Marsden, John Denton

Created a Baronet of Grimsby in the County of Lincoln



The Company - Consolidated Fisheries Ltd
A brief, chronological outline of the formation and decline of thecompany.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1896.
Hagerup & Doughty, who already had a very successful business concern incoal, decided to expand into trawler ownership.

Wednesday 3rd March 1897.
Hagerup & Doughty made arrangements for their carriers to carry fish forsmacks belonging to Grimsby.

Wednesday 28th April 1897.
The first shipment of ice from Hagerup & Doughty's new ice factory wascompleted today. Sixty tons were put aboard the cutter City of Glasgowthen she put to sea to join the fleet. The ice itself was praised byWilliam Brocklesby, the manager of the ice factory, and by those who usedit.

Friday 21st May 1897.
The company announced their intention of increasing the wages of theengineers on their vessels by 2s 6d per week.

Thursday 1st July 1897.
The company applied to the Board of Trade to make regulations regardingthe transfer of fish from the trawlers to the carriers of the fleet. Themain points were the code of signalling used when the carriers werecollecting fish from the fleet, the proper supply of lifejackets, and theduties Skippers had for the safety of the crews.

Friday 17th September 1897.
Hagerup & Doughty turned their ice factory in Robinson Street into alimited liability company to be called 'Hagerup & Doughty Ice Factory andCold Storage Company Limited', with a starting capital of ?150,000. Firstdirectors were Mr. George Doughty MP, Mr. F. Emil Hagerup, and Mr. T. B.Lightfoot, CE

Wednesday 27th October 1897.
Because of a strike, 15 new trawlers were awaiting engines before theycould be delivered.

Wednesday 29th December 1897.
Hagerup & Doughty announced their intention of expansion intoshipbuilding, having teamed up with James Schofield of Hull. The news waswell received in Grimsby.

October 1899.
The first vessel for the newly formed subsidiary, Monarch Steam Fishing,was built. The trawler was named King Arthur in keeping with the'Monarch's' naming policy.

April 1906.
The company name was changed to Consolidated Steam Fishing and IceCompany.

September 1927.
The company name was simplified to Consolidated Fisheries Limited.

Friday 14th July 1933.
In answer to the question from an associate as to why the new vesselsbeing built were to be named after football teams, John Marsden explainedthat he got the idea after he had what he described as a 'brainstorm'.

Friday 27th April 1934.
At a meeting of the Grimsby Exchange Limited today, Mr. T. W. Baskcombresigned the position of chairman and Sir John Denton Marsden, Bart waselected to fill the vacancy. Mr. Marsden said that they should not losethe services of Mr. Baskcomb and proposed that he be appointed avice-chairman, which was carried unanimously.

Thursday 2nd August 1934.
At a luncheon at the Royal Hotel given by Consolidated Fisheries today,Sir John Marsden spoke about the new vessel for that company, the GrimsbyTown, and also informed the gathered dignitaries that he had ordered fournew trawlers that would be delivered in November and December of thatyear.

Friday 10th August 1951.
Appearing before Grimsby Borough magistrates today, radio operator JackHowden pleaded guilty to breaking into the offices of ConsolidatedFisheries and causing some damage. Mr. Howden apologised to the court andoffered to pay for the damage he had caused after, he explained, he hadbeen drinking. A radar reflector in the office had been damaged and afire extinguisher had been sprayed around the room causing damage tofurniture. He was fined ?3 and 5s costs.

Friday 3rd September 1954.
John Cole was appointed Joint Managing Director of ConsolidatedFisheries. Sir John Marsden became Chairman and Joint Managing Director.

Friday 4th September 1959.
The Goole Shipbuilding and Repairing Co Ltd received orders fromConsolidated Fisheries for three more diesel trawlers to be built for thecompany.

