History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce, Volume 3 (of 4)

by W. S. Lindsay

I dare say the Ancient Britons knew, among themselves, perfectly well which of their ships were built of seasoned oak, whether the planks were well put together, or fastened with tree-nails or copper bolts, and how they were caulked, fitted, and equipped. Nor is it at all unreasonable to suppose that some sort of record of all these facts was kept for their guidance. It would, indeed, be contrary to the instincts of human nature, where self-interest has always prevailed, if no such notes were taken and likewise recorded.

What particular form the earliest attempts at classification took must be left entirely to conjecture, the first traces of the existence of Register Books devoted specially to this purpose not appearing until about the middle of the last century. The oldest Register Books of which I have any knowledge are those preserved at Lloyd’s Register of Shipping, White Lion Court, Cornhill, and although the series is far from complete, and probably can never be made complete, an examination of them is both interesting and instructive. The earliest book preserved there is dated 1764-5. In it the classes assigned were denoted by the letters A, E, I, O, and U, which seem as now to have applied to the state of the ship’s hull, and the letters G, M, and B, appended, which applied to the equipment. These latter denoted—G, good; M, middling; and B, bad. Thus, A G denoted a first-class ship with a good equipment; and U B denoted a ship of the lowest class with a bad equipment.

The next book, in point of age, here, is dated 1768-9, and, instead of the capital letters A, E, I, O, U, denoting the class of the ship, as in the earlier book, the small letters a, b, c, appear, while the figures 1, 2 denoted the state of the equipment. Thus, a 1 denoted a first-class ship with a first-class equipment; b 2 denoted a second-class ship with a second-class equipment, &c.

The next Register Book in point of age, preserved, is dated 1775, and, in this book, the Roman capitals appear again for the hulls, while the figures 1 and 2 remain for the equipment. This, as far as I can learn, is the earliest book preserved containing the class A 1, which has become so familiar now, just a century from what appears to have been its first adoption.

On comparing the three books above mentioned, the curious fact is disclosed that the 1764 book does not belong to the same series as the 1768 and the 1775 books. The front cover and first pages of all three books are missing, but there is sufficient internal evidence to show clearly that the two later books form part of the series known as the ‘Underwriters’ Register,’ which gradually developed into or rather led up to the establishment of Lloyd’s Register. The earliest of them is supposed to date from 1760; whether the 1764 book is a rival which started immediately after it, or belonged to a Register Society which existed previously to 1760, is not known, but the latter is perhaps most probable. Its existence might, it is thought, have debarred the new Register Book from using the Roman capitals, and it is no great stretch to suppose that the old book had ceased before 1775, and left its successor free to adopt the designation or class A 1.

The book dated 1764-5 furnished the following particulars: Ship’s name, master and owner’s name, ports of trading, tonnage, when and where built, number and kind of guns, and number of men and the class of the ship. In the book dated 1775, the load-draught of water was given, but not the number of men. The Register Book was at this latter date published annually, and the corrections from time to time were posted or stamped in the books by means of type as at present. In the earlier books the revisions during the year, or rather two years—for the books were then biennial—had to be inserted with pen and ink. The following particulars have been for the most part obtained by an examination of old Register Books, but they are necessarily incomplete, as many of the early volumes were lost when the Royal Exchange was burnt down in 1838.

In the book for 1778 a list of ships of the Royal Navy is inserted, also a list of the ships in the East India Company’s service. General meetings used in those old days to be held by the subscribers (then termed members), of whom there were, at the end of 1780, 164. The subscription which at first was twelve guineas was eventually, about 1810, reduced to eight guineas, the funded property of the Register Society having reached 12,000l. For twenty years, afterwards, however, the expenses exceeded the income by 500l. per annum, and the subscription was, in consequence, raised to ten guineas. The particulars in the book for 1788, a copy of which is extant, were much as formerly; but a few curious additions had come to be inserted, such as whether the vessel had deep waists or low counters, and whether American property: and a record was made of the description of timber of which the ships were built, the number of decks, and if the beams were kneed. In 1798, the number of subscribers amounted to 245, and the number of members on the committee, who served gratuitously, was eleven. In that year’s book the Government ships are not inserted. In 1799, a number of Shipowners started an opposition book, termed the ‘Red Book,’ which continued until 1833. In 1824, it would appear that vessels supplied with iron cables did not receive the figure 1 or 2 unless they had hempen cables as well; and then, for the first time, the letters PIC were inserted against them, denoting that the iron cables had been proved. It does not appear by any of the early books we have examined that the class was given for any specified number of years, but it was omitted whenever the ship had not been surveyed within three years. It seems, however, to be an established fact that vessels were allowed to retain the A 1 character for a certain number of years, the number being entirely dependent on the port at which she was built, and varying from twelve years for a London built ship, to five to six years for a north country built ship. After those years had elapsed, the vessel became of the second class, and no amount of repairs or strengthening would enable her to be replaced as an A 1 ship. Here were two principles involved in classification obviously unsound. The first encouraged inferior building, and the second discouraged ships being efficiently repaired.

These and other mischievous tendencies were entirely removed when, in 1834, the two previously existing societies became united in the present ‘Lloyd’s Register of British and Foreign Shipping.’

The object sought in establishing the existing society was to class vessels according to their intrinsic merits, so as to indicate by the class, as nearly as might be, the efficiency and value of each vessel. The subscription to the Register Book was fixed at three guineas. Rules were published, and surveyors appointed to survey vessels while building, as well as afterwards. The committee of the new register was constituted, as it is at present, of merchants, Shipowners, and underwriters, elected in equal proportions. Eight underwriters and four merchants are elected by the Committee of Lloyd’s, and eight Shipowners and four merchants are elected by the General Shipowners’ Society. In addition to the foregoing, the chairman of Lloyd’s and the chairman of the General Shipowners’ Society are ex-officio members of the Committee.

The Committee of Lloyd’s Register was, later on, still further augmented by the admission of eight members elected to represent the port of Liverpool, two to represent the Clyde, and three the north-east coast of England, one to represent Hull, and one Bristol.