The Ramsey Steamship Company Limited.

MICHAEL B. WRAY

The Ramsey Steamship Company was a latecomer to the coastal tramping scene in the British Isles. None the less, it has survived the intervening six decades from its inauguration to the present day, with flying colours, to emerge in 1973 as one of the few remaining, genuinely Independent, companies in our local-shipping files. For this reason alone its history is well worth studying and I am grateful to the company and to its general manager for permission to consult the original sources from which this paper has been compiled.

'The Memorandum and Articles of Association (The Companies Acts, Isle of Man) of the Ramsey Steamship Company Limited' were printed in Parliament Street, Ramsey and dated 17 April 1913 and the list of original subscribers is worth quoting since, like the printers themselves, it emphasises the essentially indigenous nature of the company:

ROBERT EVAN KENNISH, Mona Street, Ramsey. Corn Merchant.
ALFRED CHRISTIAN, 'Atherton', Lezayre. Retired Farmer.
JOHN THOMAS KEE, 25 West Quay, Ramsey. Coal Merchant.
ROBERT BREW, Quay, Ramsey. Grocer.
JOHN WILLIAM HYDE, Water Street, Ramsey. Advocate.
FREDERICK BREW, Parliament Street, Ramsey. Bank Agent.
THOMAS BAKER COWLEY, Parliament Street, Ramsey. Corn Merchant,

Each one a Manxman and each one in business in the town which gave the company birth; this sense of 'belonging' is characteristic of the history which follows. The original capital of the company was £4,200 in £1 shares and no allotment was to be made until at least 2,000 shares had been subscribed for.

The prospectus is undated and is titled "The Manx Steam Carrying Company Limited', the final name has been entered in longhand.

These extracts are enlightening and self-explanatory :

The objects of this Company are to acquire one or more small steamers for the purpose of trading between the Isle of Man, chiefly Ramsey and Ports on the Mainland.

The freights carried in and out of Ramsey during twelve months by small coasting steamers are very considerable. Coal inwards alone showing a large tonnage and when this ig considered it is apparent that there is an opening for a Steamer of this class (worked by local people) to obtain a very large share of the traffic.

As the vessel would be trading to and from the Island most of the time, numerous advantages would be held over the ordinary tramp coasting steamer, and being always under the eyes of the Management, she would be kept under good order from the beginning, her boiler would be sweetened regularly with fresh water, which adds considerably to its life, and her running expenses would be reduced to a minimum... .

It is well known there are large numbers of Manx seamen employed in coasting steamers who are naturally anxious to secure employment which will admit of them getting home to their families regularly, and, as these men are the very best of their class and the opportunities of obtaining such berths are rare, a most reliable crew could thus be secured. A thoroughly trustworthy, capable and energetic Captain has been chosen, one who is well known and has been in the trade for many years.

Numerous offers of new and second-hand Steamers have been received. ...

The Company have already received large offers of support locally, and considerable business can be influenced both in the Island and Manchester, to and from which Port Shippers are very much hand-capped [sic] by the Railway Companies at the present time.

It is calculated that the Steamer will make 2½ trips each week or 9 trips a month. The present freight Garston to Ramsey is 4/- to 4/3 and allows for a drop to 3/6 on 150 tons per trip.

This prospectus has been quoted almost in its entirety since it has a period charm all its own, apart from the information it contains. Two vessels are mentioned as being possibly suitable, the steamship Glentow ('strong', 'well-kept', 'has a good turn of speed', 'is 18 years old') and the steamship Ardgowan ('19 years old', 'strongly built').

Early Days

However, eventually a new vessel was decided on. She was built to the order of the company at Larne (Northern Ireland) by the Larne Shipbuilding Company, was of 159 gross tonnage and cost £4,089 138 6d. Delivery was taken on 12 August 1914, and on 13 August she was sailed across from Larne to Liverpool by Captain Jolin Cowley. There is no record of the state of the Irish Sea on that date, but troubled waters lay ahead both for the company and for the world at large! The new ship was named the Ben Veg (Manx Gaelic for 'Little Woman' or 'Little Wife') thus starting a tradition which has lasted to the present day, for all the vessels have been prefixed with the word 'Ben' and they are known colloquially as the "Ben Boats' wherever Manxmen and the sea intermingle.

