| Harland & Wolff Archive | Public Record Office of Northern Ireland |
|---|---|
| Collection | |
|---|---|
Identifier |
D/2805 |
Description |
Business Archive of the Belfast shipbuilders, Harland & Wolff, 1861-c 1987. The collection includes extensive runs of administrative, financial, and technical records charting the evolution and development of the Company from its formal establishment in 1862. Remembered principally as the builders of the ill-fated passenger liner, the Titanic, Harland & Wolff is ranked amongst one of the most important and globally influential shipbuilding firms of the early 20th century. Reflecting 125 years of the Company's history, this collection stands as a testimony not only to the achievements of Harland & Wolff as a company, but also to the development of the ship building industry itself, the changing face of international trade and travel and the factors that impacted on it, e.g. World War. The collection itself consists of comprehensive series of minute books, reports, correspondence, financial ledgers, wage books, technical specifications, press cuttings, press releases and photographs etc. Of particular note are the business papers of senior officials including Viscount Pirrie (1847-1924), who led Harland & Wolff from 1896-1924, Sir Frederick Rebbeck, Chairman, 1930-62, Dr Denis Rebbeck, 1962-70, and Sir John Mallabar, 1966-70. The collection is also notable for material dealing with the Company's liaison with trades unions such as the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation, the Engineering and Allied Employers' National Federation, the Ship Constructors and Shipwrights' Association, the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions and the Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff. Records relating to Harland & Wolff's works and premises in Great Britain are also well represented in the archive. In addition to papers relating to the firm's main Belfast office, there are papers and correspondence concerning the London works, Scotstoun works, Govan works, Southampton works, Clyde Foundry, Finnieston works, and the Liverpool Ship Repairing and Engineering works. Also worthy of mention are seven boxes of research notes of Michael Moss and John R. Hume, 1983-1986, authors of the Company's official history (Shipbuilders to the world: 125 years of Harland and Wolff, Belfast, 1861-1986'), one box of photograph albums illustrating the damage caused to the ship yards during the Belfast Blitz of 1941, and loose photographs of various launchings, royal visits, etc. |
Strengths |
Business History. Shipbuilding. Manufacturing. World War Two. Maritime History. International Trade. |
Physical Characteristics |
Approx. 2000 files, 200 volumes and 16,000 documents |
Languages |
English |
Contents Date Range |
1861 - 1987 |
Collection Type |
Collection.Archive.Text |
Accrual |
Policy: Passive
Method: Permanent Deposit
Periodicity: Irregular |
Access |
The collection is stored in secure, closed accomodation. Access to the records is only permissable upon prior approval by Harland & Wolff. All requests should be made in writing to PRONI in the first instance. Public access is NOT extended to Personnel records on grounds of confidentiality. Once permission has been granted, the records can be requested for on-site consultation at PRONI using the in-house document ordering system. Access is supervised and for research and/or reference purposes only. |
Description or Catalogue |
See PRONI Catalogue Reference D/2805 for details. Catalogues are available in the PRONI search room for consultation. |
Publications Note |
Archival Collection only. No NI publications as such. |
| Collector | |
|---|---|
Role |
Commercial Shipbuilding Firm |
History |
Est. 1 Jan 1862 by Edward Harland (1831-95) and Gustav Wolff (1834-1913) following the purchase, in 1858, of the Belfast iron ship building firm, Robert Hickson & Co. (est. 1853) by Harland, in association with Wolff’s uncle, the Liverpool merchant and financier, Gustavus C. Schwabe (ca. 1813-97). Operations were located on the site of Hickson’s company on Queen’s Island, Belfast, an area reclaimed from the River Lagan by the Belfast Harbour Commissioners during the 1840s.The Company initially employed about 150-200 men. Although success was by no means guaranteed, Harland & Wolff benefited greatly from early orders placed by the Liverpool ship owners, J. Bibby & Sons & Company and later, from 1869, by Thomas Ismay (1837-99), owner of the White Star Line. Both of these companies were at the forefront of technological changes in the shipbuilding industry and actively encouraged the construction of bigger and better ships and facilities for passengers and merchants alike in the hope of improving their share of the increasingly lucrative world shipping market. Harland & Wolff answered this call and became highly successful in the production of larger sized vessels, and later, the construction of passenger liners. At the height of their success, in 1921 the Company was worth an estimated £8.1 million, employing approx. 