Hull Maritime

‘Let’s make a good job of it and stay in business’: the British distant-water trawler fleet and the coastal mackerel fishery, 1975–1985 (2022)
Journal Article
Wilcox, M. (2023). ‘Let’s make a good job of it and stay in business’: the British distant-water trawler fleet and the coastal mackerel fishery, 1975–1985. Journal for Maritime Research, 23(2), 139-160. https://doi.org/10.1080/21533369.2022.2097855

The historiography of British distant-water fishing concentrates on the period prior to 1976 and the third ‘Cod War’ that saw British trawlers excluded from their principal fishing grounds. Little research has hitherto been done on the period afterwa... Read More about ‘Let’s make a good job of it and stay in business’: the British distant-water trawler fleet and the coastal mackerel fishery, 1975–1985.

‘To save the industry from complete ruin’: Crisis and response in British fishing 1945-1951 (2019)
Journal Article
Wilcox, M. (2021). ‘To save the industry from complete ruin’: Crisis and response in British fishing 1945-1951. Business history, 63(3), 353-377. https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2019.1576634

Fishing is a small, complex and fragmented industry, which arguably exerts political significance disproportionate to its size. This article traces the prolonged period of depression which affected British deep-sea fishing between the wars, and then... Read More about ‘To save the industry from complete ruin’: Crisis and response in British fishing 1945-1951.

Dock Development, 1778-1914 (2017)
Book Chapter
Wilcox, M. (2017). Dock Development, 1778-1914. In D. J. Starkey, D. Atkinson, B. McDonagh, S. McKeon, & E. Salter (Eds.), Hull: Culture, History, Place (117-144). Liverpool University Press

First paragraph:
Hull owes its existence to water transport. Located at the mouth of the River Hull, where the deep-water channel of the Humber sweeps along its north bank, it is a natural transhipment point, and although the town (as it is properly... Read More about Dock Development, 1778-1914.

William Papper (Vignette) (2017)
Book Chapter
Wilcox, M. William Papper (Vignette). In D. Atkinson, B. McDonagh, S. McKeon, E. Salter, & D. Starkey (Eds.), Hull: Culture, History, Place. Liverpool University Press

'The want of sufficient men': Labour recruitment and training in the British North Sea fisheries, 1850-1950 (2015)
Journal Article
Wilcox, M. (2015). 'The want of sufficient men': Labour recruitment and training in the British North Sea fisheries, 1850-1950. International Journal of Maritime History, 27(4), 723-742. https://doi.org/10.1177/0843871415610504

Between 1815 and 1950 the British fishing industry underwent fundamental and far-reaching changes. The industry expanded rapidly in the half-century prior to the First World War, before entering a period of stagnation thereafter. The technology of fi... Read More about 'The want of sufficient men': Labour recruitment and training in the British North Sea fisheries, 1850-1950.

Railways, roads and the British white fish industry, 1920-70 (2012)
Journal Article
Wilcox, M. (2012). Railways, roads and the British white fish industry, 1920-70. Business history, 54(5), 741-764. https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2011.631128

It is well known that the railways facilitated the development of the British fishing industry in the nineteenth century. Using sources only recently made available for research, this article explores the relationship between the fish trade and railw... Read More about Railways, roads and the British white fish industry, 1920-70.