It is well worth giving more detatis of the building of the first Ben Veg, recorded month by month in the company minute book:

21/5/13. Larne Shipbuilding Company be invited to meet the Directors to discuss plans and specifications of steamer already submitted by them.

26/5/13. Delivery promised for 1 June 1914 ... the Company in Larne wired to the effect that the RSSCo. would agree to thts subject to price of £4,025.

1/6/13. Agreement with Larne Company approved.

4/9/13. Second instalment of £500 paid to Larne Conmipany.

9/10/13. Resolution passed that Insurance on new vessel be effected to come into force when the ship takes up her work.

14/1/14. A meeting had been called for 26 November 1913, but a quorum was not present. A quorum could have been found but as there was no business to transact it was not thought desirable to make special effort [sic]. It was decided to inspect the vessel as soon as possible and agreed that the new steamer be called Ben Veg.

23/2/14. For insurance purposes agreed that the limits of trading should be between Bardsey Island in Wales and Arklow on the East coast of Ireland as a Southern boundary and between Londonderry and any port on the River Clyde as a Northern boundary. (No dates are available for the official extension of these limits, but the company gradually extended its territory to the whole of the British Isles and today its vessels are even seen occasionally in the Western ports of continental Europe.)

26/5/14. Disappointment expressed at delay in delivery date. The penalty clause to be invoked.

The maiden voyage was made with a cargo of stone which was discharged at Liverpool on 17 August. In the succeeding weeks she carried cargoes of cement, salt, sand and coal so that at the first Annual General Meeting at Corlett's tea-rooms, Ramsey on 19 October 1914, it was found possible to express 'A hearty vote of thanks to Directors, Officials and Ship's Crew'.

World War

The cargo books of the company are meticulously kept and are a mine of information, indeed a complete paper could be produced on their contents alone. As the years went by and new vessels were acquired they record, month by month, a commentary on the exports and imports of this little country in the Irish Sea. For example, oats in bulk are a regular Manx revenue-earner and during World War the company's ships carried a total of 5,840 tons of them to British ports.

By the second AGM in November 1915 it was possible to agree in principle that the tonnage of the company should be increased. The acquisition of a second vessel under conditions of war did not prove easy and it was not until August 1916 that the steamship Starling (later Ben Rein) made her first trip under company ownership with a general cargo from Liverpool to Portaferry.

Coal was by far the most frequent item to be carried in these early years, and is indeed essential to the island's economy to this very day. Less often, cargoes of iron rails and even manure were imported. The former for the Isle of Man Railway Company which was, of course, at this time virtually the only effective means of Insular transport. An interesting export was salt produced by the now-defunct Manx Salt Company.

The war helped to bring prosperity, but undoubtedly the manner in which the company was run, and its intimate association with local business life, had a great deal to do with its instant success. A dividend of 15 per cent was paid in 1917, rising to 20 per cent in 1918 and to no less than 25 per cent in 1919. In this period two further second- hand ships joined the fleet, the Ben Varrey in 1917 and the Ben Vooar in the succeeding year. The year 1918 was also to see the first and only casualty of the war; to quote an entry in red ink on the fly-leaf of the first cargo book: the Ben Rein was 'sunk by gunfire 1.50 noon February 7th bound L'pool/ Belfast with soap, crew landed at W'haven 2.0 am Friday February 8th, all well'. The crew of seven, whose safety was recorded in this laconic note, were picked up by another coaster and the matter was duly recorded in the minutes of a board meeting held on 1 March 1918; 'Owners, Master and Crew of the steamship Norman were thanked for their kindness to the crew of the Ben Rein on landing at Whitehaven.' The crew of the Norman were voted a sum of 10 guineas to be shared amongst them as a tangible expression of the company's gratitude. The first Ben Rein had been insured for £6,200 and in May 1918 it was found possible to pay a 10s bonus on each share 'through cash realisation through loss of the vessel'.

Growth

Replacement though was now proving a costly matter, due to inflation, and the Ben Vooar (originally Redstone, built in 1916) was to cost the company no less than £16,500, 'less the best allowance obtainable for bottom damage'. The purchase of the second Ben Rein brought the fleet up to four ships with an estimated value of £30,372, quite some progress for this little company which had started up so recently with only one vessel and an initial share capital of £4,200. Concurrently, the secretary's salary was increased to £285 pa or 7 per cent gross freights 'whichever is greater'.

