Ellerman
Group
(Est. 1901) |
|
RETURN TO THE LOBBY
THE OCEAN LINER VIRTUAL MUSEUM |
The
Early Years: Sir
John Reeves Ellerman,
1st Baronet, CH
(1862–1933) was an English
shipowner and investor. He was one of the most successful entrepreneurs
in
British history. In 1892 Ellerman made his
first move into
shipping by leading a consortium which purchased the interests of the
late Frederick
Richards Leyland, one of the largest shipowners in Shipping
Lines: Ellerman & Papayanni
Line A shipping company formed by
the Papayanni
Brothers in 1855 was acquired by J. R. Ellerman & Ellerman & Papayanni
Lines Ltd was
established in When the American Civil War
stopped grain
imports from the The firm was incorporated as
Papayanni
Steamship Co Ltd in 1897 with the original family still in control.
However,
the new company had not the capital to modernise their fleet and
accepted Sir
John Ellerman’s offer to purchase the business. Ellerman was chairman
of
London, Liverpool & Ocean Shipping Company Ltd, from 1902 known as
Ellerman
Lines Ltd. Ellerman Lines also acquired many of the Papayanni Lines
rival
companies, such as City Line Ltd and Hall Line Ltd. The Papayanni
Steamship Co
Ltd had enjoyed a privileged position amongst merchants owing to their
directors’ personal connections in the These companies all came
together under the
Ellerman flag and adopted the Ellerman funnel colours of buff with a
white band
and black top. Rather than being in competition, the companies now
worked
together. The older City Line passenger vessels were transferred to the
Mediterranean services and remained popular with tourists until they
were
replaced by modern vessels built for the Ellerman & Papayanni Line
Ltd. The
Papayanni Line at this time offered a two-month Mediterranean cruise
for GBP 33
or a six-month ticket for GBP 50 that allowed the holder to use any of
the
Ellerman group of companies ships during that time. The outbreak of the
1914-1918 World War saw
the government requisition a large number of the Ellerman fleet for use
as
troop carriers, munitions carriers, or for conversion into war ships.
The
Ellerman group of companies continued to operate a skeletal service
with the
ships it had left. After the war, the immediate aim of the Ellerman
group was
to secure sufficient tonnage to restore a level of service comparable
to the
group’s old standards which lead to the purchase of several German
liners as
well as new tonnage being ordered. The passenger services to By 1939, the Ellerman group
of companies
owned 105 ships capable of carrying a combined 920,000 tons making
Ellerman’s
one of the biggest fleets in the world. They had 4 classes of ship:
cargo ships
with space for a considerable number of passengers, cargo ships with
limited
passenger accommodation; pure cargo ships, and short sea traders for
the Prior to the 1939, the
Papayanni Line was
operating services from The 1939-1945 World War saw
many Ellerman
ships requisitioned for Government service while a number of ships were
retained to continue as cargo vessels bringing supplies to the Following the war, a new
building programme
was undertaken, with the City of By 1952, Ellerman group of
companies had 25
of these new style 12-passenger ships and had restored the bulk of
their
pre-war services with a total of 45 new vessels and a further 14 for
the
Portuguese trade and Mediterranean services. By 1953, the fleet had a
total of
94 ships with a carry capacity of 900,000 tons. In 1993, Ellerman &
Papayanni Lines Ltd
became Papayanni Lines Ltd and was dissolved in 1996. Westcott & Laurence
Line Another shipping company was
Westcott &
Laurence. This had started in 1867 as Westcott & Houseden. In 1871
Robert
Houseden died and the company became Westcott & Laurence. 1901 the
fleet
was sold to J. R. Ellerman & Co. In the late 1850s an
infrequent service
between This partnership was known
as Westcott &
Houseden, changing its name to Westcott & Laurence in 1871. The
company
established trade lines to the Mediterranean with routes to Malta;
Alexandria,
Egypt; and Odessa; Ukraine; and also to Malta; Piraeus, Greece; Syria,
Istanbul, Turkey; the Black Sea and ports on the river Danube. Ellerman Lines Ltd,
shipowners, The companies all came
together under the
Ellerman flag and adopted the Ellerman funnel colour of buff with a
white band
and black top. Rather than being in competition, the companies now
worked
together. The older City Line passenger vessels were transferred to the
Mediterranean services and remained popular with tourists until they
were
replaced by modern vessels built for the Ellerman & Papayanni Line
Ltd. The outbreak of the
1914-1918 World War saw
the government requisition a large number of the Ellerman fleet for use
as
troop carriers, munitions carriers, or for conversion into war ships.
