During late years, the business firm just alluded to, whose interests in, and efforts for, the welfare of the port have so long been unflagging, has made a vigorous attempt to revive the American cotton importations. For the last few seasons several of their shipments, about ten, have annually arrived, and there is every prospect that when the dock is completed many more vessels will be chartered. A large shed for the reception of cotton was erected in 1875, in Adelaide Street, by Messrs. B. Whitworth and Bros., who have also established a permanent office in the town.
In 1859 the trade between Fleetwood and Belfast had developed to such an extent that a larger covered area for the temporary warehousing, loading, and discharging of goods was urgently called for, and towards the close of that year a space of about 190 feet in length, by 30 feet wide, was walled in and roofed over on the quay, adjoining the building then in use for the same purposes. Four years later, in 1863, two steam cranes were placed on the wharf by the North Lancashire Steam Navigation Company. Subsequently other cranes, working on a similar principle, have been added to those experimental ones, and gradually the old system of hand-labour at the quay-side has been superseded by the adoption of this more expeditious and economical plan. Shortly before the last-named facilities had augmented the conveniences of the wharf, a fresh description of mooring appliance was laid down in the harbour, and consisted of two longitudinal ground chains of 1,000 feet each, attached at intervals of 50 feet to two sets of Mitchell’s screws, which were worked into the clay in the bed of the stream. The bridle chains, shackled above to the mooring buoys, were secured below to the ground links between the attachments of the screws, the buoys being so arranged that each vessel was held stem and stern, instead of swinging round with the tide, or stranding with one end on the large central sandbank, as heretofore.
From 1862 to the present date, the story of the haven, with the exceptions of the trawling fleet and the Belfast line, which will be treated of directly, is not one which will awaken envy in the breasts of those whose interests are bound up in rival ports, nor indeed can it be a source of congratulation to those whose interests might ordinarily be supposed to be best promoted by its prosperity. It is true that the foreign trade for seven years after 1862 was in a state of fluctuation rather than actual decline, but the three succeeding years were stationary at the low figure of 21 imports each, after which there was a slight improvement, raising the annual numbers to 24, 32, and, in 1875, 33, due more to the staunch allegiance of Messrs. B. Whitworth and Bros., whose cotton again appeared on the wharf, than to any inducements offered to them or others by increased facilities or more appropriate accommodation. The coasting trade has already been referred to, so that there is no necessity to recapitulate facts but just laid before our readers. It is proper, however, to mention a few statistics respecting the trade in exports of coal, the chief business, and below are given the numbers of tons shipped, mostly to Ireland, in each of the specified years:—
| 1855 | 31,490 |
| 1860 | 23,652 |
| 1865 | 16,225 |
| 1866 | 12,315 |
| 1867 | 10,912 |
| 1868 | 6,809 |
| 1869 | 24,741 |
| 1870 | 43,653 |
| 1871 | 51,473 |
| 1872 | 54,794 |
| 1873 | 55,447 |
| 1874 | 56,939 |
| 1875 | 71,353 |