Reasons of space do not permit us to deal with every vessel owned hy the company, but the next acquisition, the Ben Seyr (built and bought in 1920) had an air of mystery from start to finish, she is first mentioned as the Deveson, but was never registered in that name. Presumably she was intended for some other company who perhaps could not afford to take up their option. At all events she was built by the Manchester Dry Docks and Engineering Company, made 9½ knots on her trials and her first revenue-earning trip was from Ellesmere Port to Ramsey on 22 May with 226 tons of coal. Her demise is one of those 'lost without trace' stories which no company likes to have on its books; she sailed from Ramsey on 2 October 1938 with a cargo of oats for Cardiff and Captain Ambrose Crebbin in command, she was never heard of again and she was presumed lost the same day in a severe south-westerly gale, no scrap of wreckage was ever found.

A taste of things to come is found under a minute dated 13 May 1921: 'The Secretary reported on his visit to Liverpool and also intimated that owing to the Miners' Strike the company's tonnage had been laid up at that port since early April'. We refer, of course, to the General Strike of 1926. In spite of 'most unsettled conditions' the fleet had risen to six vessels by that year; the Bens Jee, Seyr, Vooar, Blanche, Varrey and Veg. A hint is given in a minute of 12 March 1926 when the directors waived their rights to one half of the £200 voted to them by the shareholders; in June the company broke with their original bankers, the Lancashire and Yorkshire, the bank 'being informed that unless they are agreeable to accept the security offered on the Assetts [sic] of the Company the Directors intend to seek accommodation elsewhere'. This accommodation was duly sought and obtained with the Isle of Man Banking Company, where it has remained ever since, thus increasing to its fullest extent the tie between the company and the island it serves.

The Slump and After

Out on the quayside the first blow fell on 3 May 1926 when the Ben Seyr, to quote an entry in red ink in the cargo book, 'Put into Waterford with short bunkers, supplies refused. 5 May, wired Master to pay off crew, crew paid off but remain by ship being unable for home owing to General Strike'. Until the end of September the six vessels spent most of their time laid up at Ramsey, the total revenue from the entire fleet during June-September inclusive was approximately £3,800 compared with £3,000 for July alone in the preceding year. By the beginning of 1927 a relatively normal state of affairs was restored, but things would not be quite the same again. Many competitors all over the British Isles had 'gone to the wall' and the Ramsey Company had only survived by a combination of shrewdness, sacrifice and good management which has stood it in good stead throughout its entire history.

The years of depression brought despair which showed itself in the minutes of the directors' meetings which were always held at the registered office at West Quay, Ramsey. None the less the 34 year- old Glenmay began work for the company in February 1928—her purchase for £550 and her change of name to Ben May were confirmed in a minute dated 9 April 1928; paradoxically, during its darkest days the fleet had increased to its maximum of seven vessels. An examina- tion of the cargo book for the period 1926-33 shows that coal carrying had become more than ever the principal breadwinner at that time; for example, March 1932 may be taken as a representative month, during the month the gross weight of cargo carried by the seven vessels wis 9,668 tons, of this no less than 7,287 tons was coal. This represents almost exactly 75 per cent of the gross tonnage carried, the remaining 4,381 tons was divided amongst the following items: cement, potatoes, manure, ore, flour, maize, seeds, gravel, alumina and tar. The time-charter of a vessel to Irish Lights for supply purposes was a fairly regular source of revenue during summer months, the Ben Seyr was on this duty from 6-25 July earning £209 at a flat rate of £335 per month. An unusual job for the Ben Way in April 1930 was the removal of 72 tons of ore from 'wreck on Maiden Rocks' to Garston.

Five ships left the fleet during the 1930s, the Ben May and the Ben Jeo being sold; the former to a Mr S. Grey of Preston and the latter to the United Molasses Company. 'The remaining three were all victims of the forces of nature; the story of the Ben Seyr has been told, the Ben Blanche went ashore at Oxwich Point, South Wales in December 1933 and was written off and the Ben Vooar grounded entering Coleraine in June 1936, she too became a total loss—an unlucky triad of events for a small company.

