Grimsby, Lincolnshire pub history index
A description of the history of Great Grimsby up until 1872
Great Grimsby is an ancient borough, market town, and a large and important
seaport, and one of the polling places for the parts of Lindsey, situated on
the southern shore, and near the mouth of the broad estuary of the Humber,
16 miles S.E. of Hull, 10 miles N. by W. of Louth, 35 miles N.E. by N. of
Lincoln, and 163 miles N. of London by road, and 154 by rail. It is in
Caistor Union, and its parish contains 1838 acres of land and 910 of water;
and its inhabitants amounted, in 1801, to 1524; in 1811, to 2747; in 1821,
to 3004; in 1831, to 4225 ; in 1841, to 3700; in 1851, to 8860; in 1861, to
11,067; and in 1871, to 20,238 souls, including the hamlet of Wellow. The
rapid increase in size and population within the last few years is mainly
attributable to the opening of the docks, the facility of railway
communication, and the large fishing trade. The municipal borough still
comprises only the parish of Great Grimsby, but the parliamentary borough
was extended by the Reform Act of 1832, so as to embrace also the seven
parishes of Clee (with Cleethorpes), Great and Little Coates, Bradley,
Laceby, Waltham, and Scartho; so that it now extends over about 16,347
acres, and had 26,496 inhabitants in 1871. By the Reform Act of 1832, the
borough was limited to one representative in Parliament, instead of two, as
formerly. Grimsby had a mayor as early as the reign of King John, and sent
two members to the parliament which assembled at Shrewsbury, in 1283. The
right of voting, as determined by the House of Commons, in 1703, was in the
resident free burgesses paying scot and lot; and every person marrying a
freeman's daughter or widow was entitled to his freedom. By the great
increase in population during the last twenty years, and the extension of
the franchise by the Representation of the People Act, 1867, there are now
4719 voters on the register for the parliamentary borough, of whom 3731 are
in Grimsby, where there are 3475 municipal voters. A man marrying a
freeman's daughter or widow still enjoys the privileges of a freeman.
Great Grimsby had anciently two churches, and was defended by two
block-houses; but historians differ considerably respecting its origin and
early history. Camden ridicules the story " that it was founded by a
merchant named Gryme, who obtained great riches in consequence of having
brought up an exposed child, called Havloc, who proved to be of royal Danish
blood, and from being scullion in the king's kitchen, had the honour of
marrying the king's daughter;" but whether fictitious or true, the
corporation seal, which is very ancient, emblematically gives countenance to
this statement. Holles supposes that the town was founded by a Norwegian
pirate; and McPhersqn observes, " Grimsby is noted by the Norwegian or
Icelandic writers, as an emporium resorted to by merchants from Norway,
Scotland, Orkney, and the Western Islands." The Danish invasion began at
this port, which was at that period the chief inlet to the midland counties,
and the invaders found their approaches at this avenue opposed with great
bravery, from which circumstance tho town is said to derive its name; for
grym is a pure British word, signifying great or powerful, and bye is
undoubtedly a corruption of the English word bod, meaning a habitation, so
that the place was called Grymsbye, or the residence of a powerful and
valiant people. The seven artificial hills, or tumuli, in the adjacent
marshes, show that Grimsby was a place of consequence among the Romanized
Britons. In the reign of Edward III., the port was of such consequence as to
supply eleven ships and 170 mariners, for the siege of Calais. Its trade
afterwards declined, and its harbour being neglected, at length became so
choked with the mud deposits of the Humber, that only small vessels could
get up to the town; in which state it continued till the latter part of last
century, when some of the principal landed proprietors of the neighbourhood
raised a subscription for the improvement of the harbour, as well as the
drainage of their estates. In 1790, they obtained an act of parliament,
incorporating them under the title of "The Grimsby Haven Company," which act
was amended by another, in 1799; and a custom-house was soon afterwards
built here, by order of the Lords of the Treasury. The spacious Dock, and
tho other works connected with this improvement of the haven, were completed
at the cost of about £70,000, and opened in December, 180O; and during the
succeeding 20 years many large warehouses and granaries, and several corn,
bone, and oil mills, were built along the eastern, or town side of the Dock,
which is now called the Old Dock, and extends nearly a mile in length,
having a floating surface of about 15 acres. This Dock being long and
narrow, has the appearance of a broad canal, and is supplied with fresh
water from a number of small rivulets flowing to it from the Wold hills, at
the distance of six or eight miles, across the intervening low lands. There
are few buildings at present on the western side of this long dock, but a
swing bridge, which is being constructed across the wharf, will be a great
advantage to the public traffic, and open out this valuable portion of the
corporation property. It is entered from the Humber by a lock, 150 feet long
and 37 broad, in which the fresh water raises the vessels to the dock level,
and after they have passed into the dock, the lock water is let out and
assists materially in scouring out the long and narrow silty channel,
extending from the lock to the deep waters of the Humber; and besides this,
a powerful scouring machine is used at the time of spring tides, which
effectually clears the bottom of deposits. The dock and other improvements
of the old Haven Company, saved Grimsby from the entire loss of its trade
and commerce; and its population increased from 1524 souls in 1801, to 3700
in 1841, but since the completion of the extensive New Docks, it has
increased to more than 20,000 souls. Mr. James Rayner is the Old Dock
master.