The large and sudden increase from 1869 is mainly owing to several screw steamships having been extensively engaged in the traffic, and there is every probability, from the addition within the last few months of a new and handsome coal-screw, and other indications, that this branch of commerce will continue to develope with equal, if not greater, rapidity. Again, it should be remembered, when considering the falling off in the numerical strength of the coasting vessels trading here, that those now plying are of much greater carrying capacity than formerly, and consequently the actual exports and imports have not suffered diminution in anything like the same proportion as the ships themselves. A series of tabular statements of all the most important and interesting matters connected with the harbour from the earliest obtainable dates has been prepared from the official returns made to the custom-house during each twelve months, and subjoined will be found a list of the vessels retained on the register as belonging to the port at the end of the years indicated, with their tonnages and the number of hands forming the crews:—
| Year. | Steam Vessels. | Tonnage. | Hands. | Sailing Vessels. | Tonnage. | Hands. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1850 | 3 | 739 | 49 | 15 | 560 | 54 |
| 1851 | 3 | 739 | 49 | 21 | 856 | 77 |
| 1852 | 3 | 739 | 49 | 24 | 1495 | 104 |
| 1853 | 4 | 806 | 54 | 31 | 4002 | 196 |
| 1854 | 2 | 560 | 32 | 41 | 5337 | 261 |
| 1855 | 3 | 586 | 35 | 49 | 4933 | 267 |
| 1856 | 4 | 978 | 52 | 51 | 5458 | 280 |
| 1857 | 3 | 952 | 49 | 71 | 7839 | 391 |
| 1858 | 4 | 968 | 54 | 79 | 8168 | 427 |
| 1859 | 4 | 968 | 54 | 76 | 6930 | 392 |
| 1860 | 4 | 968 | 54 | 84 | 12075 | 570 |
| 1861 | 5 | 1508 | 74 | 93 | 14760 | 640 |
| 1862 | 4 | 1249 | 62 | 89 | 13957 | 602 |
| 1863 | 4 | 1249 | 62 | 85 | 12147 | 567 |
| 1864 | 5 | 1355 | 71 | 81 | 10338 | 513 |
| 1865 | 6 | 1372 | 74 | 83 | 9757 | 479 |
| 1866 | 6 | 1372 | 74 | 80 | 8831 | 454 |
| 1867 | 6 | 1779 | 90 | 77 | 9265 | 451 |
| 1868 | 6 | 1779 | 90 | 85 | 11226 | 515 |
| 1869 | 5 | 1239 | 70 | 99 | 12601 | 587 |
| 1870 | 7 | 1797 | 93 | 104 | 12546 | 609 |
| 1871 | 7 | 1571 | 81 | 115 | 13642 | 690 |
| 1872 | 7 | 1571 | 81 | 133 | 15161 | 789 |
| 1873 | 7 | 1994 | 92 | 150 | 19379 | 947 |
| 1874 | 7 | 1994 | 122 | 162 | 22598 | 1045 |
| 1875 | 9 | 2671 | 160 | 165 | 22655 | 1061 |
The foregoing tables, taken by themselves, would seem to imply that from the year 1868, the business of the place had been characterised by a rapid and most satisfactory increase, but unfortunately for such a deduction, the ships registered as belonging to any port afford no clue to the number actually engaged in traffic there, hence it happens that many vessels hailing from Fleetwood, as their maternal port, are seldom to be observed in its waters.
The following are the annual records of the foreign and coasting trade of the harbour, in which the Belfast and all other steamships are included under the latter heading:—
VESSELS WITH CARGOES.
| Foreign Trade. | Coasting Trade. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year. | Inwards. | Outwards. | Inwards. | Outwards. |
| 1844 | 8 | 1 | 436 | 327 |
| 1845 | 23 | 2 | 580 | 473 |
| 1846 | 24 | 13 | 799 | 927 |
| 1847 | 6 | 1 | 752 | 913 |
| 1848 | 15 | 5 | 873 | 857 |
| 1849 | 36 | 15 | 1247 | 1059 |
| 1850 | 38 | 14 | 986 | 1014 |
| 1851 | 35 | 13 | 943 | 932 |
| 1852 | 32 | 12 | 951 | 823 |
| 1853 | 22 | 7 | 1093 | 919 |
| 1854 | 23 | 6 | 1119 | 983 |
| 1855 | 21 | 4 | 1101 | 971 |
| 1856 | 10 | 4 | 1181 | 1120 |
| 1857 | 18 | 7 | 1130 | 1150 |
| 1858 | 26 | 13 | 1020 | 986 |
| 1859 | 38 | 20 | 1023 | 865 |
| 1860 | 71 | 30 | 1123 | 813 |
| 1861 | 68 | 28 | 953 | 713 |
| 1862 | 41 | 7 | 884 | 560 |
| 1863 | 27 | 10 | 795 | 615 |
| 1864 | 35 | 6 | 783 | 610 |
| 1865 | 29 | 2 | 868 | 623 |
| 1866 | 39 | 2 | 762 | 612 |
| 1867 | 37 | 4 | 737 | 573 |
| 1868 | 26 | 3 | 689 | 512 |
| 1869 | 28 | 3 | 730 | 512 |
| 1870 | 21 | 4 | 694 | 573 |
| 1871 | 20 | 6 | 545 | 526 |
| 1872 | 21 | 3 | 697 | 621 |
| 1873 | 24 | 3 | 696 | 670 |
| 1874 | 32 | 6 | 703 | 587 |
| 1875 | 33 | 2 | 659 | 589 |