The decade wore on and trade began to pick up as the storm clouds once more gathered over Europe. A loss of £110 had been made in 1926 and in 1928 the dividend was as low as 3 per cent, once again In 1932 the Nineteenth Report and Balance Sheet remarked "The Directors regret that they cannot recommend any dividend', a remark that was to be repeated before the situation started to improve. However, in 1937 shareholders received 5 per cent and this was maintained annually until 1941, when the dividend reached 10 per cent for the first time since 1920.

World War II

The company entered World War II with five vessels; the old Ben Veg, Ben Varrey, the Ben Ellan, the second Ben Vooar and the Ben Ain, all built in the decade 1914-24. When considering the economics of tramping in the context of an island company one has to bear in mind not only the resident population (varying between 48,000 and 55,000 during the course of this history) but also the 'migrant' population, which in peacetime included thousands of holiday visitors and in wartime a liberal quantity of internees. Unlike its 'big brother' the IoM Steam Packet Company, the Ramsey concern could not count fluctuations in traffic from week to week, or even month to month, but obviously its business was conditioned by these population factors and their overall importance cannot be neglected, and should always be balanced against the subtle influence of the general economic climate. Let it be enough to say that the Ramsey Steamship Company was the island's second 'life-line', and a by no means unimportant one whose significance has often been neglected.

To say that the pattern of company business and finance during World War II was very similar to that of World War I would be an over-simplification, nevertheless, inflation plus a shortage of ships and supplies gave a familiar ring to many items in the minute book.

As early as 4 June 1940 a minimum increase on freight rates of 6d per ton was agreed on; the inflationary spiral had set in. By 6 Novem- ber of the same year the question of wages was being discussed, the manager and secretary was to be given £8 weekly. A further wage increase for managerial staff was made in 1942, to be back-dated to 1 January.

In the meantime Ben Veg had sunk after a collision on 22 May 1941 and the sum of £3,500 was duly received by way of compensation. Under wartime conditions she proved difficult to replace and it was not until 1944 that the 309 ton Crossbill was bought to fill the gap. Fortunately, no tonnage was lost due to enemy action and the company has lost no further vessels due to shipwreck, a pleasing contrast to the 1930s. The Crossbill was renamed Ben Veen, the first ship of the fleet to exceed 300 tons, she was in this respect a pointer to the future though in other ways she was of course a traditional coastal steamer.

I have not dwelt on this second wartime era, since the company carried on the same work, in the same fashion, and with the same type of vessel. The immediate post-war period was a time of austerity and shortages, so when the Ben Varrey was sold in 1946 she was replaced by the Yarmouth Trader only six years her junior, but again 1n excess of 300 tons gross. The latter was to have received the name Ben Vie but eventually became the Ben Jee, an established fleet name.

Transformation

In 1950 a link with the past was broken with the death of Mr C. H. Kee, he was one of the original shareholders and had been a director of the company since 1934.

However, the 1950s were to see far more fundamental changes, which were to give the company the vitality and equipment for it to reach its diamond jubilee. In the meantime it became necessary for two more thirty-year-old steam-driven vessels to be acquired as an interim measure, these were the Ben Varrey in 1954 and the Ben Mave in 1955. The purchase of a motor vessel was not long delayed and the minutes of the directors' meeting held on 7 June 1956 record: "The wharcholders at the last AGM had expressed the view that another ahip should be bought with a view to replacement and modernisation of the fleet... The Directors had considered the building of a ship, hut owing to the uncertainty of the cost and the delay in delivery, had decided it was not practicable to do so.' 'Thus it came about that the etry into the field of motor ships was in the shape of the 407 ton Tamura, 9 years old and costing no less than £50,000. She was promptly renamed to become the third Ben Rein. In 1959 another second-hand motor vessel joined the fleet to become the third Ben Voar

m.v. BEN VOOAR Leaving Douglas with the m.v. BEN VEG arriving coastwise from Ramsey with a split load of coal