15,000 men and had produced over 430 ships and output in excess of 2.2 million gross tons since their foundation in 1862. Of the many celebrated and renowned productions, the Oceanic (1870) and the ill-fated Titanic (1911) loom large. Despite a brief revival fuelled by the needs of the Second World War, the downturn within the ship building industry has had an inevitable impact on the fortunes of Harland & Wolff. Since the launch of the Canberra in 1960, the Company has increasingly turned its attentions to other areas of maritime engineering. Today, Harland and Wolff focuses primarily on the offshore oil and gas industry, building floating production and drilling units designed for deep water use, although the construction of naval ships and luxury passenger liners remains secondary. The company is today 78% owned by the Norwegian shipping firm Fred. Olsen Energy. See also: 'Shipbuilders to the world:125 years of Harland and Wolff, Belfast, 1861-1986,' Michael Moss and John R. Hume (Belfast, 1986) |
| Owner | |
|---|---|
Role |
Commercial Shipbuilding Firm |
Telephone |
+44 (0)28 9045 8456 |
Fax |
+44 (0)28 9045 8515 |
History |
Est. 1 Jan 1862 by Edward Harland (1831-95) and Gustav Wolff (1834-1913) following the purchase, in 1858, of the Belfast iron ship building firm, Robert Hickson & Co. (est. 1853) by Harland, in association with Wolff’s uncle, the Liverpool merchant and financier, Gustavus C. Schwabe (ca. 1813-97). Operations were located on the site of Hickson’s company on Queen’s Island, Belfast, an area reclaimed from the River Lagan by the Belfast Harbour Commissioners during the 1840s.The Company initially employed about 150-200 men. Although success was by no means guaranteed, Harland & Wolff benefited greatly from early orders placed by the Liverpool ship owners, J. Bibby & Sons & Company and later, from 1869, by Thomas Ismay (1837-99), owner of the White Star Line. Both of these companies were at the forefront of technological changes in the shipbuilding industry and actively encouraged the construction of bigger and better ships and facilities for passengers and merchants alike in the hope of improving their share of the increasingly lucrative world shipping market. Harland & Wolff answered this call and became highly successful in the production of larger sized vessels, and later, the construction of passenger liners. At the height of their success, in 1921 the Company was worth an estimated £8.1 million, employing approx. 15,000 men and had produced over 430 ships and output in excess of 2.2 million gross tons since their foundation in 1862. Of the many celebrated and renowned productions, the Oceanic (1870) and the ill-fated Titanic (1911) loom large. Despite a brief revival fuelled by the needs of the Second World War, the downturn within the ship building industry has had an inevitable impact on the fortunes of Harland & Wolff. Since the launch of the Canberra in 1960, the Company has increasingly turned its attentions to other areas of maritime engineering. Today, Harland and Wolff focuses primarily on the offshore oil and gas industry, building floating production and drilling units designed for deep water use, although the construction of naval ships and luxury passenger liners remains secondary. The company is today 78% owned by the Norwegian shipping firm Fred. Olsen Energy. See also: 'Shipbuilders to the world:125 years of Harland and Wolff, Belfast, 1861-1986,' Michael Moss and John R. Hume (Belfast, 1986) |
| Location | |
|---|---|
Name |
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland |
Address |
2 Titanic Boulevard |
Website |
|
Access Control |
The Record Office is open to the general public on weekdays between 9.15 am and 4.45 pm, with late night opening until 8.45 pm on Thursday evenings. The Office is closed on the main public holidays and is closed annually for two weeks late November/early December. All readers are required to register their membership on their first visit to the office for which some form of identification will be asked. Registration and admission to the office is free of charge to the public, although certain commercial users (i.e. solicitors, journalists, television reporters and professional genealogists) are subject to a fee. Disabled access facilities, self-service microfilm and a chargeable copying service are provided. |
Role |
Government agency with responsibility for official and private records |
Phone |
0442890534800 |