Sir James Laing & Sons Ltd, shipbuilders

This page summarises records created by this Business

The summary includes a brief description of the collection(s) (usually including the covering dates of the collection), the name of the archive where they are held, and reference information to help you find the collection.

Date:	1794-1971
History:	This company was founded in 1793 by Philip Laing, a Fife farmer and shipowner and his brother John. The yard was initially located at Monkwearmouth Shore, although the brothers moved premises several times, including to a site at South Shields. In 1818 the brothers' partnership was dissolved and Philip Laing acquired new premises at Deptford, Sunderland. In 1843 Philip Laing transferred control of the company to his son, James Laing. In 1853 the yard launched the 'Amity', the first iron vessel built on the River Wear and followed this shortly afterwards in 1855 with 'La Hogue', believed to be the largest vessel built in the North of England up to that time. Laings was also responsible for the 'Torrens', a composite ship of iron frame and wooden planks. Launched in 1875, she set a new record journey time from London to Adelaide, making the voyage in 64 days. The company prospered under the control of Sir James Laing and became a limited company in 1898. Sir James exerted considerable influence, not only over his own company but over the shipping world. He was chairman of the River Wear Commissioners for 32 years, and a director of the Suez Canal Company. He was knighted in 1897 and died in 1901, when he was succeeded by his son, Hugh Laing. In 1901 the shipyard covered an area of about 17 acres, with five shipbuilding berths and employed in the region of 3,000 men. The shipyard was effectively three yards - the Upper Yard, the Lower or Middle Yard and the New Yard. The Upper Yard (also known as the Wood Yard) included the firm's brass foundries, which produced brass and machine-made fittings for the shipyard as well on a commercial basis to other firms. The Lower or Middle Yard (also known as the Iron Yard) included the the firm's offices and the Deptford Dry Dock. The New Yard was built on the site of an old bottle works to meet the increasing demands on the firm and included a large joiners' shop. The firm also owned a dry dock on the other side of the River Wear, the Cornhill Graving Dock. In February 1908, following a series of heavy losses, the company went into voluntary liquidation and the shipyard closed for a time. In 1909 James Marr, who was already Chairman of Joseph L. Thompson & Sons Ltd, joined the Board of Directors at Sir James Laing & Sons and shortly afterwards became Chairman. In February 1910 the yard re-opened. In 1954 the firm merged with several other companies to became part of Sunderland Shipbuilding, Dry Docks & Engineering Co. Ltd. In 1961 that company merged with William Doxford & Sons Ltd to form the Doxford and Sunderland Shipbuilding and Engineering Group. In 1966 the parent company absorbed all of its subsidiaries and Sir James Laing & Sons ceased to exist as an independent company. The firm's Deptford shipyard continued to operate until the mid 1980s, launching its final vessel in 1985. From 1966 the firm maintained its old series of yard numbers. As a result of that continuity the operational records for the Deptford yard from 1966 to 1986 have been catalogued here rather than with the records of Sunderland Shipbuilders Ltd.
Places:	Sunderland, Durham
Functions, occupations and activities:	Engineering: Mechanical > Shipbuilding and marine engineering
Name authority reference:	GB/NNAF/C105394 (Former ISAAR ref: GB/NNAF/B14113 )

Collections
Number	Description	Held by	Reference	Further information
1	1794-1971: corporate, financial, production and staff records	Tyne and Wear Archives	DS.LG	See LA Ritchie, The Shipbuilding Industry (1992)
2	1921-43: building plans	Tyne and Wear Archives	Acc 2591	See Annual Review 1991/92