Shipbuilding developed at Liverpool in the late seventeenth century and was of national importance by 1800. However, by 1830 its prosperity was threatened by high labour costs and unrest, a lack of security of tenure and competition from low cost builders in Sunderland and Canada. The more far-sighted changed to building iron ships and four yards survived until the 1890s when lack of demand and the need to rebuild the South Docks ended shipbuilding in Liverpool. The Wirral shore and Garston also accommodated shipbuilding and the most successful firm was that of the Laird family. This firm was established as a boiler-making works in 1824 and became one of the major British yards. Ship repair was tackled both by shipbuilders and specialised firms and the Maritime Archives & Library's collection contains a cross section of firms involved in both ship repair and wider engineering activities. There are, however, gaps: there is little on boatbuilding or the major works such as those of Harland & Wolff, Cunard and White Star Lines. The ships of the port generated demand for other supplies and services including sails, hatch covers, rope and textiles for passenger accommodation, etc. The Handbook of Employments in Liverpool of 1916 demonstrates the huge number of jobs dependent on shipping. The collection also has a number of records of individuals and a sample is included in this section. Details of ships built in Liverpool can be traced through the Liverpool Ship Registers for locally owned vessels and others through Lloyd's Registers. The latter has a helpful appendix after 1876 listing the output of individual shipbuilders. For earlier times, A.C. Wardle's lists of Liverpool shipbuilders in the Liverpool Nautical Research Society archive are useful (see Vol. II chap. 11).

Shipbuilding and Repairing

J. Gordon Alison & Co., Ltd.

James Gordon Alison established the Dock Engine Works at Birkenhead in 1875. Shortly after he was joined by Peter Duff as a partner who bought the business on Alison's death in 1894. Duff turned it into a limited liability company and it was liquidated to pay Duff's death duties. It was then reformed as a private company with the same name and in 1977 became a subsidiary of the Laird Group Ltd. In 1991 it traded as Gordon Alison & Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Pasee Group Ltd.