Furness Withy
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Furness Withy was a major
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transport business. It was listed on the
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.


History

The company was founded by Christopher Furness and Henry Withy (1852–1922) in 1891 in
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. This was achieved by the amalgamation of the ''Furness Line'' of
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with the business of ''Edward Withy and Co.'', iron and steel
shipbuilder Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...
s and repairers, of West
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, which was founded by Edward Withy (1844-1927), Henry Withy's brother. An early acquisition in 1900 was a controlling interest in Richardsons Westgarth & Company, a marine
engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
business. Furness, Withy started with 18 vessels and over the subsequent years it owned in excess of a thousand ships.Furness Withy (Chartering) Limited
status: usurped
It bought the Prince line in 1916. In 1917 the Furness Shipbuilding Co Ltd was established, at Haverton Hill,
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, initially for war production. The Furness family sold its interests in the Company to a consortium led by Frederick Lewis, a Director in the business, in 1919. Also in 1919, Furness, Withy bought from
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the Quebec Steam Ship Company, which ran scheduled services between New York and
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. Furness, Withy renamed its acquisition the Furness Bermuda Line. In 1928 Furness, Withy acquired the Red Cross Line. In 1965 Furness, Withy acquired Royal Mail Lines (formerly Royal Mail Steam Packet Company) in 1965. In 1965, British and Commonwealth Shipping, Furness Withy, P&O and The Ocean Steamship Company established Overseas Containers Limited to exploit containerisation. In 1966 Furness, Withy terminated its Furness Bermuda Line operation. In 1968 Furness, Withy bought the Houlder Group, a company with offshore oil interests. Furness Withy bought Manchester Liners in 1970. The company was acquired by the Orient Overseas Container Line of
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in 1980. In 1990 it was resold to the Oetker Group, who at the time of purchase were the owners of Hamburg Süd.


Ships and services

Furness Withy operated both
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and liner services. The latter included transatlantic
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and
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routes, initially from
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to Boston and New York, and later from Liverpool to St John's, Newfoundland,
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and Boston. The Liverpool — Boston route was worked by a pair of sister ships, RMS ''Newfoundland'' and RMS ''Nova Scotia''. The first ''
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
'' and were built in 1925 and 1926 but were requisitioned in 1940 and 1941. Both were lost to enemy action: ''Nova Scotia'' as a troop ship in 1942; ''Newfoundland'' as a hospital ship in 1943. S.S. Fort Amherst and her sister ship S.S. Fort Townshend were built by Blythswood Shipbuilding in 1936. They sailed between Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New York and the British West Indies. In 1952 S.S. Fort Amherst she was taken over by the
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after the explosion of the RFA Bedenham and renamed RFA Amherst. A second ''Newfoundland'' and ''Nova Scotia'' were built as replacements in 1947 and served until 1962, when Furness, Withy sold them to Dominion Navigation Co. A third ''Newfoundland'' and ''Nova Scotia'' were built in 1964 and 1965, and were chartered to Shaw, Savill & Albion Line in 1973.


See also

* Edward Withy


References


Sources and further reading

* * * *


External links

* * * {{Authority control Transport companies established in 1891 Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Transport companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in County Durham 1891 establishments in England