The ancient borough and port of Grimsby is at the mouth of the broad estuary
of the Humber, about five miles from its confluence with the sea, and has in
front of it a deep and extensive roadstead, with excellent anchorage in blue
clay, protected from the storms of the German Ocean by the opposite
promontory of Spurn Point. In this roadstead'as many as 1500 vessels may
ride safely in all weathers. It was these natural advantages which gave it
its early maritime importance in the times of the Danes and Saxons; but, in
common with other ports on the coast, not backed with an inland navigation
to populous manufacturing districts, Grimsby fell into decay, while Hull
took its place as a foreign, and Gainsborough as an inland port. The
construction of canals from the manufacturing districts to the Trent, the
Ouse, and other navigable rivers, threw sea-board ports, like Grimsby, still
more into the background. The Old Dock, completed in December, 1800, was the
first attempt to improve the natural harbour by artificial means, and ever
since then Grimsby has enjoyed an increasing import trade in timber, deals,
oil seeds, cake, &c, brought from the Baltic, Norway, and North America.
Railways have the power of restoring to ports like Grimsby a share of the
advantages of which they have been deprived hy the want of inland
navigation; especially where steam ships carry on a great portion of the
seaborne trade. When a steamer can run into a port as soon as it makes land,
and can transfer its cargo to railway waggons, that cargo may be delivered
150 miles off before another steamer can grope its way up the intricate
navigation of a river at night. The spirited but until lately
ill-remunerated Proprietors of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire
Railway, which has its eastern terminus at Grimsby, determined to avail
themselves of the natural advantages of this port, by making an extensive
New Dock, etc., in the silty shoals of the Humber, extending to the deep
waters of the estuary, and capable of receiving the largest class of
steamers. They opened their railway, from Manchester and Sheffield to
Grimsby, in March, 1848, and at the same time the East Lincolnshire Railway,
from Grimsby to Louth and Boston, was opened; thus connecting this rising
port with the great network of railways now traversing all parts of the
kingdom. The capital expended here by the Company of Proprietors of the
Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway and the Grimsby Docks, in
the purchase of the Old Dock, &c., has been about one million sterling. The
length of this costly railway and its branches is about 254 miles, and has
running powers over 421 miles; but the whole distance from Grimsby to
Manchester is only 110 miles. In 1845, this Railway Company obtained an act
of parliament authorizing them to expend about half a million of money in
making the New Docks, purchasing the old one, &c. In making the New Dock,
Tidal Basin, &c, an area of about 125 acres had to be embanked in from the
silt beds of the Humber, extending about 1 1/4 mile to the deep channel of
the estuary. The first pile of the coffer dam was driven in April, 1846, and
in constructing it alone upwards of 8500 sheathed piles of Memel timber were
used, each of the average length of 50 feet. The first stone of the New
Dock, now called the Royal Dock, in commemoration of her Majesty's visit in
1854, was laid by Prince Albert, on the 18th of April, 1840, and the dock
was opened in the summer of 1852. The Royal Dock has a water area of upwards
of 25 acres, and a depth of 25 feet at its entrance, shoaling gradually to
20 feet. It is supplied with fresh water from the old dock and its sources.