The
Ellerman group of companies continued to operate a skeletal service
with the
ships it had left. After the war, the immediate aim of the Ellerman
group was
to secure sufficient tonnage to restore a level of service comparable
to the
group’s old standards which lead to the purchase of several German
liners as
well as new tonnage being ordered. The passenger services to Westcott & Laurence Line
Ltd was incorporated
in 1924. By 1939, the Ellerman group
of companies
owned 105 ships capable of carrying a combined 920,000 tons making
Ellerman’s
one of the biggest fleets in the world. They had 4 classes of ship:
cargo ships
with space for a considerable number of passengers, cargo ships with
limited
passenger accommodation; pure cargo ships, and short sea traders for
the During the 1939-1945 World
War many ships
were requisitioned for Government service while a number of ships were
retained
to continue as cargo vessels bringing supplies to the Following the war, a new
building programme
was undertaken, with the City of By 1952, the company had 25
of these new style
12-passenger ships and had restored the bulk of their pre-war services
with a
total of 45 new vessels and a further 14 for the Portuguese trade and
Mediterranean services. By 1953, the fleet had a total of 94 ships with
a carry
capacity of 900,000 tons. Westcott & Laurence Line
Ltd was
dissolved in 1994. Montgomerie & Workman Montgomery & Greenhorne
started in 1855.
In 1877 with the death of Alexander Greenhorne, the company became
Montgomerie
& Workman. In 1901 the company was taken over by J. R. Ellerman
& Co. The partnership of
Montgomerie &
Workman, shipbrokers and insurance brokers, In 2002, Montgomerie &
Workman Ltd
existed in George Smith & Sons
(City Line) ommenced
shipowning in 1840 and traded to George Smith & Sons,
merchants of The company realised that in
order to
succeed they would need to have vessels built to their own
specification and
their next two ships, the Majestic and
Asia were designed especially for
them and built in Smith soon established a
sound reputation
for successful handling these commodities, gaining a virtual monopoly
of the
tea trade to In 1848, the launch of the City of The completion of the Suez
Canal saw the
company’s first steamer, the City of As there was not always
sufficient trade to In 1892, City Line Ltd was
incorporated to
acquire the business of George Smith & Sons and remained under the
control
of the fourth generation of Smiths. At this time, the City Line Ltd was
maintaining a fortnightly cargo and passenger service to In 1901, the London,
Liverpool & Ocean
Shipping Company Ltd (later Ellerman Lines Ltd) acquired the company
and its
name was changed to Ellerman City Line Ltd. Ellerman’s soon acquired
many of
the City Line’s competitors, such as the Hall Line Ltd and Bucknall
Steamship
Lines Ltd. The companies all came
together under the
Ellerman flag and adopted the Ellerman funnel colour of buff with a
white band
and black top. Rather than being in competition, the companies now
worked
together. The older City Line passenger vessels were transferred to the
Mediterranean services and remained popular with tourists until they
were
replaced by modern vessels built for Ellerman & Papayanni Lines Ltd. The outbreak of the
1914-1918 World War saw
the government requisition a large number of the Ellerman fleet for use
as
troop carriers, munitions carriers, or for conversion into war ships.
