General Steam Navigation Company

The General Steam Navigation Company, incorporated in 1824, was London's foremost short sea shipping line for almost 150 years. It was the oldest shipping company in the world to begin business with seagoing steam vessels.

Foundation

Context

In 1815, the first steam shipping line on the Thames was started. The paddle steamer Marjory, serviced a line between London and Gravesend. Many more steamboats followed, and the lines were soon extended to Margate. At the time both places were already popular tourist destinations. At the time, the brothers Thomas and John Brocklebank, were traders in timber and had a shipyard at Deptford Creek.

The Ramsgate and Broadstairs Steam Packet Company

In about 1821, Thomas Brocklebank arrived at Margate on the first steamboat to ply that route. On disembarking the local authorities charged him 2s 6d for himself and 2s 6d for his hand baggage. This was the equivalent of about a week's income for an average salary. Brocklebank immediately saw a business opportunity and decided to convert one of the barges he had on the stocks to a steamboat. He ordered engines and soon launched her as Eagle Packet. She was used for a route between London and Ramsgate, where people could disembark without charges.
Brocklebank built some more vessels, and formed the Ramsgate and Broadstairs Steam Packet Company. This company had shares dated 29 April 1822. It employed Brocklebank's Thames paddle steamer on the route between London and Ramsgate. In 1822 Brocklebank built the slightly larger Royal Sovereign for the same route. In 1824 the City of London was built. In May 1824 Brocklebank sold the Eagle.

Early years (1825-1850)

Foundation and first years

The initiative to form the General Steam Navigation Company came from William J. Hall and Thomas Brocklebank. On 11 June 1824 a contract was signed to found the company. It had a large nominal capital of £2 million in £100 shares, but the first installment was only two pounds 10 shillings, and would never exceed £15. The company had a wide ranging vision of establishing steam lines across the globe, but also wanted to station steam vessels for towing at multiple places on the British coast.
GSN's first board had 18 members. Amongst these were the Calais shipping line owners William Jolliffe and Sir Edward Banks, the wharfinger William J. Hall, and the Ramsgate shipping line owner Thomas Brocklebank. Mr. Matthias Attwood MP was the first chairman. He would be succeeded by his son Matthias Wolverley Attwood., and incorporation followed in 1834.

Ship	Built	Tonnage	Shipyard	Engines	In 1822	Note
Lord Melville	1822	136 / 220	Jolliffe, Banks & Co.	2 * 40 hp Butterly	London - Calais	Jolliffe & Banks
Earl of Liverpool	1823	131			N/a	Jolliffe & Banks
Royal Sovereign	1822	135 / 220	Brocklebank, Deptford	2 * 40 hp Butterly	London - Ramsgate	Brocklebank's Ramsgate line
City of London	1824	146	Deptford		N/a	Brocklebank's Ramsgate line
Superb	1820	155 / 246	Scotts	2 * 35 hp Napier	Liverpool - Greenock
Mountaineer	1821	118 / 190	Cornwallis, Greenock	2 * 35 hp Napier	Liverpool - Dublin
Belfast	1820	132 / 190	Ritchie & Co., Belfast	2 * 35 hp Napier	Liverpool - Dublin
Talbot	1819	77 / 156	Wood & Co., Glasgow	2 * 30 hp Napier	London - Calais
Waterloo	1819	134 / 210	Scotts, Glasgow	2 * 30 hp, Cook	London - Calais
Rapid	1822	84 / 140	Cornwallis, Greenock	2 * 30 hp Napier	London - Rotterdam
Eclipse	1819	87 / 190	Brent, Rotherhithe	2 * 30 hp Boulton & Watt	London - Margate
Hylton Joliffe	1825	174 / 300	Scotts	80 hp Scott, Greenock	N/a	ex-Trinacria
Brocklebank		111
Attwood		143

Early shipping lines

In 1826 GSN had eight shipping lines:

London to Ramsgate and Margate
London to Calais: Attwood, Lord Melville
London to Lisbon. Vigo, Porto and Gibraltar: George IV, Duke of York
London to Boulogne: Rapid
London to Ostend: Earl of Liverpool, Mountaineer
London to Rotterdam: Belfast
London to Hamburg: Sir Edward Banks, Hylton Jolliffe
Brighton to Dieppe: Eclipse, Brocklebank, ''Talbot.