In case of need, a whole fleet of war steam ships could lie in this dock,
and reach the German Ocean by half an hour's steaming. Wharves and Quays
extend on both sides of the dock, upwards of 3600 feet in length, and are
traversed by railways extending from the main lines, and going into the long
ranges of sheds and warehouses. The Tidal Basin in the Humber, fronting the
Royal Dock, has an area of 15 acres, and its depth, even at neap tides, is
12 1/2 feet at low, and 24 1/2 at high water; but at high water spring tides
its depth is 27 1/2 feet. The Royal Dock is entered from the Tidal Basin by
two Locks, constructed of massive masonry, and furnished with double sets of
gates, for ebb and flood tides. The larger lock was constructed pursuant to
an agreement with Government, to admit the largest class of war steamers. It
is 300 feet long and 70 feet broad. The smaller lock, designed for general
purposes, is 200 feet long and 45 broad. The lock gates are worked by
hydraulic machinery, and can be opened and closed with ease and rapidity.
The quays, sheds, and warehouses are provided with cranes, worked by
hydraulic machinery and other powerful means, by which the most ponderous
goods can be rapidly and economically transferred from the ship to the
railway waggon or the warehouse. A convenient landing quay of masonry is
constructed within and on each side of the Tidal Basin, alongside which
large vessels can safely lie at any time of the tide, and land or embark
passengers or goods. Steamers are now regularly despatched after the arrival
of the continental trains from Liverpool (Brunswick Station), Manchester,
Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield, &c, &c, reaching the docks at 6.15 p.m., for
Hamburg, Rotterdam, and Antwerp, every Wednesday and Saturday. The
passengers are taken alongside the steamers, and their luggage put on board
without further expense. Steamers with goods to other ports are also
despatched daily. James Reed, 'Esq., is portmaster and general
superintendent. About five acres of the upper end of the Royal Dock are
reserved as a Timber Pond, and two lines of rails are extended through it
upon piles, with travelling cranes, by which timber can be removed at one
lift from the pond to the railway waggon. A tower,
300 feet high, is built between the lock gates, and serves to contain the
accumulator for the hydraulic engines and cranes, and also as a landmark,
which can be seen over Spurn Point, and at a considerable distance out at
sea. The Spurn Lights guide vessels entering the Humber in the night. Since
1852, other dock accommodations have been in progress. A Fish Dock, of 12
acres, with an entrance lock and a pontoon, has been completed on the
eastern side of the Royal Dock. An additional entrance lock is now in course
of construction, to meet the increasing wants of the trade. It will be 30
feet wide, so as to admit of the largest class of fishing vessels. A Dry or
Graving Dock, 400 feet long and 70 broad, was completed in 1858, at a cost
of £32,000, and it is a work of which Grimsby may be justly proud, as it is
the finest and most convenient on the whole east coast of England. It has an
average depth of 19 1/2 feet. It is proposed to open a direct ship
communication between the Royal Dock and the Old Dock. The Emigrants' Home,
originally built for a railway station, is situated on the western side of
the Royal Dock, and capable of accommodating 320 emigrants. Mr. Isaac
Freeman is the manager.
Grimsby has direct railway communication with London, and all parts of the
kingdom by means of the East Lincolnshire Branch of the Great Northern, and
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire lines, which have at their junction
in the south western end of the town a large passenger station, called Town
Station. The other, called Dock Station, which is situated near the entrance
to the docks, was opened in the year 1803, when a branch line from the town
to Cleethorpes was completed by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire
Company. The goods station of the last-named company is in Queen street,
that belonging to the Great Northern Company being situated in Pasture
street. The fishing trade, which is the staple business of the town, is one
of the great sources of wealth to Grimsby, and has increased to such an
extent during the last few years that it was found necessary, in 1868, to
enlarge the dock appropriated to this traffic to more than double its
original size, and it now covers an area of upwards of 12 acres. In 1860
about 4537 tons of fish were sent from here by railway to London, Manchester
and other markets, but in 1870 the quantity sent reached 26,324 tons; and at
the present time no less than 1100 tons per week are being despatched.