Thursday 30th March 1961.
Consolidated Fisheries was the last company to use 'graining' ? thepainting of their vessels superstructure to resemble wood ? although thiswas being phased out in favour of the company's new colour scheme. Thisnew scheme had the superstructure painted in a buff colour, the blackhull of the vessels would sport a light blue sheer line and the boatdavits finished in admiralty grey. All external safety railings werepainted white and the blue funnel, separated by a white band and blacktop, carried the full colour crown that had been inherited from the'Monarch' subsidiary.

Thursday 7th December 1967.
Mr. Don Lister, a former top skipper for Consolidated Fisheries, gave uphis sea career to accept the position of outside manager for the company.Succeeding Mr. Jack Mawer who had held the post for 20 years but who wasretiring through ill health, Mr. Lister said that he still hoped to makeone or to trips a year.
"You have got to if you want to keep up with trends and changes in theindustry," he said.

Mr. Lister had been with Consolidated for the past eleven years and hadbeen skipper of the Everton for six of those years.

Thursday 15th February 1968.
Angered by statements that there were inadequate supplies of lifejacketson board their vessels, Mr. Don Lister said that each man had alifejacket and there were plenty to spare on every vessel. He added thatany false accusations might lead to court action.

Thursday 28th August 1969.
The Grimsby Evening Telegraph reported that Consolidated Fisheries werelooking into the possibility of buying a stern trawler after they hadlooked around Hull's C. S. Forester. A feasibility study was beingcarried out and the estimated cost of building such a vessel for the firmwas put at about ?450,000. Obviously impressed by what he saw, Mr. NigelMarsden said,

"There is no doubt that this is the sort of ship we would build. Webelieve it would be a success. The only difference being the method ofstowing and landing the fish. We are looking at containers as a method ofpreserving the fish and reducing landing costs. One big Grimsby merchantis already very interested in this."

Thursday 5th March 1970.
Consolidated Fisheries announced that, in just over two months, theirfleet of 15 trawlers had grossed ?378,000-the highest in the company'shistory. It was also disclosed that they were still considering thepurchase of a stern trawler to add to the fleet.

Thursday 11th February 1971.
A deal between Consolidated Fisheries and fish merchants Rex Kemp forcontract selling was signed. For the coming year, Rex Kemp agreed to buy100 kits of cod at a fixed price of ?8 per kit every time a Consolidatedtrawler landed. Mr. Don Lister, the outside manager for ConsolidatedFisheries explained the company's actions by saying:

"This is just an experiment with someone who has a little foresight andimagination. We could do with more merchants like Mr. Kemp. We, ofcourse, guarantee selling part of our catch every time, but the wayprices are going at the auction, I think Mr. Kemp is going to come outthe winner. Already he is in pocket and there is no indication thatprices are going to dip this summer."

Thursday 27th May 1971.
In an effort to curb any potential crew trouble aboard their vessels, thecompany decided to install television sets in each of their ships. The 15sets, including the special aerials they needed, would cost around ?200each. Mr. Don Lister said of the decision:

"The ships can pick up English stations on the way up and way down. Ifthey are fishing around Iceland they can receive programmes from theAmerican base stations, and many programmes from the Norwegian televisionservice are in English anyway. If a ship has to go into Iceland or Norwayfor some reason, there is very little for the crew to do, and that canlead to trouble on occasions. Having a TV on board will, I hope, occupytheir minds and keep them out of trouble."

Thursday 10th June 1971.
The decision to make a private deal with the boilermakers during theirwork-to-rule actions caused quite a commotion on the fish docks. The dealwas seen by others as something of a 'bowing down' but Consols justifiedtheir move by pointing out that no company can afford to have a third ofits fleet tied up by a dispute ? which was exactly what may have happenedif the dispute had carried on for much longer.

Thursday 13th February 1976.
Mr. Don Lister, speaking about quota restrictions, said that they (thecompany) would look at the situation carefully in the light of the quotagiven.

"It's no good fishing out your quota halfway through the year usinglarger vessels. We shall decide how many ships to use and send the othersto the North Wall."

It would, he continued, definitely cause unemployment, as the ships hadnowhere else to go.

