EXTRACT FROM: 1876 -1936 P.Hawksfield & Son Ltd.
The founders of the firm Peter Hawksfield & Son were, as the name implies, a father and son. The father, Peter Hawksfield, was a Master Mariner himself and the owner of three cargo ships : his son Henry Valentine Hawksfield went to sea at the age of 16. At 20 the young man persuaded his father, who was on the point of retiring from the sea, to go into business with him as a coal merchant.
The company was founded on September the 14th 1876.
The above is a picture of Peter Hawksfield.
The company was left to his son Henry Valentine Hawksfield in 1892, when Peter died. The company phased out the sailing ships in 1902 to be replaced with the s.s. Peter Hawksfield and s.s. Kenneth Hawksfield, named after the two great grandsons of the founder. The carrying capacity of the sailing ships were rated in 100’s of tons, where the new ships were rated in 1000’s of tons.
The Peter Hawksfield seen here aground on the Yorkshire Coast, in Robin Hood's Bay, under the named RALPH HARRISON. The vessel was later refloated, only to sink in a collision 7 miles east of Dover
The company is known to have traded past the second world war, yet no recent records can be found, probably with the decline in coal trade within the UK and post war the company was probably either wound down or sold off.
Obviously the record of the document reports up to 1936, and it is known that the s.s. Kenneth Hawksfield was sunk during the second world war.
Kenneth Hawksfield Built as the TIMBERHAM for Edward T. Lindley, London; Yard No 60; Launch Date 19/03/1924; In 1931 renamed KENNETH HAWKSFIELD & owned by P. Hawksfield & Son Ltd., Dover; On 09/07/1940 vessel damaged by bombs near Dover; On 21/06/1941 sunk by mine off Aldeburgh, Suffolk (52.18N 01.59E) on passage Blyth for Dover with coal.
Saturday, 21st June 1941 D658 (NE News)
'SS Kenneth Hawksfield' (1,546) cargo ship, Blyth to London was also sunk by a mine off Aldeburgh.
Day 658. All times DST. Blackout ends: 04.26, begins: 23.49
The following picture is that of Henry Valentine Hawksfield, who succeeded his father as Chairman of the company.