The Story of the East Riding of Yorkshire

We have seen in some of the foregoing chapters how the small town of Wyke, or Hull, was born early in the twelfth century, how it received a charter of privileges from King Edward I., and how it was afterwards fortified with walls and ditches that withstood successfully a couple of sieges during the Great Civil War. It remains to see how the small, insignificant ‘King’s Town upon Hull’ has grown into a city so important as to take rank after London and Liverpool as ‘England’s Third Port.’

Six hundred years ago Hull was much smaller than, and nothing like so important as, its neighbours, Beverley and Hedon. Yet to-day its inhabitants number twenty-one times those of Beverley, and two hundred and thirty-nine times those of Hedon. Why should this be?

The answer is that in the first place Hull owes its greatness to its position on the northern shore of the mighty Humber. When ships were small, they could pass up the river Hull to Beverley, and could reach Hedon by its Haven. But as ships grew in size this became no longer possible, and Beverley and Hedon were left behind in the race, while Hull, because of its deep water, went ahead. For it is situate at the only spot on the north bank of the Humber where there is water sufficiently deep to allow large ships to approach the shore.

But there is one remarkable thing about the growth of Hull. This has taken place almost entirely within the last two hundred years. For 450 years after its walls were built, its inhabitants lived within them. Not till nearly the close of the eighteenth century did their houses begin to stretch out beyond its walls. In 1812 the area of the town was about three times that within these walls. But in 1912 the city has extended its arms so far beyond them that there are along its main roads six tram routes, each measuring from one and three-quarters to two and a half miles, while the houses of its inhabitants extend still farther.

The rapid growth of Hull within the last hundred years may be seen also by comparing the numbers of its inhabitants in different years:—

These figures show that during each period of thirty years from 1811 to 1901 the population almost doubled itself, and that the greatest actual increase was between the years 1871 and 1901.

And why this sudden growth? Because of the introduction and perfection of the railway and the steamship, which together have enabled merchants to reap full benefit from the great advantages that nature herself bestowed upon their city.

If you turn to the fourteenth-century plan given on page 165, you will see that trading ships are moored in the river Hull—the ‘Old Harbour,’ as we call it to-day—on the right bank of which are the cranes for removing their cargoes. For another four centuries the river continued to be the only place for the mooring of ships.

But when, by the revival of the whale-fishing industry in 1765, the amount of shipping greatly increased, need was felt for more accommodation. An Act of Parliament was therefore obtained in 1774 giving permission to ‘the Dock Company, of Kingston-upon-Hull,’ to make a dock extending from the river Hull to the Beverley Gate along the line of the town moat.^[63]

The first stone of this dock was laid in the following year, amid scenes of great enthusiasm. Saluted with the firing of nine cannon and accompanied by ‘a large band of music, constables and flags,’ the Mayor and Corporation walked in procession to the Cross Keys, where they had, we read, ‘an excellent dinner.’ Nor did they forget their humbler townsfolk, for the workmen were given ‘fifteen guineas to drink.’

In 1778 the work of building the dock was finished, and Hull had the honour of possessing the first enclosed trading dock in Great Britain. It proved a great success, paying to its 120 shareholders good dividends out of the dues which were collected from the owners of vessels using it.

These varied from two pence per ton for a coasting vessel trading as far north as Holy Island or as far south as Yarmouth, to one shilling and ninepence per ton for vessels trading with Greenland, Africa and America—foreign vessels paying in all cases double dues.

The Dock measured nine acres in water area. In 1809 another dock was built, with an entrance direct from the Humber. This became known as the New Dock, the corresponding adjective ‘Old’ being then applied to the earlier one. In 1829 a Junction Dock was built between the two. The line of the town moat was now entirely replaced with a line of docks.

In 1840 the railway came to Hull. The station was at that time in Kingston Street—on the site of the present Goods Station—and to give greater access to it for ships, the Railway Dock was built off the New Dock.

But the four docks that Hull then possessed proved quite incapable of dealing with the volume of trade to which they gave rise. So new ground was tapped, and in 1850 the Victoria Dock, with a water area of 20 acres, was built. At the same time the names of the three old docks were changed, and became thenceforth the Queen’s Dock, Humber Dock, and Prince’s Dock.