The
Ellerman group of companies continued to operate a skeletal service
with the
ships it had left. After the war, the immediate aim of the Ellerman
group was
to secure sufficient tonnage to restore a level of service comparable
to the
group's old standards which lead to the purchase of several German
liners as
well as new tonnage being ordered. The passenger services to In 1936, the City of By 1939, the Ellerman group
of companies
owned 105 ships capable of carrying a combined 920,000 tons making
Ellerman’s
one of the biggest fleets in the world. They had four classes of ship:
cargo
ships with space for a considerable number of passengers; cargo ships
with
limited passenger accommodation; pure cargo ships, and short sea
traders for
the During the 1939-1945 World
War many ships
were requisitioned for Government service while a number of ships were
retained
to continue as cargo vessels bringing supplies to the Following the war, a new
building programme
was undertaken, with the City of Ellerman City Line Ltd
appears to have
ceased trading in the late 1970s and no longer existed in 2002. Ellerman Hall Line Robert Alexander started
shipowning in the
1850s and in 1868 founded the Sun Shipping Co., The Hall Line Ltd was
founded as Robert
& Young, shipmanagers, in At that time, the firm’s
ships principally
traded to The steamer service was
inaugurated in 1873
with the City of In 1874, Robert Alexander
formed the Sun
Shipping Co Ltd and this was the official title of the Hall Line for
many
years. In the late 1870s, the firm of Alexander & Radcliffe was
formed in For a number of years the
Hall Line
maintained a regular and successful passenger service to The Hall Line Ltd then
restricted its
activities to the transport of cargo and it was not until after the
Ellerman
group of companies acquired them in 1901 that they re-entered the
passenger
trade in association with the Ellerman City Line Ltd, The absorption of the City
and Hall Lines
into the Ellerman Group in 1901 rendered possible a close integration
of their
respective organisations and a wider development of their Eastern
services,
which now embraced all the principle ports in The outbreak of the
1914-1918 World War saw
the government requisition a large number of the Ellerman fleet for use
as
troop carriers, munitions carriers, or for conversion into war ships.
The
Ellerman group of companies continued to operate a skeletal service
with the
ships it had left. After the war, the immediate aim of the Ellerman
group was
to secure sufficient tonnage to restore a level of service comparable
to the
group’s old standards which lead to the purchase of several German
liners as
well as new tonnage being ordered. The passenger services to By 1939, the Ellerman group
of companies
owned 105 ships capable of carrying a combined 920,000 tons making
Ellerman’s
one of the biggest fleets in the world. They had 4 classes of ship:
cargo ships
with space for a considerable number of passengers; cargo ships with
limited
passenger accommodation; pure cargo ships; and short sea traders for
the During the 1939-1945 World
War many ships
were requisitioned for Government service while a number of ships were
retained
to continue as cargo vessels bringing supplies to the Following the war, a new
building programme
was undertaken, with the City of Hall Line Ltd appears to
have ceased trading
in the late 1970s and was dissolved in 1994. Ellerman & Bucknall Henry Bucknall & Son was
formed in Ellerman & Bucknall
(Steamships) Co Ltd
began in 1740 as Henry Bucknall & Sons, shipowners, The development of gold and
diamond mining
in Sometimes the ships would
call at the In 1900, Bucknall Steamship
Lines Ltd was
incorporated to acquire the business of the British & Colonial
Steam
Navigation Co with a share and debenture capital of GBP 1,985,000. The
company
struggled in its early days due to the price it had to pay for the
assets it
acquired and also due to a slump in business following the Transvaal
War in In 1908, the Bucknall
Steamship Lines Ltd
found themselves in difficulty again though overbuilding and it was
arranged
that the company should be acquired by Ellerman Lines Ltd, shipowners, The outbreak of the
1914-1918 World War saw
the government requisition a large number of the Ellerman fleet for use
as
troop carriers, munitions carriers, or for conversion into war ships.
