William Doxford & Sons

William Doxford & Sons
Private
Industry Shipbuilding
Diesel engines
Fate Acquired
Successor A&P Group
Founded 1840
Defunct 1986
Headquarters Sunderland, UK
Key people
 William Doxford

William Doxford & Sons Ltd, often referred to simply as Doxford, was a British shipbuilding and marine engineering company.

History

William Doxford founded the company in 1840.[1] From 1870 it was based in Pallion, Sunderland, on the River Wear in Northeast England. The Company was managed by William Doxford's four sons following his death in 1882.[1] It was renamed Doxford & Sunderland Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd in 1961 and Doxford & Sunderland Ltd in 1966.[1] Court Line took it over in 1972 and renamed it Sunderland Shipbuilders Ltd.[1]

William Doxford & Sons' shipyard, River Wear 1967

In the 1970s a new all-weather Pallion yard was built which could build two ships of up to 30,000 tons deadweight side-by-side. The steel came in at one end, and the completed ship left from the other with engines installed and sometimes with the machinery running.[2]

Court Line collapsed in 1974 and the company was nationalised.[1] It was privatised in 1986 when it was merged with Austin & Pickersgill to form North East Shipbuilders.[1] However, within two years of the merger the Doxford Pallion yard was closed down. Sunderland Wall climbing centre now occupies a section of the building.[3]

Operations

Doxford was a major British shipbuilder. It also made marine diesel engines, the last of which it built in 1980. An example is preserved in the Regional Museums Store at Beamish Museum.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Crockett, Margaret; Foster, Janet (October 2005). Report on the Access to Shipbuilding Collections in North East England (ARK) Project (PDF). The Archive – Skills Consultancy.
  2. ↑ Wilson, Bill (2 September 1992). "Obituary: James Venus". The Independent.
  3. ↑ "Last shipyard". BBC Online. 28 November 2008.

External links