Acaster Technical Specification

Robert Livingston and George Steel traded as managers and shipbrokers under the title of G. Steel & Co. The partnership was dissolved  in April 1889 with George carrying on trading as G. Steel & Co. In the same year Robert Livingston and Leonard Richard Conner went into partnership as Livingston, Conner & Co. R. Livingston & Co., and L.R. Conner & Co., were founded in 1899 with  offices at Church Street, West Hartlepool with the partnership of Livingston, Conner & Co., officially dissolved in July 1900. L.R. Conner & Co. ceased trading in 1916.

Family History:

Leonard Richard Conner was born in c1842 at Greenwich. He married Sarah in 1865 and, by 1881, was living at Stranton with his wife & six children. By the following decade the family were living in Clifton Avenue, West Hartlepool. He died at Hartlepool on 25 July 1918. In his will he left £63, 792.

James Perry senior owned and managed ships from the 1850s. By 1860 he was advertising the buying and selling of ships, mainly for the timber trade.

James Perry senior formed the company of J. Perry & Sons which went into liquidation. In December 1875 the London Gazette printed bankruptcy proceedings for J. Perry & Sons, Merchants, Brokers and Commission Agents at West Hartlepool and Middlesbrough. The partners were; James Perry the elder, Matthew Forrest Perry and James Perry the younger.

In May 1884 the partnership as steamship owners between James Perry senior, James Perry junior and Walter Raimes was dissolved. Around this time James Perry junior would have taken over the company’s reigns and the company became James Perry & Co., of West Hartlepool & London.

At the Board of Trade Inquiry into the loss of the steamer William Hartmann in August of 1883 near the Hook of Holland James Perry junior was given as the owner. In a statement he said that his name did not appear on the register ‘as he believed, it was not originally his property’.

Family History:

James Perry was born in 1820 at Southwick, Durham to parents James and Alice (Hewison) Perry. In November 1844 at South Shields he married Mary Forrest Shotton whose uncle, Matthew Forrest, was a shipowner. James was listed in the 1851 census as living at Wallsend and working as a grocer. By 1861 he and his wife were at Seaton Carew and James was listed as a shipowner. By 1881 the couple were living at The Square, Stockton. Mary died aged 63 on 31^st March 1886 at Glaisdale. She was interred at Seaton Carew. In 1891 James was living as a boarder at 15 Durham Street, Bishop Auckland.

James died aged 81 at Bishop Auckland in 1901.

James Perry junior was born in 1849 at Newcastle-on-Tyne to parents James and Mary (nee Shotton) Perry. By 1871 he was living with his parents and five siblings at Raglan Place, Stranton, West Hartlepool. He married Margaret Allison (daughter of Jacob Allison, shipowner) in September 1873 at Hartlepool. The couple had two sons and three daughters during their marriage. On the 1881 census the couple were living at Moor Terrace, Hartlepool with their two sons and a daughter with James working as a shipbroker. By 1891 they had moved to Lewisham and by 1901 to West Ham, Essex with James as an insurance agent for Prudential. Margaret died aged 65 in 1916.

Matthew Forrest Perry was born in 1847 to parents James and Mary (Shotton) Perry at Newcastle-on-Tyne. In 1871 he was living with his parents at Stranton, West Hartlepool and was working as a commercial clerk. Matthew married Jane Rickinson in August 1873 at Norton.  They had three children during their marriage. By 1881 the couple were living at Stowmarket, Suffolk with Matthew working as an engineer’s clerk.

Matthew died aged 43 in the first quarter of 1891 at Lewisham.

Walter Raimes was born in 1855 at Acaster Malbis, Yorkshire to parents John (farmer) and Isabella (Cundall) Raimes.  He began his working life as a grocer’s assistant. By 1881 he was a boarder with the Perry family at Stockton and working as a grocer’s assistant

Walter died aged 75 at Stockton in 1930.

The company of J. Wood & Co. began with the purchase of the steamship Dewdrop in 1882. In 1904 the company relocated their offices from West Hartlepool to London. Their last two ships were sold in 1909.

At different periods the company owned three ships one named Twilight and two named Sunshine.

Family History:

John Wood was born in July 1849 at Swansea to John (a dealer in marine stores and then became a licensed victualler) and Harriet Wood. He married Jane Parcell at Swansea on 10th March 1873.  The couple had one daughter in 1885 and the family had moved to Sutton, Surrey by 1901.

John was an apprentice able seaman then a junior officer before obtaining his master's certificate no. 15518 in 1874. He moved to West Hartlepool in 1877 and became marine superintendent for Cory, Lohden & Co., before becoming a shipowner himself.

John died aged 72 at Monksdene, Benhilton on 27th July 1921 leaving an estate of £101,477.

Obituary in the Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail – Friday 29 July 1909.

The funeral took place to-day at All Saints, Benhilton of Mr. John Wood of Monksdene, Benhilton. Deceased, who formerly carried on business in West Hartlepool and resided here for many years, was well known and esteemed in both boroughs. Whilst a resident at Sutton he had interested himself in the affairs of the place and became very popular. About four years ago Mr. Wood slipped and fell whilst in his billiard room, breaking his thigh. Since then had been confined to the house, and on Wednesday, after an illness of about three weeks, he passed peacefully away at the age of 72, death being attributed to syncope. In his early days the late Mr. Wood commanded many steamers, and settled in West Hartlepool in 1877, where he remained until went to Sutton. His first duties onshore were those of superintendent for several large shipbuilding firms. He was, at one time, Chairman of the Deptford Dry Dock, Chairman of the Tyne Dock Engineering Co., Ltd., South Shields, Chairman of the Ocean Dry Dock Co., Ltd., Swansea, and director of sundry insurance companies. As a Freemason, he was a Master of the Clarence Lodge, West Hartlepool,

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John’s brother James Ambrose Wood was born in 1860 at Swansea. He married Edith Mary Cook at Swansea in 1880 and the couple had three children. James worked as a clerk in the office of a shipowner at Swansea. Between 1891 and 1896 he moved to Hartlepool and by 1911 the family were living at  15 Hutton Ave Hartlepool.

James set up the company of J.A. Wood & Co., owning two ships between 1896 and 1908. One was the steamer Teesdale built in 1904 by Ropner, Stockton-on-Tees. She was sold to Ropner & Co., in 1908 and sank in August 1917.

James died aged 75 on 25 September 1935 at 50 Belmont Gardens Hartlepool leaving effects of £1,382.