The
Ellerman group of companies continued to operate a skeletal service
with the
ships it had left. After the war, the immediate aim of the Ellerman
group was
to secure sufficient tonnage to restore a level of service comparable
to the
group's previous standards which lead to the purchase of several German
liners
as well as new tonnage being ordered. The passenger services to By 1939, the Ellerman group
of companies
owned 105 ships capable of carrying a combined 920,000 tons making
Ellerman’s
one of the biggest fleets in the world. They had 4 classes of ship:
cargo ships
with space for a considerable number of passengers; cargo ships with
limited
passenger accommodation; pure cargo ships; and short sea traders for
the Prior to the war, the main
Ellerman &
Bucknall (Steamships) Co Ltd services were Middlesborough, England;
Antwerp,
Netherlands; Rotterdam, Netherlands; Hamburg, Germany; and London to
South
African ports, Lourenco Marques, Beira, Mozambique; and Mauritius.
Services
were also provided from the During the 1939-1945 World
War, many ships
were requisitioned for Government service while a number of ships were
retained
to continue as cargo vessels bringing supplies to the Following the war, the
Ellerman group
undertook a new building programme, with the City
of The company appears to have
ceased trading
in the 1970s and was dissolved in 1999. Ellerman Wilson Line Wilson Line was founded in
1822 in After the death of
Beckinton, the company
became Wilson, Hudson & Co in 1831 and in May 1840 a regular
steamship
service was instituted between In 1878 the firm of
Brownlow, Marsdin &
Co, For example in 1916 he paid
£4.1 million for
Thomas Wilson Sons & Co. of In 1916 Wilson Line was
bought by Ellerman
and became Ellerman's Wilson Line Ltd in 1917. After 1973 all
constituent
Ellerman companies were combined into Ellerman City Liners. However the
Ellerman Lines In 1892 John Reeves
Ellerman, Christopher
Furness and Henry O’Hagan incorporated Frederick Leyland & Co Ltd,
shipowners, In 1900, the company
acquired a further 20
ships from the West India & Pacific SS Co Ltd and was reorganised
as
Frederick Leyland (1900) Ltd with a capital of GBP 2,800,000. A year
later,
however, J Pierpoint Morgan of the International Marine Mercantile
Company, Ellerman then formed the
London, Liverpool
& Ocean Shipping Company Ltd. This company’s head office was
located in
Moorgate, In 1901, the London,
Liverpool & Ocean
Shipping Company Ltd acquired 50 percent of George Smith & Sons’
City Line
Ltd, Glasgow, and 50 percent of the Hall Line Ltd and increased its
capital,
changing its name to Ellerman Lines Ltd at the beginning of 1902 with
head
offices in Liverpool and In 1908, the company
acquired Bucknall
Steamship Lines Ltd who operated services between the United Kingdom,
South
Africa, the near East and North America. The acquisitions of these
companies
gave the Ellerman group of companies a dominating position in the
Mediterranean
and The outbreak of the
1914-1918 World War saw
the Government requisition a large number of the Ellerman fleet for use
as
troop carriers, munitions carriers, or for conversion into war ships.
