Early Fenwick References

Old Fenwick History
1800's

This is the letterhead for my Great Grandfather, Thomas Fenwick's Import Company. When Beth and I were on vacation in Europe last year we 'discovered' the Fenwick Department Store chain and mom told me that there was a good chance we may be related because of the import business. We found other documents saying that the import business specialized in fine fabrics and lace.

From a web page about British Shipping Companies I found this.

William France, Fenwick & Co., Ltd.

from Stewart and Styring's Flags, Funnels and Hull Colors 1963

William France, Fenwick & Co. Ltd. Formed 1901 by a merger with the flag being that of one of the parties, Fenwick, Stobbart & Co. Ltd., previously to 1893 being Fenwick & Co., with the flag applying at that point as confirmed by Reed 1891. According to Loughran (1979) a slightly different version showing a cross of a lighter blue was used in the Goole-Yorkshire coal trade as the company itself diversified into deep sea tramping before folding in 1975. There are a couple of variations shown with Reed 1912 showing the red letters "WF" on the panel and Harnack who shows a white cross. The latter is probably a printing error but the Reed image, which is unsupported, refers to another of the merging parties, William France & Co. They originally had a blue flag with the white letters "WF" but in 1895 adopted a blue flag with a white cross which, according to Loughran (1979), was surmounted by a blue circle defined black and bearing the white letters "WF" [see image below] with Griffin 1895 differing by showing a white circle defined blue bearing the red letters "WF".
Neale Rosanoski, 16 February 2004

Another web page about Maritime Collectables said...

The house flag of W. France, Fenwick & Co. Ltd., London. A red rectangular flag with a blue cross and a white rectangle placed over the centre of the cross. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn. A rope and toggle is attached.

Fenwick & Co. was an old established shipping company engaged in the Australian wool trade from 1834 and later in the East Coast coal trade. They merged with William France of Goole, a company that also owned colliers in 1901. During the early part of the 20th century they built up a fleet of deep sea tramps in addition to their colliers. Both these trades were in recession by 1975 when the company was wound up.

Another web page about old ship registries

FINGAL - 1856
Master: Captain T. Denkin
Rigging: Barque; sheathed in felt and yellow metal in 1854; fastened with copper bolts
Tonnage: 400 tons using old measurements and 445 tons using new measurements
Construction: 1853 in Sunderland
Owners: Fenwick & Co.
Port of registry: London
Port of survey: London
Voyage: sailed for New Zealand

My first introduction to the Fenwick & Co. Import business came during our trip to Europe in the summer of 2005. After running across this Fenwick Department store in Canterbury, England my mom told me the story of Great Grandfather Fenwick's import business.

The Fenwick Department Stores, founded in 1882, web site talks about the companies long standing commitment to "evolutionary growth". There is something very level headed about that. Evolutionary Growth is almost the opposite of "revolutionary growth", in other words, not necessarily something that will grab headlines because it is so astounding. But gradual and logical growth. The interesting thing about this is that I have never really bought into the "big growth" thing that is so characteristic of modern day businesses.

Mom says click on this swirly thing.