Tuesday 11th May 1976.
Consolidated Fisheries announced that, until the Government did somethingto compensate the trawler crews, they would give their crews compensationfor losses incurred by the Cod War. Mr. Nigel Marsden commented,

"So that the fight should continue, we as a company have decided that ifthe Government will not compensate the crews, then we will have to helpthem."

Thursday 14th September 1977.
Speaking about the plea to lift the ban on Icelandic vessels landing inGrimsby, the Managing Director of Consolidated Fisheries, Mr. NigelMarsden said it was 'beyond belief' that Icelandic landings should beconsidered at a time when the port's trawlermen were out of work owing tothe Icelandic attitude.

Friday 2nd December 1977.
The company announced economies and redundancies amounting to about 60%of the workforce. These economies would include the laying-up of seven ofthe eleven trawlers in the Consolidated fleet. The laying-up would resultin the direct loss of 130 fishermen's jobs and the ripple effect of 50shore workers being made redundant. The company blamed their forcedsituation on the exhausted Norwegian quotas and their displaced vesselsmaking losses on the Westerly grounds

Monday 6th February 1978.
Consolidated Fisheries revealed that they were finalising negotiations tobuy 10 seiners from Boston Deep Sea Fisheries in Hull. At this time, thecompany had a fleet of 11 trawlers of which only 5 were still inoperation. Consolidated Fisheries, through its subsidiary ConsolidatedSeiners, already had eight seiners and were managing another four vessels.

Friday 3rd March 1978.
Consolidated bought the 10 seiners, which comprised the whole of Hull'sseiner fleet, from Boston Deep Sea Fisheries.

Friday 12th May 1978.
Supplementing their fleet, Consolidated announced that they had boughttwo anchor-seiners, the Hanne Bork and the Ulla Viola.

Friday 16th June 1978.
In a deal finalised today, Consolidated Fisheries sold six of their laidup vessels to Colne Fishing, Lowestoft. The six vessels involved wereAldershot, Barnsley, Gillingham, Notts Forest, Port Vale, and theHuddersfield Town.

Monday 27th November 1978.
Consolidated Fisheries revealed the sale, to Colne Fishing, of their lastthree trawlers, the recently converted Real Madrid, Crystal Palace andthe Carlisle.

Saturday 13th September 1980.
Vice-Chairman and Managing director Nigel Marsden took a ?5,000 a yearpay cut. The decision was a result of a fishing climate that was 'not allthat it should be'. He also announced major changes in the engineeringand ship repair departments of the company and stressed that he would belooking closely at other departments to see where other economies couldbe made.

"When one is running a company, one has to get things to add up. Ipersonally am taking a salary reduction of ?5,000. I don't believe inasking people to do things that I would not do myself," he said.

Friday 18th September 1981.
The news that Consolidated Fisheries were to sell part of its fleet ofseiners and drastically reduce its operations shook the fish docks today.Their fleet of 20 vessels would be reduced to just 12 and the companypremises was to move from their present site in Aukland Road to muchsmaller premises adjacent to the No1 Fish Dock. In doing so, its labourforce would be cut from 25 to just eight. The move would also see theirblacksmiths fitting shop, electricians department and painting shop alldisappear. The end of its dramatic reconstruction would leave the companywith just its fleet of 12 vessels and a fish merchanting business tooperate.

"Over the past 18 months," Mr. Nigel Marsden explained, "we have sat backand looked at the job. We have waited to see if prices would improve orif costs would ease. But there comes a limit," he said.

Friday 26th November 1982.
Consolidated Fisheries announce closure. The reason was given as beingdue to a take-over bid by another company failing, shortage of cash, lackof government help, the failure of a take-over bid and the refusal ofbankers to extend borrowing facilities. Sixty jobs were lost and thecompany still owned 16 seiners, three of those being laid up.

Thursday 30th December 1982.
Six weeks after the cessation of trading, Consolidated Fisheriesannounced the sale of their 16 vessels.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------