At long last in 1961, and after much discussion as to ways and means in the face of spiralling costs, the decision was taken to have a new ship tailor-made to the company's requirements, the first time this had occurred since the time of the original Ben Veg. In spite of a genuine desire to place the contract in the UK this was not found possible, for reasons of cost and uncertainty of delivery date; a sad commentary on the ground rapidly being lost by the British ship-building industry. The order went to Holland, to the same yard which had built the motor vessel Ben Vooar, the contract was dated 7-8 November 1961 and delivery was promised for December 1962, she was to be of 450 tons gross, to have an eight-cylinder Brons engine and to cost 805,000 guilders.

m.v. BEN VARREY turning in Douglas harbour

The new Ben Varrey was not in fact delivered until 1963, but her arrival was made something of an 'occasion' for, on 6 April that year, the directors' meeting was held on board the vessel as she lay in Douglas Harbour; this was not only the first such meeting held 'afloat' but also, so far as I can ascertain, the first one held outside Ramsey.

In 1964 the company undertook a somewhat unusual task in the supplying with food, fresh water, stores, etc, MS Caroline, better known to pop fans as 'Radio Caroline'. The Manx Government had been contacted and, the position having been explained to them, 'they offered no objection to the Company acting as Ship's Agents in this particular case', although it was known that the Caroline was operating a radio station outside the three-mile limit in Ramsey Bay.

m.v. BEN VEG in Laxey harbour having discharged a cargo of grain for Corletts Mills at Laxey

At a meeting on 20 October 1964 the sale of the Ben Maye was authorised, she was delivered for demolition at Troon on 15 December 1964, thus passed the very last of the company's steam coasters. In 1965 for the second time in the history of the fleet, a new Ben Veg appeared; she is 346 tons gross and was built by Messrs Clelands Ltd. She was delivered on 3 March, loaded a cargo of fertiliser at Middlesbrough on 9 March and arrived at Ramsey on the 13 March.

The latest vessel to be acquired by the company is the Ben Veen (ex ' Plover) which joined the strength in 1971 making a total of four modern motor vessels with which to face the future.

m.v. BEN VEEN leaving Douglas early evening

Throughout this paper I have endeavoured to allow the Ramsey Steamship Company to tell its own story by quotations from original minutes, records and reports. We conclude by giving some quite lengthy extracts from a letter written in 1963 in response to a request by the IOM Coal Merchants Association for the retention of smaller vessels, more two-port discharges and the carriage of less-than-optimum cargoes where necessary. The company's reply, and the arguments contained therein, are a masterly statement of the difficulties facing a small, modern, coastwise shipping company; they are as applicable today as when they were written, and emphasise the wisdom und business-sense which the company has shown through sixty of the most eventful years it could ever have been asked to face.

The post-war period has seen a fundamental change in the type and size of ship engaged in the coasting trade generally, including the Irish Sea. Prior to the War there was a considerable number of small steamers trading here; since the War they have been replaced by motor ships. The steam ships carried small cargoes in comparison to their size, owing to the space required — for engines, boilers and bunkers . . . It is our experience, and the experience and of others, that these very small ships are not suitable for the rigorous conditions in the Irish Sea in the winter time . . . The modern trend in transport is to use fewer and larger units both to carry freight and in handling it... We have been forced to modernise our fleet at great cost in accordance with the practice of today. In this connection we feel sure we need not remind you that six small companies trading in the north Irish Sea have all gone out of business in the past few years .. . We trust you will appreciate that we are trying to face the hard facts of economic reality . . .

A fitting sentence for any small shipping company to nail to its masthead on entering its seventh decade.

Port Erin, Isle of Man .

FLEET LIST

SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This article first appeared in the journal "Maritime History", Vol. 3 No. 2, September, 1973, published by Bratton Publishing Ltd., 1 West Street, Tavistock, Devon. The Author wishes to acknowledge with thanks their permission to reprint.

This paper has been compiled entirely from original material in the possession of the Ramsey Steamship Company Limited., to whose directors and General Manager, Mr. Bernard Swales, I should like to express many thanks.

No. 12 m.v. BEN VOOAR Leaving Dougias with the m.v. BEN VEG arriving coastwise from Ramsey with a split load of coal 3. m.v. BEN VEG in Laxey harbour having discharged a cargo of grain for Corletts Mills at Laxey 4 m.v. BEN VARREY turning in Douglas harbour

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