This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website

British shipping companies (Gr)

Last modified: 2021-05-29 by rob raeside
Keywords: shipping lines |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors



See also:

Gracechurch Container Line

[Gracechurch Container Line houseflag] image by Jorge Candeias, 30 Jan 1998

The logo is this image. I’ve seen both versions: in deep and in light blue, and don’t know which one is the right one (if any).
Jorge Candeias, 30 Jan 1998

[Gracechurch Container Line alternate houseflag] image by Jorge Candeias, 30 Jan 1998

J. Graham & Sons

[J. Graham & Sons houseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 23 April 2021

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of J. Graham & Sons (#358, p. 54), a Hartlepool-based company, as white with the red letters "JG&S in the center".
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#19
Ivan Sache, 23 April 2021


Grahamston Shipping Co., Ltd.

Cherbury Steamship Co., Ltd.
(William T. Mitchell)

[Grahamston Shipping Co., Ltd. houseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 30 April 2021

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of Grahamston Shipping Co., Ltd. - Cherbury Steamship Co., Ltd. -
(William T. Mitchell) (#1338, p. 100), a Glasgow-based company, as red with a white lozenge charged with a blue "M".
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#65 
Ivan Sache, 30 April 2021


Graig Shipping Co. Ltd.

[Graig Shipping Co. Ltd. houseflag] image by Jarig Bakker

From Scott, R.M., The Caltex book of Flags and Funnels, Cape Town, Caltex Africa Ltd. (1959).

Graig Shipping Co. Ltd., Cardiff - flag horizontal white over green, red "G".
Jarig Bakker, 2 January 2005

Graig Shipping Co. Ltd. Owners were Idwal Williams & Co. Ltd. This was their main operating subsidiary [now Graig Ship Management Ltd.] but they have also operated Glynafon Shipping Co. Ltd. and Garth Shipping Co. Ltd. with the flag being common. The name "Graig" originates from their first vessel.
Neale Rosanoski, 18 July 2005


W.A. Grainger

[W.A. Grainger houseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 26 April 2021

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of W.A. Grainger (#706, p. 70), a Belfast-based company, as triangular, blue with a red border, except at hoist, charged at hoist with a red star.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/35/
Ivan Sache, 26 April 2021


Grampian Steam Fishing Co., Ltd.

[Grampian Steam Fishing Co., Ltd. houseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 23 April 2021

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of the Grampian Steam Fishing Co., Ltd. (#389, p. 55), an Aberdeen-based company, as blue with a red shield charged with a white cross.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#20
Ivan Sache, 23 April 2021


Grangemouth Steamship Co.

[Grangemouth Steamship Co. houseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 1 May 2021

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of Grangemouth Steamship Co. (#1604, p. 113), a Grangemouth-based shipping company, as red with a white diamond touching the edges of the flag, in the center, a blue "L".
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#78
Ivan Sache, 1 May 2021


Granite City Steamship Co., Ltd.

[Granite City Steamship Co., Ltd. houseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 25 April 2021

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of
Granite City Steamship Co., Ltd. (Richard Connon, Reid & Co.) (#510, p. 61), an Aberdeen-based company, as vertically divided blue-white-red with a Union Jack in canton.

https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#26

A hand-made drawing of the flag is kept at the Aberdeen Archives, Gallery and Museums.
https://emuseum.aberdeencity.gov.uk/objects/10685/house-flag-of-connon-reid-and-co-for-use-on-the-cargo-stea
Ivan Sache, 25 April 2021


E. Cyril Grant

[E. Cyril Grant houseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 4 May 2021

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of E. (Edward) Cyril Grant (#1889, p. 126), a Grimsby-based fishing company, as blue with a white "G" in the center.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#91
Ivan Sache, 4 May 2021


William Grant

[William Grant houseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 28 April 2021

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of William Grant (#1039, p. 86), a Grimsby-based company, as horizontally divided blue-red-blue.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/51/
Ivan Sache, 28 April 2021


Grant & Baker Steam Fishing Co., Ltd.

[Grant & Baker Steam Fishing Co., Ltd. houseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 28 April 2021

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of Grant & Baker Steam Fishing Co., Ltd. (#1044, p. 86), a Grimsby-based company, as horizontally divided blue-red-blue, charged in the center with the white letters "G & B".
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/51/
Ivan Sache, 28 April 2021


Grasmere Steam Shipping Co., Ltd.

Falconer, Ross & Co.

