As well as being a shipbuilder John Punshon Denton kept ownership of some of the ships he built and also owned and had shares in ships that were registered but not built in Hartlepool. Records that survive show vessels he at least partly owned from 1839. Some would have been for repair which he would then have sold on.

Other shareholders included: George Denton (John’s brother) Robert Elstob Hutton (master mariner & shipowner); John Elstob Hutton (insurance agent); George Wilkinson; Robert Wilson; Edward Lowden; James Winks; William Gray; Robert Gray; Thomas Rowell (bank agent); Thomas Sanderson (grocer); William Garrick (shipowner); Henry and James Proctor (master mariners); John Meldrum; (sailmaker); Jane Eden; Thomas Appleby; Robert Ropner; George Moon (shipowner, Sunderland); Thomas Belk; Robert Lawson Watson; William Huntingdon & Thomas Bell (Sunderland); Robert & William Ord (Sunderland); Elizabeth Hutton Wilkinson &  John Wilkinson (Craythorne); William Marsingdale Wilkinson (Manchester)

Brief Family Histories of some of the above mentioned shipowners:

George Denton was born on 6th September 1804 at Bishopwearmouth to parents Barbara (nee Punshon) and Richard Copeland Denton. He married Susanna Robinson (daughter of John Robinson) at Great Driffield, Yorkshire on 16^th October 1849 and they had five children:  George Robinson born 16^th August 1852; Arthur Copeland born c1853; Alfred born c1855; Ida Preston born c1857; Ernest born c1859. By 1861 the family were living at St Hilda Street, Hartlepool and by 1871 Victoria Place, Hartlepool.

George died aged 73 at Hartlepool on 30^th December 1877 leaving effects of under £300. His widow, Susanna, died in 1908.

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James Winks was born on 19^th April 1800 at North Shields to parents Margaret (nee Fenwick) and John Winks.  He married Alice Allen at Tynemouth in 1824 and they had one daughter. James was a shipwright and the family lived at Middleton.

James died aged 66 at Hartlepool on 28^th July 1866 leaving effects of under £300. His widow, Alice, died in 1888.

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Edward Lowden (also spelt Lowdon) was born in 1810 at Gosforth, Northumberland to parents Elizabeth (nee Nicholson) and Edward Lowden. He became a butcher and was also a lay-preacher.  By 1851 he was recorded as being a widower and in that year and 1861 he was boarding with James Winks and his wife at Middleton. In 1881 he was retired and living at Hanover Street, Stranton. Alice, James Winks widow, was living with him as a servant.

Edward died aged 78 on 28^th August 1888 at Farndale Terrace, Hartlepool.

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George Moon was born 21^st January 1812 at Sunderland to parents Elizabeth (nee Yule) and Henry Moon. He married Mary Ann Ord at Sunderland in 1842 and they had three daughters. In 1849 the family were living at Marine Terrace, Hartlepool. By 1861 they had moved to Hampstead.

George died age 81 at Windsor on 4^th November 1893 leaving effects of £19,676.

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Thomas Rowell was born c1808 at Weetslade, Northumberland to parents William and Catherine Rowell. He married Elizabeth Rowley and they had one daughter, Catherine, born in 1837. Thomas was a bank agent and was mayor of Hartlepool from 1842 to 1843. In 1851 the couple and their daughter were living at Southgate, Hartlepool with Thomas listed as a landed proprietor.

Thomas died aged 48 on 27^th March 1859 at Sedgewick House, Hartlepool leaving effects of under £100.

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John Meldrum was born on 10^th April 1794 at Sunderland to parents Mary (nee Pearson) and John Meldrum. He became a master sailmaker. John married Margaret White in 1842 at Sunderland and by 1851 the couple were living at Hartlepool.

John died aged 65 on 22^nd November 1859 at Hartlepool leaving effects of under £2,000.

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William Garrick was born on 17^th November 1798 at Orkney, Scotland to parents Margaret (nee Matteson) and John Garrick. He married Elizabeth Porteous on 14^th October 1828 at Sunderland. William became a shipping agent and shipowner.

William died on 1^st December 1847 at Hartlepool.

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Henry Proctor was born on 22^nd July 1822 at Lynn, Norfolk to parents Mary (nee Rudland) and James Proctor. He married Bell Watson on 31^st March 1846 at Bishopwearmouth. Henry first went to sea in 1836 and worked his way up to become a master mariner. He was mate of the Margaret of Hartlepool from 1843 to 1845 and was then master of several Sunderland registered ships.

Henry died aged 49 at Sunderland in 1871.