During 1871 over 60 new smacks were built and added to the Grimsby fleet of
fishing vessels, and it is estimated that there are 1200 fishing apprentices
belonging to this port. About 320 vessels are engaged in this trade. The
Anglo-French Steam Ship Company, established in 1850, transferred its
undertaking, in 1865, to tho Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Company,
who has now a fine fleet of large steamers plying weekly to Hamburgh,
Rotterdam and Antwerp. Mr. George Copley is agent. The Anglo-French Transit
Company, formed in 1856, has five screw steamers plying every alternate day
between this port and Dieppe. Mr. H. Josse is agent. A steamer for the West
Indies, belonging to the Hamburgh-American line, calls hero monthly, and it
is anticipated that Grimsby will become a coaling station for ocean
steamers. A steamer belonging to Messrs. Bannister leaves the port for
Ghent, besides which there is a daily packet to Hull. Coal is largely
exported from Grimsby, and its shipment is effected by means of drops, so
constructed that a vessel can be loaded with a thousand tons in one day. In
the year 1871 the enormous quantity of 335,000 tons was exported. The number
of vessels belonging to this port in 1856 was 110, with an aggregate tonnage
of 6979 tons; while in 1871, 378 vessels were registered, having a tonnage
of 26,424, shewing that in 16 years the number of ships and their tonnage
were nearly quadrupled. The number of vessels which arrived here from
foreign ports in 1855 was 309; in 1865, 907; and in 1871, 1171. The number
outwards in 1855, was 281; in 1865, 768; and in 1871, 1206.
The number of coasters for the same periods shows on the other hand a slight
decline, probably owing to the enormous increase of railway traffic and the
great facilities afforded here for its developement. Their numbers were
(inwards and outwards) 1855, 507; in 1805, 497; and in 1871, 416.
The Custom House is in New Dock street; James Edwards, Esq., is the
collector; Mr. R. R. Moxon, surveyor: Messrs. S. Walmsley, R. Blow, E.
Wallis, and F. Forder, clerks; William D. Ramsay and John William Fann,
writers; N. Butler, C. Forder, G. Fuller, George Baglee, H. H. Bright, W.
Waterman, J. Howgego, and R. Quine, examining officers; and 35 out-door
officers. There is a Coastguard Station at Cleethorpes, under the charge of
a chief officer. There are now twelve pilots residing here. The total amount
of duties received at the Custom House was for the years ending respectively
March 31st., 1870, £101,582; 1871, £81,785; and up to March 31, in the
present year, about £70,000; the Franco-Prussian war having seriously
affected the duties during the last year, and the recent reduction of the
sugar duty having had a similar tendency. The total value of exports during
the year 1871, consisting of cotton and woollen fabrics, machinery, tools,
coal, &c., amounted to £16,215,917 sterling.
An International Signal Station belonging to the port, is connected with its
shipping interest, and the friends on shore of those on board ships
anchoring through stress of weather in Grimsby roads, within the Spurn, &c,
are thereby enabled tc communicate immediately with them.
The town of Grimsby, though narrow, extends about a mile and a half
southward from the New Docks, and is bounded on the west for nearly a mile
by the Old Dock. The main street, running nearly the whole length of the
town, was called Loft street, but was named Victoria street, in honour of
her Majesty's visit, in October, 1854; and many of the old and low buildings
have given place to spacious houses and shops. In 1848 an act of parliament
was obtained, constituting the Corporation a Local Board of Health; and, in
1853, another act was passed for the general improvement of the town, with
powers to levy rates for providing a new Market Place, a new Town Hall, a
General Cemetery, Water Works, &c, and for thoroughly draining the town by
making large sewers in every street. The sum of £6000 was borrowed for the
Drainage and Water Works. The latter are supplied from those extraordinary
fountains called the Blow Wells, near Little Coates, about a mile from the
town, and from which an unfailing supply of pure water is obtained; and from
the pumping works there is forced into a reservoir, 70 feet high, at Scartho,
from which it is conveyed by pipes to all parts of the town. The Cemetery
comprises about 8 1/2 acres, and cost about £2500. Half of it was
consecrated by the Bishop, July 24th, 1855. It has two mortuary chapels, one
of which is in the decorated Early English style of the 14th century, and
the other in the plainer style of the 12th century. For enlarging and
improving the Market Place, the Corporation borrowed £5,000, and purchased
and pulled down a large range of old buildings, called Butcher lane, &c, on
part of the site of which they built (in 1856), a handsome Corn Exchange and
Market Hall, at the cost of about £3500. The building is of brick with stone
quoins, and the entrance has a domed cupola. The old Town Hall, built in
1780, was taken down, and a large new Town Hall, with a Gaol and Police
Station attached, was erected near the River Head, at a cost of £8500,
raised by the sale of land and stock, except the sum of £3000, which was
borrowed. The open Market Place, called the New Town Market Place, is used
for a Saturday evening market, which is extensively supplied with
provisions, &c. The weekly market for corn, cattle, &c, is held on Friday.