The
Ellerman group of companies continued to operate a skeletal service
with the
ships it had left. After the war, the immediate aim of the company was
to
secure sufficient tonnage to restore a level of service comparable to
the
company’s old standards which lead to the purchase of several German
liners as
well as new tonnage being ordered. The passenger services to By 1939, the Ellerman group
of companies
owned 105 ships capable of carrying a combined 920,000 tons making
Ellerman’s
one of the biggest fleets in the world. They had 4 classes of ship:
cargo ships
with space for a considerable number of passengers; cargo ships with
limited
passenger accommodation; pure cargo ships; and short sea traders for
the Again, many ships were
requisitioned for
Government service during the 1939-1945 World War while a number of
ships were
retained to continue as cargo vessels bringing supplies to the Following the war, a new
building programme
was undertaken, with the City of In 2002, Ellerman Lines Ltd
was a dormant
company. The Ellerman
Group Thus by 1902 he combined his
shipping interests
including Ellerman & Papayanni Line, Westcott & Laurence,
Montgomerie
& Workman, City Line, Hall Line, Ellerman & Bucknall Steamship
Co. into
the Ellerman Group. He continued to expand the business, making inroads
into
the South African, By 1917 Ellerman owned 1.5 million tons of shipping, equivalent to the entire French merchant navy. There is no obvious secret to success in shipping; there were other talented men in the shipping business, but Ellerman far surpassed them. He wasn't an innovator, but assets flourished under his management and he made many good decisions and exceptionally few bad ones. In 1968
Ellerman Group became a partner in setting up Associated Container
Transportation (ACT) with Blue Star Line, Ben Line, Harrison Lines and
Cunard (Port Line). Ellerman Group as well as forming part of the ACT
Consortium, also in 1970 formed a partnership with Ben Line to form Ben
Line Containers Ltd. In 1973
the group, which by now, had many other interests beyond
shipping, including hotels, brewing and printing, merged all its
shipping companies into one division. After 1973 all constituent
Ellerman
companies were combined into Ellerman City Liners. However the In 1983,
the Ellerman Group was sold to the Barclay brothers after making heavy
losses.
In 1985 the Ellerman Group's shipping division "Ellerman
Lines" was sold to its management and then in 1987 was taken
over by Cunard (Trafalgar House) to become Cunard-Ellerman. Cunard later sold their
Ellerman interests along with Cunard-Brocklebank Ltd to Andrew Weir
(Bank Line) Ltd of
Glasgow in 1991. However the non shipping part of Ellerman Group was
retained by the Barclay Brothers as Ellerman Investments Ltd and it
became one of their investment vehicles and a holding company for their
hotel and property interests in the UK and Europe. Ellerman Investments
Ltd is controlled by Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay. Its main
activities are the operation of hotels and property investment in the
UK and Europe. It holds a major stake in the InterContinental
Hotels Group and owns the Ritz Hotel in London (acquired from Trafalgar
House in 1995) for example. Thus Ellerman Investments Ltd, a legacy of
the Ellerman Group shipping company, continues to be the main
investment vehicle of the Barclay Brothers today. In 1991
P&O purchased
the Cunard-Ellerman container business which became part of P&O
Containers. In
1996 P&O Containers merged with Nedlloyd to form P&O Nedlloyd.
In 2004
P&O's container operations became Royal P&O Nedlloyd and since
have
been taken over in 2005 by the A.P.Moller-Maersk Group and became
Maersk Line. In 2003
Hamburg Sud Group
acquired the Ellerman services to the Thus the
Ellerman Group, one of Britain's great shipping groups, disappeared due
to mergers and consolidation in the shipping industry and
globalisation. It is truly the end of a glorious era. A.P. Moller-Maersk Group www.maersk.com Hamburg Sud Group www.hamburgsud.com
Other
Interests:
Ellerman
House &
Villa, The
stately residence of Sir
John Ellerman and Lady Ellerman in the
The
John Ellerman
Foundation The John
Ellerman Foundation
in 1971 after the death of the second Sir John Ellerman (son of the
founder of
Ellerman Group, Sir John R. Ellerman). Sir John and
his wife Esther had no children but through their lives they developed
a
growing and profound interest in philanthropy. He had created The
Moorgate Fund
in 1970 and The New Moorgate Fund in 1971; he transferred to them some
79% of
the shares in Ellerman Lines Ltd. In 1983 the Trustees, facing the need
to
diversify the investments to obtain a greater return, sold the shares
in
Ellerman Lines and invested the proceeds on the Stock Exchange. In
1992, the
Trustees amalgamated the two Moorgate Funds and changed the name to The
John
Ellerman Foundation – thereby honouring both the man who had made this
gift to
charity and his father who created the wealth from which the gift came.
The
aims and values of the Foundation derive from its founder and
benefactor, the
second Sir John Ellerman; over time they have been developed to reflect
both
his interests and the changing needs of the charitable world. |