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.

George Noble Wilkinson and Hezekiah Orvis, trading under Wilkinson & Orvis, Shipbrokers. had shares in sailing vessels from 1856 all registered in Hartlepool.  The company went into liquidation in 1860. Other shareholders with George N. Wilkinson were: Thomas Bell; Henry Tonks (Easington Lane); John McDougal; Robert Henry Gill; Michael Watson; Benjamin Andrew (All of Hartlepool). Harrison Groves (Middlesbrough); Arthur James Thorman (London).

George Wilkinson went into partnership with James Watt in about 1864. A number of their vessels were registered at West Hartlepool and others at London where their offices were situated. During a commercial collapse the company went into liquidation in 1875. This probably came as no surprise as six of their sixteen or so ships were lost or wrecked within less than two years under their ownership.

George declared himself bankrupt again in 1879. He was in business as a Ship Owner, Ship and Insurance Broker and Commission Agent.

The ships listed under 'a general history' are those that were registered but not built at Hartlepool.

Family History:

George Noble Wilkinson was born on 30th December 1828 at Stockton-on-Tees to parents Robert and Mary Ann (nee Short) Wilkinson. Robert had died by 1841 and George was living at Hartlepool with his mother and siblings. He married Frances (Fanny) Bowes at Hartlepool in 1861. By 1871 the couple were living at Norton with their two daughters and two sons and by 1881 were living at Leytonstone, Essex with their five sons and four daughters.

In 1873 George was one of the directors of the Llangennech Collieries Company.

George died aged 54 on 18th December 1882 at Royal Lodge, Leytonstone, Essex leaving effects of £1,100 to his widow who was, by the time of probate, living at Roslyn Villa, Snaresbrook, Essex.

James Byres Watt was born at Fraserburgh, Scotland in c1838 to parents George and Mary. His father died in 1850. James married Elizabeth Shotton Perry in 1867 at Hartlepool. In 1871 the couple were living at Stranton, West Hartlepool and by 1881 they had moved to Surrey with their four sons and two daughters. One of their sons, George Laing Watt, followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a steam ship broker.

James died at Reigate, Surrey aged 83 on 8^th December 1920 leaving effects of £29,008.