T. R. Brown & Sons of Bristol were once described as being ‘part and parcel’ of the Port of Bristol. Commencing in the 1870s the fortunes of the firm mirrored the rise in Bristol’s port industry. From a small beginning with a Severn Trow sailing barge, the family company became the largest barge owners and foremost salvage contractors in the Bristol Channel. The family branched out into sand dredging and after the Second War expanded with interests on the Rivers Mersey and Clyde.

The founder had three sons all in the business, and one of the three had 11 sons; the family even fielded its own football team. The eleven included one who became Lord Mayor of Bristol, Master of the Society of Merchant Venturers and was Knighted. And for the staff, a job with T R Brown’s was a job for life.

This book traces the history of the company from its inception to the present day, when members of the fourth generation still control the business, and lists the many vessels that were owned over the years, and different enterprises undertaken. 

ISBN 0 906294 60 6. 

104pages, 95 illustrations including a fold-out map of the Port of Bristol. Softback. 

£12.50