[Grasmere Steam Shipping Co., Ltd. houseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 4 May 2021

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of Grasmere Steam Shipping Co., Ltd. (Falconer, Ross & Co.) (#1853, p. 125), a Newcastle-based company, as blue with a white cross, charged in the respective quarters with the white letters "G", "S", "S", and "Co LTD".
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#90
Ivan Sache, 4 May 2021


T. Gray & Co., Ltd.

[T. Gray & Co., Ltd. houseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 28 April 2021

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of T. Gray & Co., Ltd. (#862, p. 78), a Hull-based company, as triangular, red with a white "G".
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/43/
Ivan Sache, 28 April 2021


William Gray & Co., Ltd.

[William Gray & Co., Ltd. houseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 23 April 2021

William Gray settled in Hartlepool in 1843. He owned a successful drapery business, and had investments in several ships. In 1863 he formed a partnership with local shipbuilder John Punshon Denton. The new firm was named Denton, Gray and Company. They intended to build iron ships, which were just starting to replace wooden-built vessels. They extended Denton’s yard at Middleton to include part of the former Richardson Brothers’ yard. Their first ship "Dalhousie" (later renamed the Sepia) was launched on 23rd January 1864.
In 1865 Denton, Gray & Co joined with shipbuilders Richardson, Duck and Company of Stockton, and marine engine builders T. Richardson and Sons. The new partnership was called Richardson, Denton, Duck and Company. A slump in the market meant that this new firm only lasted until September 1866. After this all the firms went back to their original ownership and names.

In 1867 Denton, Gray & Co launched the "Lizzie English", which is thought to have been the first well-deck steamer. In the same year, they expanded into a disused shipyard which had belonged to Blumers. As orders increased the firm needed still more workspace and, in June 1868, they leased the vacant Pile, Spence yard. By summer of 1869, all the workforce had been transferred to the new yard, while the Middleton yards, including Blumers, were taken over by Withy, Alexander and Co. The move meant that Denton, Gray and Co. now had two dry-docks. This allowed them to increase their business in repairing and over-hauling ships as well as shipbuilding.

When William Gray and J.P. Denton first went into business together they had each put up an equal share of the money needed. They had agreed to divide the profits, with Denton taking 55% and Gray 45%. This was because Denton intended to take care of most of the running of the business, leaving Gray free to do other things. When Denton became ill in 1869 Gray had to take over more of the work, so they agreed to share the profits equally. Some legal problems were beginning to develop in the partnership, however.
Both of Denton’s sons worked for the firm, and he wanted them to become partners. Gray did not agree. He was willing to take on Denton’s older son, Richard, but he wanted his own eldest son, Matthew, as the other partner, as soon as he was old enough. There had been no legal documents drawn up when Gray and Denton went into partnership, since they had trusted that “a man’s word is his bond”. The two men could not reach an agreement and the matter was put in the hands of the courts. No decision had been made by the time of Denton’s death in 1871.

By 1874 the courts had still not reached a conclusion over who should be allowed to become a partner, and finally Richard Denton left the firm. It was now renamed as William Gray and Company. The first ship launched by the new firm was the "Sexta" in August 1874. In 1877 Matthew Gray, William’s older son, became a junior partner.
The new company was even more successful than the old one had been. In 1878 William Gray and Company launched eighteen ships. This earned them the “Blue Riband”, which was a prize for the most ships built in a year by any British shipyard. They won the same award in 1882, 1888, 1895, 1898 and 1900.

On 16th June 1886, a Tyneside shipbuilding firm, Armstrong, Mitchell and Co. launched the world’s first oil tanker, the "Gluckauf". Gray’s launched their own tanker, the "Bakuin", on 17th June, and so missed the record by just one day.
At this time most of the world’s supply of oil came from the Standard Oil Company. The cheapest way to ship oil around the world was through the Suez Canal. This had been opened in 1869, and provided a short-cut between the Mediterranean and Red Seas. In 1892 the Suez Canal Company introduced new regulations which all ships had to meet before they could go through the canal. In May of the same year Gray’s launched the "Murex", the first of six ships ordered by a London man named Marcus Samuel. These ships met the new regulations exactly. The ships belonging to Standard Oil did not. This allowed Samuel to win a share of the oil market away from Standard Oil, and was the beginning of the now-famous Shell Oil Company.

https://www.hhtandn.org/hartlepool-ships-and-shipping/shipbuilding/200/Gray%27s%20Shipyard
Hartlepool History Then and Now

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of William Gray & Co., Ltd. (#356, p. 53), as swallow-tailed, blue with a red cross patty inscribed in a white disc.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#18 
Ivan Sache, 23 April 2021


British Shipping lines: continued