The cattle and sheep market was formerly held in the Bull-ring, but is now
held in a small field near the Church. The old chartered annual fairs for
cattle, &c, formerly held June 17th and September 15th, have been obsolete
several years. Gas Works were established here in 1837, in Holme street, by
Mr. Richard Holme; but being much too small for the growing necessities of
the town, new Works were constructed on a much larger scale, in 1851, by a
Company, with a capital of £10,000, raised in £10 shares, which in their
turn becoming inadequate to the requirements of the town, the Company
replaced by more extensive works, under powers of an act obtained in 1807,
enabling them to raise a further sum of £60,000. There are now three
gas-holders, of the united capacity of 300,000 cubic feet. Gas is supplied
to the public at 3s. 9d. per 1000 feet. Mr. M. Broadhead is manager and
engineer. Since the opening of the new Docks several new streets have been
opened, and the town is now rapidly improving in size and appearance. On its
eastern side, called the East Marsh, an entire new town has sprung up, with
a spacious church, chapels, and schools: the town is also extending itself
into the parish of Clee, and forming New Clee, a rapidly increasing suburb.
The Yarborough Hotel, near the railway station, was orected in 1851, by the
Earl of Yarborough, and is a large, handsome, and well-conducted
establishment; and, in 1864, a large and handsome building, called the Royal
Hotel, was erected near the Dock Station by a Company of shareholders, at a
cost of £7000. Mr. Bates is secretary. During the last 20 years, several
handsome terraces of neat houses have been erected. Those crying nuisances,
the toll bars, which so long existed at each end of the town, were removed
in 1856. In 1869, an act was obtained enabling the Corporation to throw a
bridge over the Old Dock, extending from Freeport Wharf into the West Marsh,
and opening a road to the West Marshes; and another over the railway, from
King Edward street into New Market street; these are now in course of
construction, and will no doubt prove to be a very great advantage to the
public when completed.
CORPORATION.— The Municipal Borough of Great Grimsby comprises only the
parish of Great Grimsby, but the Parliamentary Borough was extended, by the
Reform Act of 1832, to seven other parishes. The Municipal Borough received
its first charter from King John, and its last from James II., under which
it was governed by a mayor, a high steward, recorder, eleven aldermen twelve
common councilmen, two coroners, a town clerk, and other officers. The
Mayor, Recorder, and two of the Aldermen were justices of the peace, and
held a Court of Quarter Sessions for the borough; but this was abolished by
the Municipal Reform Act of 1832, under which the borough is now governed by
a Town Council, consisting of a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve
councillors, with a commission of the peace, comprising the Mayor and ten
Borough Magistrates. The Corporation, or Town Council, appoint the borough
officers, and, as already noticed, the Improvement Act conferred upon them
the powers of a Local Board of Health. A Court Leet and Baron, with a view
of frank-pledge, &c, is held here occasionally. Petty Sessions for the
Borough are held every Monday and Thursday, at the Town Hall; and for this
part of Lincolnshire, on the first and third Tuesdays of every month, at the
County Police Office, in Victoria street South. W. H. Daubney. Esq., is
clerk to the county magistrates. The Corporation property yields a yearly
revenue of about £2000, out of which they have to support the Corporation
Schools, &c. The Freemen's Estate, formerly used as pastures for their
cattle, now comprises ten closes of land and eighty garden plots in the
Little Field and Haycroft Pastures, and several paddocks and some valuable
land in the East Marsh, now a populous part of the town, the whole producing
a yearly rental of upwards of £2700. Of this income, one-twentieth part of
the rent of the land is paid to the Corporation, and after paying incidental
expenses, the remainder, amounting to more than £2000 per annum, is divided
amongst the enrolled freemen and freemen's widows, yielding £4. 10s. to
each. A Freemen's Committee is appointed yearly for the management of this
property. The gold chain worn by the Mayor, was purchased by subscription,
at the cost of 100 guineas, in commemoration of Prince Albert laying the
first stone of the Royal Dock, in April, 1849, and attached to it is a
beautiful gold clasp, on the back of which is engraved, " In commemoration
of the visit to the borough of her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, his
Royal Highness Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, and other members of the
Royal Family, on the 14th of October, 1851."
Provided By Kevan