 20 6--The SS. "Britannia" " " 22