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British shipping companies (F)

Factor Steamship Co. Ltd.
Falkland Islands Trading Co., Ltd.
Falmouth Oil Services Ltd.
Farrar, Groves & Co.
Farstad UK, Ltd.
Faversham Shipping
Federal Steam Navigation Co. Ltd
Fenay S.S. Co., Ltd.
John Fenwick & Son
Ferguson & Reid

See also:

Factor Steamship Co. Ltd.

(Evans Fawcus)

image by Ivan Sache, 25 April 2021

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of
Factor Steamship Co. Ltd. (Evans Fawcus) (#516, p. 61), a Newcastle-based company, as white with a blue cross in the center.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#26
Ivan Sache, 25 April 2021

Falkland Islands Trading Co., Ltd.

by Phil Nelson, 11 April 2000

from Stewart and Styring's Flags, Funnels and Hull Colors 1963. This company is based in London.
Phil Nelson, 11 April 2000

Falmouth Oil Services Ltd.

image by Jarig Bakker, 20 November 2005

Falmouth Oil Services Ltd., Falmouth - white flag, red drop outlined blue, with black & white bottom, between blue "FL".
Source: Loughran (1995)
Jarig Bakker, 20 November 2005

Farrar, Groves & Co.

(Fargrove Steam Nav. Co., Ltd.)

image by Ivan Sache, 22 April 2021

Lloyds Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of "Farrar, Groves & Co. (Fargrove Steam Nav. Co., Ltd.)" (#173, p. 44), a company based in London, as blue with a white diamond charged with a red quatrefoil.
Ivan Sache, 3 April 2008

Farstad UK, Ltd.

image by Jarig Bakker, 10 October 2005

Farstad UK, Ltd., Aberdeen - blue flag, white "F".
Source: Loughran (1995)
Jarig Bakker, 10 October 2005

Fenay S.S. Co., Ltd.

image by Ivan Sache, 3 May 2021

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of Fenay S.S. Co. (#1646, p. 115), a London-based shipping company, as horizontally divided black-red with a thick light blue border, in canton of the black stripe, a red cross.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#80
Ivan Sache, 3 May 2021

John Fenwick & Son

image by Ivan Sache, 21 April 2021

Lloyds Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of "John Fenwick & Son" (#64, p. 40), a company based in London, as
red with the white letters "JF&S.".
The Board of Trade Wreck Report for "Sibylla", 1888, mentions John Fenwick as the ship's owner.
http://www.plimsoll.org/resources/SCCLibraries/WreckReports/15332.asp
Ivan Sache, 22 March 2008

I write with some further information on the shipping company John Fenwick and Son listed in your section on shipping company flags, as this was the company of my ancestor and I have undertaken some research on it recently.
The company was formed around the 1850s by Captain John Fenwick when he moved from Newcastle to London. Captain Fenwick was an 'elder' of Trinity House, London from which he gained the captain rank. The company operated the entire time of its existence from 57 Gracechurch Street, London. When his sons John Fenwick Fenwick and Nicholas Percival Fenwick came of age they both joined the company as partners. They continued until gradually both the father and elder brother John Fenwick Fenwick, retired from the business and Nicholas Fenwick became sole manager until he retired some time following the first World War. I presume that the company was wound up following this retirement. The father, Captain John Fenwick was part of a shipping family in Newcastle and although I have no proof as yet I believe that he had original support financially and such from his father and brothers.
I have not yet discovered what shipping business the company undertook, but I am supposing that it was primarily mercantile rather than passenger and there are strong links in the early years with the coal industry in Newcastle so perhaps they began by shipping coal to London. I have discovered that there were at least two wrecks which they defended in court and someone has traced some of the ships they owned which often as not were built on Tyneside.
Micah Sicotte, 23 April 2020

Faversham Shipping

image by Rob Raeside, 12 February 2012

The flag of Faversham shipping - divided per saltire white and blue, with F and S written in the two white quarters.
Brian Cooper, 12 February 2012

Quoting the company's website:

"Faversham Ships was formed in 1994 with the acquisition of the vessel 'Conformity'. A slow but steady approach to development has been undertaken and the company now operate ten cargo vessels ranging from 2350 to 3850mt dwt. This fleet comprises conventional & low air draft coastal vessels (suitable for dangerous cargoes, loading / discharging aground, highly manoeuvrable), providing a flexible range of ships types and sizes."

The website includes several pictures of the company's vessels, some of them with the house flag (more or less) visible. The flag is quartered blue-white per saltire, with the black letters "F" and "S" in the upper and lower white quarters, respectively.
Ivan Sache, 13 February 2012

Federal Steam Navigation Co. Ltd

by Ivan Sache, 17 March 2004

The flag is white with a red cross and a blue rectangle superimposed on the cross.
Ivan Sache, 17 March 2004

The origin of the Federal Steam Navigation Company's house flag dates back to 1824 when the "Sir Edward Paget", one of Money Wigram's clippers, was anchored off Spithead flying the St. George's Cross at the Main. That was, and still is, the flag flown by an Admiral, and so a naval pinnace was sent by an H.M. frigate to investigate. There being no Admiral on board, the Master was censured and ordered to haul down his flag, but, thinking that his masthead looked bare, he rehoisted the flag after a blue pocket handkerchief had been sewn on the middle of the cross. These markings were adopted as the Company's house flag and were also painted on each side of the funnel, which was otherwise red with a black top.
Source: http://www.rakaia.co.uk/downloads/nzscl-house-flags.pdf
Jan Mertens, 11 December 2004

Federal Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. The origins are given somewhat loosely by various sources but the original flag appears to be that of Green & Wigram who were the owners of the "Sir Edward Paget" in 1824. This firm split in 1843 and Wigram took the flag with him to Money, Wigram & Sons whilst the successors of Richard Green, Frederick Green & Co. used a version by placing the blue panel behind the cross. Money Wigram & Sons came under the control of Allan Hughes of Allport & Hughes, their loading brokers, in 1882 and he acquired their remaining assets in 1884 after they sold off their ships. Allport & Hughes amalgamated in 1895 into Birt, Potter & Hughes who were financially and managerially involved in the formation of the Federal Steam Navigation Co. in that year. According to Talbot-Booth the flag was given to Federal in 1896, presumably by Hughes. The legend of how the flag originated has another slightly different version of the occasion with one of the officers said to have climbed to the masthead, cutting off the tail of his blue coat and attaching it to the centre of the cross. [See also Green & Wigram.]
Neale Rosanoski, 23 June 2005

The same flag is shown (#1695, p. 117) in Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912).
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#82
Ivan Sache, 3 May 2021

British Shipping lines: continued