For nineteen years this provision was sufficient. Then there was opened the Albert Dock, four acres larger than the Victoria Dock, and in 1880 and 1883 this was followed by the William Wright Dock^[64] and the St. Andrew’s Dock.

All this building of new docks was intended to provide greater facilities for shipping, and as these were provided the volume of trade went on increasing. Meanwhile new shipping companies were formed to cope with the increase of trade.

Most famous of all the shipping companies is that known to us as ‘Thos. Wilson, Sons & Co., Limited,’ which was started by Mr. Thomas Wilson about the time of the opening of Junction Dock. ‘Beckinton, Wilson & Co.’—as the firm was then called—possessed one or two sailing ships and traded with Sweden in iron ore. ‘Thos. Wilson Sons & Co.’ possess a fleet of nearly one hundred steamships, and trade with all the chief ports of the world.

The history of the Wilson Line has been called a romance of the shipping world. Trade with Sweden was followed by the opening out of trade with Russia. When the building of the Suez Canal gave added importance to the Mediterranean, the Wilson Line began to trade with the ports of the Adriatic Sea, and later with Odessa and Constantinople. Next came trade with India, the Orlando, built at Hull in 1870, being the first steamship to arrive at Hull from India direct.

After this was laid the foundation of trade with New York. The success of the new venture seemed very doubtful at first, but the Wilson Line now carry more cargo to and from England and New York than the vessels of any other line of steamships. Together with all these new enterprises has gone the organisation of weekly services to the Belgian ports, and of fortnightly services to the ports of the Mediterranean Sea.

Early in this chapter it was stated that in the first place Hull owes its greatness to its geographical position. It is this position which has made it a great distributing centre for imported goods, and a great collecting centre for exported goods. The Port of Hull has thus become ‘the gateway for the world to the great manufacturing centres of Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Midlands.’

Much of the transfer and despatch of goods is carried on over the side of the ocean-going steamships into or from the river-going lighters and keels, which are able to make use of two systems of inland waterways. One of these, the Aire and Calder Navigation, dates from the year 1698, and is the oldest as well as the most up-to-date waterway in Great Britain. The other system is known as the Trent Navigation.

The relative cheapness of transit by water makes these inland waterways of very great importance for all heavy traffic in which speed is not required. For fast traffic Hull is served by three railway systems, the North Eastern Railway, the Hull and Barnsley Railway, and the Great Central Railway; and other Companies have running powers over the lines of the North Eastern.

The coming of the first railway to Hull in 1840 was described in the preceding chapter. Five years after this event the merchants of Hull sought to establish a Hull and Barnsley Junction Railway; but the project fell through, and it was not till 1885 that the line now known as the Hull and Barnsley Railway was constructed.

With this new line was also constructed a new dock. This, the Alexandra Dock, is the deepest dock on the east coast of Great Britain, and has a water area of 53½ acres.

The opening of this huge dock gave a great impetus to the export trade in coal. In 1884 not more than 600,000 tons were exported, but in 1910 the quantity exported reached the enormous total of 5,000,000 tons.^[65] Most of this went to North Russia, Germany, Holland, Sweden and South America.

Let us take a walk round some of the Hull docks, and try to realise what the import and export trade really means.

Here, in the Alexandra Dock, is a huge iron steamship into which coal is being shipped by means of electric coal hoists or by transporter belts. Its cargo of 5,000 tons is being taken on board at the rate of ten tons a minute. From the hold of another equally large ship grain is pouring into lighters ranged alongside. It will require five working-days of ten hours each to discharge its cargo of 6,000 tons. Then the ship will take its place under the coal hoists, and its empty hold will be filled with an outgoing cargo of ‘black diamonds.’

The Victoria Dock is mainly given up to vessels unloading timber from the White Sea and the Baltic, a large proportion of it being ‘pit props’ for the coal mines of Yorkshire and Lancashire.

