Sir Raylton Dixon (8 July 1838 – 28 July 1901), was a shipbuilding magnate from

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

on the

River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...

who served as Mayor of Middlesbrough.

Background and early life

Dixon was one of the seven children of Jeremiah II Dixon (1804–1882) and Mary Frank (1803–1877) of Cockfield, County Durham who were married on 21 July 1833 in St Cuthbert's Church,

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

. He was the great-grandson of George Dixon of

Cockfield Canal Cockfield may refer to: *Cockfield, County Durham, a village in County Durham, England *Cockfield, Suffolk, a village in Suffolk, England ** Cockfield (Suffolk) railway station *Cockfield Hall Cockfield Hall in Yoxford in Suffolk, England is ...

fame, and great, great nephew of Jeremiah Dixon. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and Trinity College, Oxford, where he studied Mathematics.

Business life

The yard first did business under the name ''Backhouse & Dixon''. Raylton Dixon started the firm of Raylton Dixon & Co. in 1873 with the substantial Dixon family coal mining fortune, and it operated until 1923 when it was dissolved. At the height of its production the three Dixon brothers, Raylton, John, and Waynman, were involved in running the company. In its 50-year life the Cleveland Dockyard built more than 600 vessels, the first ship, the iron steamship ''Torrington'', being launched in 1874. The ship was later renamed ''Kwanon Maru No. 11'' and ran aground and was wrecked off Yagoshi Point,

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

on 7 March 1908. Raylton Dixon & Co earned a reputation for the construction of sound, large cargo-liners and during the 1890s had contracts with all the major shipping companies of the time. They also turned out refrigerated ships for the meat industry. Dixon was a close friend of

George Young Blair George Young Blair (10 March 1824 Drumrauch near Dundee – Drumrauch Hall 22 September 1894) was a Scottish marine engineer, who specialised in the building of triple expansion engines at his factory ''Blair & Co., Ltd.'' in Stockton-on-Tees. ...

(1826–1894), whose firm, Blair & Co., built marine

triple expansion engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tr ...

s and were fitted in Raylton Dixon ships. Raylton Dixon ships played an important role in world history. The was built in 1897 as a refrigerated cargo steamship, with berths for 12 first-class passengers. In 1900 she was chartered to make eight voyages to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, ferrying the Dublin & Denbigh Imperial Yeomanry, with their horses, to the Anglo-Boer War. In 1904

Doctor Crippen Hawley Harvey Crippen (September 11, 1862 – November 23, 1910), usually known as Dr. Crippen, was an American homeopath, ear and eye specialist and medicine dispenser. He was hanged in Pentonville Prison in London for the murder of his wife Co ...

and his secretary,

Ethel Le Neve Ethel Clara Neave (22 January 1883 – 9 August 1967), known as Ethel Le Neve, was the mistress of Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, a homeopath hanged for the murder and mutilation of his wife in 1910. She was born in Diss, Norfolk, the eldest child o ...

, were aboard the ship and acted suspiciously, causing the master to radio

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, resulting in their arrest on the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

. In 1914 she was sold to the admiralty for use as a blockship in

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

harbour, but broke her moorings in a gale and ran aground on the Goodwin Sands, her mast remaining visible until 1963. The general cargo steamship built at Raylton Dixon in 1899 devastated

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, Canada when she blew up with a cargo of ammunition in the 1917

Halifax Explosion On the morning of 6 December 1917, the French cargo ship collided with the Norwegian vessel in the waters of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The ''Mont-Blanc'', laden with high explosives, caught fire and exploded, devastating the Richmond ...

. Raylton Dixon was knighted in 1890 for his contributions to shipbuilding.

Personal life

Dixon married on 5 August 1863 Elizabeth Walker, daughter of Robert Walker. She was born in 1841 and died in 1915, aged 74. They produced eight children: *Mary Alice Elizabeth Raylton Dixon *Florence Lilian Raylton Dixon *Bessie May Raylton Dixon *Ada Beatrice Averil Raylton Dixon * Clive Macdonnell Raylton Dixon *Mabel Cochrane Dixon, who married in 1902 Otho Cowen Bond. * Harald Raylton Dixon *Amy Gertrude Inga Raylton Dixon Raylton Dixon bought

Gunnergate Hall Gunnergate Hall was a mansion house with grounds in the south of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England. History Gunnergate Hall was built in 1857 for Charles Albert Leatham, a wealthy Quaker banker. Albert Leatham died in 1858 and in 18 ...

from Carl Bolkow in 1888 and lived there until his death in 1901. Raylton Dixon was buried in St Cuthbert's Marton churchyard.

References

External links

Backhouse, Dixon & Company (1862 – 1873)

A reference archive of ships built on the River Tees 1850 – 1990

British shipyards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Sir Raylton British shipbuilders 1838 births 1901 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Knights Bachelor Mayors of Middlesbrough Conservative Party (UK) councillors People from Cockfield, County Durham 19th-century British businesspeople