The line to Ramsgate and Margate had been Brocklebank's Ramsgate and Broadstairs Steam Packet Company, that was continued by GSN. In order to limit competition GSN made an agreement with the Margate company, in which Sir Robert Banks had an interest. In 1831 the "New Margate Company" reintroduced competition, but also led to a new agreement. By 1838 the Margate Company had been bought by GSN, which continued a service to Ramsgate. It left Margate to the "New Margate Company" in exchange for 9d for each Margate passenger in Summer. In 1849 GSN would buy the "New Margate Company"'s vessels.
The line to Calais had been inherited the line to Calais with the Lord Melville and the Earl of Liverpool. It then bought the Rapid, so it could use the Earl of Liverpool for a new line to Ostend.
The line to Lisbon, Vigo, Porto and Gibraltar was part of plans to establish a London - Cádiz and a London - Saint Petersburg line. These obviously required bigger ships. George IV and Duke of York measured between 500 and 600 tons burthen, and had 130 hp engines. These were a technological success, proving they were able to withstand the storms in the Bay of Biscay and the Baltic Sea. However, the shareholders were not happy with these lines. In March 1827 they agreed to sell the ships to the executives Banks and Jolliffe at a huge loss. By August 1827 the George IV and Duke of York had indeed been sold.
The first line from London to Rotterdam had been opened by the Rapid of captain Smith in July 1822. In August 1822, the "London and Rotterdam Steam Packet Company" started to operate on the same route and immediately came to an agreement on a schedule with the owners of the Rapid. Its first ship was the King of the Netherlands. The Rapid continued on this line throughout 1823, but then seems to have left. In April 1825 the Queen of the Netherlands joined the King of the Netherlands. In 1826 GSN started to compete by employing the Belfast, which connected to the Rhine steamboats of the Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij, which was important for tourism. GSN and the "London and Rotterdam Steam Packet Company" soon entered into an agreement about freight rates and services. However, in April 1830 the NSM started to compete by commissioning the big. That same year, the "London and Rotterdam Steam Packet Company" sold the Queen of the Netherlands to GSN. In August 1831, the King of the Netherlands also left the London to Rotterdam line. At the end of the 1820s GSN started to operate a freight business. The import of live cattle and sheep from Rotterdam became very important.
The line to Hamburg was started with the Hylton Jolliffe in June 1825. In 1831 the Post Office tendered a contract for the mail from London to Hamburg. It was awarded to the St George Steam Packet Company for £13,350. Within a few months, St. George's transferred the contract to GSN, and when it had to be renewed two years later, there was only a single offer by GSN for £17,000. It was widely believed that GSN achieved both the transfer and the single offer by paying about £2,000 a year to its competitor.
The line from Brighton to Dieppe provided a short route from London to Paris at a time that there were no railways from Paris to the coast. It would occasionally start and end at Newhaven, i.e. when it was not safe to land at Brighton. The local competitor the "Brighton and Dieppe Steam Packet Company" employed the Quentin Durward'', and had better use of the Brighton Pier. After fierce competition, the competitors came to an agreement, and published a common schedule and fare for two GSN ships and one "Brighton and Dieppe" ship.

Acquisition of the London and Edinburgh Steam Packet Company

In 1836 GSN entered the coasting trade by acquiring the "London and Edinburgh Steam Packet Company". The London and Edinburgh had begun a London to Leith service in 1821. Its first ship was the City of Edinburgh of 420 ton burthen. The second ship was the James Watt ''Soho of 510 ton burthen and 120 hp was launched in July 1823. The smaller Tourist'' of 1821, also belonged to this company. The data of these ships shows that they were generally bigger than the early GSN ships.

Facilities in London

In 1827 the GSN decided to start its own engineering workshops. These were located at Deptford. By 1836 these employed 100 men. In 1838 they were extended to simultaneously handle two vessels, and got a crane that could lift 66 tons. This was essential for placing engines and boilers in the ships. After 1829 all new vessels got engines by GSN itself. Hulls for wooden ships were built by local shipyards. Most iron ships were built by Ditchburn & Mare at Bow. The engineering gave GSN a cost advantage. They also allowed GSN to redress many defects in its early ships. In the 1830s the works assisted in lengthening most of the existing GSN fleet.
GSN operated wharves in Coldharbour and near London Bridge, with some piers and buildings designed by company architect and surveyor Robert Palmer Browne. In 1867 GSN would become the owner of St Katharine's Wharf.