Mersey Docks and Harbour Company

History

Liverpool Common Council's Dock Committee was the original port authority. In 1709, it had been authorised to construct Liverpool's first enclosed ship basin, the Old Dock, which was the world's first commercial wet dock. By 1750, the old Dock Committee was replaced by the Liverpool Dock Trustees.

In order to provide stone for the construction of the expanded dock system, from 1830 the trustees (and later the MDHB) operated large quarries at Creetown, Scotland.

The MDHB took over running of Liverpool's docks from the trustees in 1858. The need for Liverpool Corporation to divest its dock interests to a new public body was as a result of pressure from Parliament, dock merchants and some rival port operators.

At one point the MDHB railway totalled 104 miles (166 km) of line, with connections to many other railways. A section of the line ran, unsegregated from other road traffic, along the dock road. Today only the Canada Dock Branch is used.

CogginsA law case arose in 1946 regarding agency law, when the board hired out a crane and driver to be used by another business, Coggins and Griffiths (Liverpool) Ltd. During operation of the crane, someone was injured. The contract for the crane hire stated that the driver "would be the servant of the hirers", but the House of Lords ruled that this provision did not give the hirers control of how the driver undertook his work, and therefore the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company remained vicariously liable for the driver's negligent actions.

In 1972, the MDHB was reconstituted as a company to allow it to raise money for new building initiatives and projects, including the new container dock at Seaforth. Four lightvessels in the approaches to the River Mersey were maintained by the MDHB until 1973.

In 1993 MDHC bought Medway Ports for £104 million, just 18 months after Medway Ports was privatised through a £37 million management buyout in 1992.

The UK Government had retained a 14% shareholding in MDHC which was sold on 30 March 1998.

The company operated a private lifeboat station, which was involved in a number of incidents over the years.

Management

The MDHC was accused of "macho management" by the Financial Times regarding its treatment of some of its staff in the 1990s, which resulted in the Liverpool dockers' strike.

On 22 September 2005, the MDHC was acquired by Peel Ports, part of the property and transport group Peel Group, which owns a minority stake in Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

Facilities

Cammell Laird Dock is a dock at Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula. It exits directly onto the River Mersey.

The dock was built as part of an expansion of the Cammell Laird shipyard at the turn of the 20th century by enclosing what was once Tranmere Pool.

Following the closure of the original Cammell Laird shipyard in 1993, the dock and the four remaining dry docks at the site are owned by the MDHC. All were subsequently leased, firstly to the A&P Group and then to Northwestern Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders, which officially renamed itself Cammell Laird Shiprepairers and Shipbuilders Ltd on 17 November 2008.

References

References

1. "Port of Liverpool (official map)". Peel Ports.
2. "Port of Liverpool & Manchester Ship Canal". Peel Ports.
3. "House flag, Mersey Docks & Harbour Board".
4. "Mersey Docks & Harbour Board: the Board is formed". Port Cities/E. Chambré Hardman Archive.
5. "Mersey Docks and Harbour Board collection". National Museums Liverpool.
6. "Trading Places: Old Dock History". National Museums Liverpool.
7. Storrie, Robert. "Embryo of a Port 1715". Mike Royden's Local History Pages.
8. "Creetown, Scotland: The Kirkmabreck Quarries".
9. National Case Law Archive, [https://www.lawcases.net/cases/mersey-docks-and-harbour-board-v-coggins-griffith-liverpool-ltd-1946-ukhl-1/ Mersey Docks and Harbour Board v Coggins & Griffith (Liverpool) Ltd [1946] UKHL 1], published on 30 September 2025, accessed on 18 November 2025
10. (21 December 1993). "Trust ports stuck in a dry dock: John Murray explains why the Government is stalling over its plans for privatisation". The Independent.
11. (21 August 1993). "Mersey may buy Medway: Possible ports sale sparks row over privatisation". The Independent.
12. (2 April 1998). "Labour sells its shares in Mersey Docks & Harbour Company". Tribune.
13. Maund, T.B.. (November 1991). "Mersey Ferries - Volume 1". Transport Publishing Co. Ltd..
14. Hodgson, Neil. (17 November 2008). "Cammell Laird name returns on River Mersey". [[Liverpool Echo]].