The Humber Outport: Lloyd’s Register in the Port of Hull since c.1760.

Wright, Samuel

Abstract

For over 260 years, Lloyd’s Register has worked to preserve life and property at sea. Throughout that time, the Society has maintained an active presence in its outports, one being Hull. By taking the uncharted connections between Lloyd’s Register and its Humber outport as a case study, this thesis investigates the work of the Society in the outports, and the extent to which it was involved with key industries and businesses in such ports. It also studies the importance of the outports to the institutional aims of the Society, as well as assessing the extent to which such goals were aided by its work in Hull.
Lloyd’s Register has garnered little historiographical attention. Moreover, a London-centric focus dominates this limited historiography. By analysing the Society’s historical connections to Hull, and its involvement in some of the port’s key maritime industries
and businesses, this research fills a significant gap in the historiography on Lloyd’s Register. The investigation draws upon underutilised primary source material from Lloyd’s Register Foundation Heritage and Education Centre in combination with parliamentary and institutional records. This material is deployed to address three overarching research questions: how did Lloyd’s Register operate in a provincial port like Hull? Did the involvement of Lloyd’s Register in outports extend beyond the Society’s work in surveying and classification? How important were provincial ports to the goals of Lloyd’s Register? The analysis sheds lights on the operational activity of the Society in Hull, and the scale of Lloyd’s Register’s presence in the port, as well as evaluating the influence such ports had on the Society. The thesis reveals that Hull has been a particularly important port in the history of the Society, and the connections that date back over 260 years could still be seen in and around Hull into the 2020s.

Citation

Wright, S. (2025). The Humber Outport: Lloyd’s Register in the Port of Hull since c.1760. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/5089139

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Mar 26, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 28, 2025
• Keywords: History
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/5089139
• Additional Information: History; School of Humanities; Faculty of Arts, Cultures and Education; University of Hull
• Award Date: Jan 29, 2025