THE SUNDERLAND SITE - PAGE 105

BOOKLETS PUBLISHED BY 'AUSTIN',
& BY 'AUSTIN & PICKERSGILL'

and OTHER RELATED MATERIAL

May I suggest that you navigate the site re Sunderland data via the index on page 001. Do you want to make a comment? A site guestbook is here. A list of the Sunderland built vessels referenced in these pages is at the top of page 040. Followed by a list of referenced Sunderland shipbuilder names. Test. Copyright? Corrections in any of the material which follows, however tiny, would be most welcome. And additions, of course! IF YOU ARE ABLE TO HELP, YOUR ASSISTANCE IS REQUESTED! On page 22, re 'Austin', it was stated that Mr. Thomas (Tom) Millar was General Manager at Austin's from about 1950 through 1957/58. You may well wish to know that he was, earlier in his career, Managing Director of Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, of Troon, Ayrshire. Anyway Tom was the Austin's General Manager at the time when the company's ownership was in transition & the yard became a part of 'Austin & Pickersgill Limited' - when Austin's & 'W. Pickersgill & Sons Limited' merged in 1954. That's Tom Millar (1903/1987) at left above, by the way, taken from the two images that appear below. And at right above is Isobel (Pat) Millar, Tom's wife. In Tom's effects (he passed away in 1987) were a number of wonderful launching party images, most particularly re the launches of Ardingly, Borde, Hackney & Wallarah. All are truly quite magnificent images & each is visible via the linked listings. But, as an example of those images, you can see right here one of the 4 - the fine photograph re Ardingly, launched in 1951. Included, however, in Tom's effects were two launch images where the identity of the ship being launched is not known. Tom Millar, (Tom Millar's son that is!) thinks that the lower image below may be of either Kirkham Abbey or Byland Abbey, launched respectively in 1956 & 1957, but he is not sure. So we seek your assistance. If you can help in any way, do be in touch - respecting the identification i) of the ships concerned & ii) of the names of the folks in the two following launching images. Here are the two launch images of vessels today unidentified. The names of the folks in the image immediately above. Hopefully this short list, today, will soon get longer with your help! 5 - Isobel (Pat) Millar, 9 - A. H. (Harry?) W. Dawson, 18 - Thomas (Tom) Millar, General Manager, A & P. The names of the folks in the image immediately above. Hopefully the short list, today, will soon get longer with your help! 17 - Mr. E. Workman, Chairman, 22 - A. H. (Harry?) W. Dawson, 23 - Isobel (Pat) Millar, 25 - Thomas (Tom) Millar, General Manager, A & P. Tom also has the identification panel from another Austin's ship launching party from the 1950s - a large group from the number of names that are listed (42). The panel appears below but the related photograph is, alas, gone. Identifying the ship concerned would be a major achievement from such unusual & limited data. SHIPBUILDING & REPAIRING A small 1954 volume of oblong format, entitled 'Shipbuilding & Repairing', published by 'S. P. Austin & Son, Ltd.' (as per the cover of the volume) or maybe by 'S. P. Austin & Son Ltd.' (as per the frontispiece i.e. no comma). It covers, I have read, by 'e-Bay University', the history of the shipyard from 1826 to 1954. A copy of the volume was sold via e-Bay for GBP 40.00, in early Sep. 2007. I thought that I might have retained a listing image, but apparently I did not. Can I invite any site visitor who has a copy of that volume, to be in touch. AUSTIN & PICKERSGILL LIMITED  150 YEARS In late 1976, Austin & Pickersgill Limited published a booklet entitled 'Austin & Pickersgill Limited  150 years' - to document the histories of the three companies which together came to form that company i.e. 'S. P. Austin', 'Wm. Pickersgill' & 'Bartram and Sons.' And to set out the company's then plans to both reconstruct & expand the shipbuilding facilities located at Southwick. The booklet is of 20 pages & is most scarce. Images of the booklet have been provided to the webmaster & I present here all 20 pages to permit site visitors to both see & read an interesting document which today assumes some historical importance. Each thumbnail image below is 'clickable'. 'A and P NEWS' - THE EMPLOYEE MAGAZINE OF AUSTIN & PICKERSGILL LIMITED We thank Alan Vickers for bringing to the attention of the webmaster the fine content of 'A and P News', the employee journal of Austin & Pickersgill Limited. Issue No. 1, the very first issue, was published in Mar. 1975. About 10 years later the last issue was published, issue No. 43 of Winter 1985. Fine content? Yes indeed. In Alan's words:- 'There were articles in the magazines on all sorts of subjects - new orders, the financial health of the company, sport, new orders, list of ships, the re-development of the Southwick Shipyard, an aeroplane that was built by one of the yard electricians, a house that was built by an employee, apprentice awards and results, new appointments, retirements, new telephone system, health & safety, shipyard medical care, Queen Alexandra Bridge, Durham Cathedral (1 & 2), Penshaw Monument, Vaux Brewery, etc.' Also included, I now know, were articles of wide interest related to the history of Sunderland ship building, with pages on the histories of Austin, Bartram & Pickersgill derived from the manuscripts of James W. (Watson) Corder. Coverage of 'Recollections of Southwick', an interesting manuscript written, at or about 1893, by Luke Crown. Articles by Peter Gibson on the history of Southwick. And much more, on a host of subjects over the years.   The magazine, originally published bi-monthly, was developed & produced for the company by Riley (Advertising) Ltd., of Newcastle upon Tyne, & printed by Inkerman Publications, of Sunderland. For many years Peter Finley was its editor, until issue #33 when Simon Wallace assumed that role. From the beginning of 1985 the editions were quarterly. The last issue, as already indicated, was No. 43, Winter 1985 We present next the final issue complete. Volume #43 of Winter 1985. Of 16 pages. Each thumbnail image below is 'clickable' so you hopefully can read every word at the image that you come to. If you hover your mouse over each thumbnail, you can read a few words as to that particular page's content. OTHER AUSTIN & PICKERSGILL LIMITED PUBLICATIONS There were surely many other publications re Austin & Pickersgill Limited. It would be wonderful if a site visitor could provide images of each of the pages of them, as re the item above. The first such booklet of which I am aware, is re the SD18, as follows, an e-Bay item. I do not know when it was published or how many pages it has. It sold for GBP 25.00 or U.S. $38.15 on May. 15, 2009. May I suggest that you navigate the site re Sunderland data via the index on page 001. To Thomas M. M. Hemy Data Page 41. All of the other Thomas Hemy pages, including image pages, are accessible though the index on Thomas Hemy page 05. To the Special Pages Index. A SITE SEARCH FACILITY Search This Site for Get a Free Search Engine for Your Web Site THE GUEST BOOK - GO HERE E-MAIL THIS LINK Enter recipient's e-mail: