Schiedam Gallery

Formed in 1835 under the management of Robinson Watson and with a capital of £50,054. The shareholders were paid extremely high dividends which probably brought about the downfall of the Company. The shareholders were; Thomas Thompson of Stockton; Thomas Allison Tenant (railway clerk) Stockton; Joshua Byers (timber and lead merchant) Stockton; Ralph Walker of Stockton and Thomas Fox (spirit merchant) of Norton. William Lisle (miller) and William Geoge Jackson (grocer and druggist) both of Hartlepool. Although some of the shareholders were from Stockton-on-Tees all their vessels were known as Hartlepool ships and traded from that port.

The company went into liquidation in 1843 with some of their ships purchased by the Phoenix Shipping  Co. Those ships are  listed under that company. They were: Allison, Evenwood, George William and Schiedam.

In December 1843 the Company purchased some of the vessels that were sold off by The Original Shipping Company when it went into liquidation. The original shareholders of the Phoenix Shipping Co. were; William Lisle (miller) of Middleton, Hartlepool, Thomas Tait of Hartlepool, Thomas Fox (Spirit merchant) of Norton and Joshua Byers (timber and lead merchant) of Stockton.

Fleet List (giving life of vessel):

Allison 1838-1879

Evenwood 1836-1845

George William 1835-1860

Schiedam 1838-1869

Built at Sunderland.

Owners: 1838 Hartlepool Original Shipping Co, Stockton-on-Tees; 1843 purchased for £1,010 Phoenix Shipping Co (William Lisle, Middleton, Hartlepool, Joshua Byers & Thomas Fox, Stockton-on-Tees) Hartlepool; April 1846 G Bell & Co, London; by 1867 GW Halfpenny (Lower Shadwell, Middlesex) London; 1868 Robert Robinson, Middlesbrough .

Masters: 1840-42 J Speed; 1843-44 J King; 1845 Richard Fishwick; 1848-52 J Gibbon; 1854-57 G Henry; 1858 J Gilbert; 1859-61 E Fox; 1861 Meek; 1862 Nichols; 1862-66 E Fox; 1869 Gibson.

Voyages: 1843-44 Hartlepool to London; 1850-65 Shields for the Baltic; November 1861 the master, Meek, was seriously injured when he fell from the masthead. He was landed at Lowestoft.

Bound from Stockton for Southampton with a cargo of coal & a crew of six Schiedam sprang a leak & foundered off Scarborough on 4 December 1869. The crew took to their longboat & five of them were eventually picked up by the Scarborough lifeboat. The master was washed out of the longboat before the lifeboat rescue.