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Thomas Sanderson was born 21 January 1812 at Sunderland to parents Ann (nee Sandal) and Joseph Sanderson. He went to sea in 1823 as an apprentice and worked his way up to become a master mariner.  Thomas married Margaret Mary Sanderson in 1840 at Sunderland. Margaret died in 1847 and he married for the second time to Mary Wayman in 1854 at South Shields. When Thomas retired he became a grocer and provision Dealer.

Thomas died aged 66 on 24^th December 1878 at Sunderland.

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Joseph Nixon Eden was born 30^th April 1806 at South Shields to parents Jane Nixon and John Eden. He went to sea in 1819 as an apprentice and worked his way up to become a master mariner. Joseph married Jane Rennoldson on 1^st September 1831 at Devon.

Joseph died in 1855 at Stockton leaving his shares in the Voyager of Hartlepool to his widow, Jane Eden.

Robert E. Hutton owned and had shares in Hartlepool registered ships and in one Hartlepool built ship, the Acacia.

Other shareholders were: John Elstob Hutton; George Denton; George Wilkinson; John Wilkinson; John Punshon Denton; William and John Watson; William Wilson; William Lisle; John and Robert Lawn; William, Thomas Bell, Errington Bell and Robert Ord (Sunderland); Thomas Wilson Elstob (Camberwell); William Hodgson Elstob Cmberwell); Eli Kay (South Shields); Bostock Toller Whinney (South Shields); John Wilkinson (Craythorne, York); Elizabeth Hutton Wilkinson (Craythorne, York); William Marsingale Wikinson (Manchester); James Saville (Sunderland); John Halliday (butcher, Shields); Mary Ward (Wolviston.

Family History:

Robert Elstob Hutton was born on 29th November 1804 at Bishopwearmouth to parents Ann Donkin (nee Elstob) and Robert Hutton. He married Catherine Elstob on 27^th December 1828 at Bishopwearmouth. The couple had eleven children. By 1851 the couple were living at Cliff Terrace, Hartlepool with their two daughters and five sons.

Robert went to sea as an apprentice in January 1820 and from 1827 sailed on four Sunderland ships as master (C.N. 42414). He retired from the sea in December 1840 and in 1841 joined the General Shipping Company as a shareholder. When the company folded in 1844 Robert continued to own shares in ships.

 Robert died at Hartlepool aged 53 on 30^th April 1858 leaving effects of under £3,000. He was interred at Spion Kop Cemetery.

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John Elstob Hutton was born in November 1834 at Bishopwearmouth to parents Catherine (nee Elstob) and Robert Elstob Hutton.  He became an insurance agent and was in partnership with Robinson Thomas as shipbrokers and commission agents in West Hartlepool. The partnership became bankrupt and was dissolved on 6^th March 1857.

Shields Daily Gazette – Friday 30 November 1866:

ALLEGED DEFALCATIONS BY A HARTLEPOOL MARINE INSURANCE SECRETARY. Some excitement has been created at Hartlepool during the past few days in consequence of the disappearance of Mr. John Elstob Hutton, secretary to the North Star and Mutual Marine Insurance Clubs, whose offices are on the Town Wall, Hartlepool. Mr. Hutton is a young man, about thirty years of age, and has been secretary to these clubs for about seven years, having succeeded his deceased father, Mr. Robert E. Hutton. The family are highly respectable, and with good connections, and were formerly resident at Sunderland. Besides being secretary to the clubs, Mr. Hutton held the office of pilot-master to the port, at a salary of £30 per annum, and was also Vice-Consul for Portugal. For some time past some irregularities in the cash account have been suspected; and on Saturday last the chairman of the committee received a note from Mr. Hutton, stating that for certain reasons explained, he had been obliged to abscond. Whither he has betaken himself is not known, but it is presumed he has gone abroad. The accounts of the companies are undergoing investigation, and various sums of money ore alleged to have been misappropriated; but the loose and irregular manner in which Mr. Hutton is stated to have kept the books and accounts, precludes the possibility of the committee ascertaining the extent of the deficiency. From what has already transpired there is no doubt that the deficiency is serious. Previous to his absconding he had got some cheques cashed to the amount of between £100 and £200. One cheque given by Mr. Denton was for £120, which was cashed at Messrs. Backhouse's bank, and another cheque received from Shields was cashed by Mr. S. Armstrong the day on which Hutton absconded, all of which money he had, it is alleged, appropriated to himself, and not accounted for.  Independent of the clubs, Mr. Hutton has also borrowed sums of money from different parties in the town.

John married Jane Susannah Evans on 27^th January 1869 at Clifton, Gloucestershire.  The couple had two daughters, Caroline Vaughan born 1869 and Catherine Elizabeth born 1874.

John died aged 55 at Barton Regis in 1889.