In the Albert and William Wright Dock, as well as in the Alexandra Dock, are vessels discharging hundreds of cases of bacon and hams from the United States, or of frozen carcasses of sheep from South America. From the hold of another vessel are being brought up crate after crate of eggs from North Russia, from another bale after bale of wool from Australia. Lined up alongside another big steamship are dozens of agricultural engines and machines made by workmen in Gainsborough and Lincoln. In a few weeks’ time they will be at work in the corn-fields of Russia.

Every day of the week we shall find ships giving up their cargoes of linseed and cottonseed from India, Egypt, or South Russia. But if we want to see the ‘butter boats’ emptied, we must be on the spot in the very early hours of a Monday morning. For these boats arrive from Denmark during the Sunday, and the work of transporting their cargoes to the lines of railway waggons that await their arrival begins with the last stroke of midnight. By four or five o’clock on the Monday morning the butter is on its way to all parts of the north of England. The cargo of one ship alone is sometimes consigned to as many as 300 separate stations.

Come for a walk along the Humber Dock or on the Riverside Quay and, according to the season of the year, we shall see unshipped cargoes of plums from Germany; new potatoes and other vegetables from Jersey, France, and Holland; cranberries from Russia; bananas from the Canary Isles; apples from Australia, Canada, and the United States; oranges, lemons, grapes, nuts, tomatoes and onions from Spain, Portugal and Italy.

Last of all we will pay a visit to the St. Andrew’s Dock, and watch the entrance and unloading of the steam trawlers and steam carriers of the Hull fishing fleets. From the fishing-grounds of the North Sea, the White Sea, and the stormy seas around Iceland each brings its ‘catch.’ As quickly as it can be brought up from the hold—tubs of plaice, turbot, halibut, codfish, ling, hake or herring—it is sold at auction to the fish buyers who attend from all the large towns of the north of England; and as quickly it is packed on board the waiting ‘Fish Trains,’ which will distribute it among the fifteen million people who live within reach of the port of Hull.

We shall now be able, perhaps, to understand what is meant when we call Hull ‘England’s Third Port.’ The following table shows the position of Hull in comparison with the other large ports of Great Britain:—

The growth of Hull’s shipping industry has meant a corresponding growth of its manufacturing industries. Most of these find their home on the banks of the river Hull, along whose winding course we can find oil and cake mills, flour mills, saw mills, paint, colour and varnish works, starch, blue and black-lead works, coal tar works, and cement works—all one after another.

Among these mills and works are some that rank as the largest in the British Isles. Thus the ‘British Oil and Cake Mills, Ltd.’ have the largest oil refinery, the ‘Hull Oil Manufacturing Co.’ are the largest producers of castor-oil, and the firm of ‘Blundell, Spence & Co.’ own the largest paint works. There are forty different firms engaged in the saw-milling industry, and an equal number in the manufacture of paints, colours and varnishes.

That ‘England’s Third Port’ is still going ahead may be seen in recent shipping and industrial developments. One of these has been the building of a new Riverside Quay, available for large ships at any state of the tide, and the inauguration of a daily service of steamers to and from the Belgian ports. Another is the construction of a new Joint Dock by the North Eastern and the Hull and Barnsley Railways. This is planned to have eventually a water area of 83 acres, and to be thus an imposing rival of the Great Central Railway’s new dock at Immingham on the Lincolnshire shore of the Humber.

The year 1910 saw the beginning of a new direct steamship service between Australia and Hull, a service which is expected to open out a large trade in the import of Australian wool for the looms of the West Riding. March, 1909, saw the arrival in Hull of the first large cargo of soya beans sent out from China, and the beginning in Europe of a new industry—the crushing of soya beans and the manufacture of soya oil and feeding cake.

Another new industry was started in 1907, when the ‘National Radiator Co.’ opened a branch of their American works. They have extended their buildings each year since the opening, and now employ nearly 1000 hands.

Most noticeable of all recent developments in Hull, however, have been the destruction of slum districts and the opening out of wide thoroughfares in the heart of the city—a work that was carried out during the five years’ mayoralty of Sir Alfred Gelder—the securing of an unfailing supply of pure drinking-water; the construction of a tramway system that is one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, in Great Britain; and the planning of Garden Villages and Public Parks on the outskirts of the city.