Ledger of J Fenwick & Company Ltd comprising of records of vessels towed and time taken and other expenses

Date1939

Object number00056580

NameLedger

MediumInk on Paper

DimensionsOverall (Overall dimensions when book is closed): 338 x 225 x 38 mm,

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Brambles Marine and Fenwicks Boatyard

Terms

DescriptionThese diaries and ledgers show the development of the 1899 Sydney Ferry Company into a lighterage company. The detailed records of the Fenwick brothers operations are a valuable source of information as to the activities and costs of a range of port services. Fenwick's was one of the earliest tugboat operators in Sydney and continued to be a major company in this field until the 1980s, when it was absorbed into Brambles.HistoryJohn Fenwick and his brother Thomas established the firm J Fenwick and Co., a tug boat company, in Balmain, Sydney, in 1870. The Fenwicks purchased Bell's shipyard in Balmain in 1883. The property included a wharf, store and the Shipwright's Arms Hotel. The store was built between 1875 and 1885. The company was to become on of the largest owners of tug boats in Sydney and Newcastle. The company was split several years after foundation, so that John Fenwick concentrated on Sydney whilst Thomas Fenwick handled the coastal river trade from Ballina. Their first tug was the J AND T FENWICK and registered in January 1871. The establishment of Fenwick's tug boat company in Balmain is connected with the expansion of privately owned wharfage for foreign trade westwards from Sydney Cove into Walsh Bay and the north-eastern part of Darling Harbour from c1870 onwards. Three of the early Fenwick tugs were the NEWBOROUGH (1888), LOVESET (1892) and HERO (1892), built by J P Rennoldsons of South Shields, England. After the death of John Fenwick in 1901 his sons carried on the business which, in 1993 'was the only traditional waterfront industry still in operation in this part of Balmain' and was owned by the then Brambles Marine Group who had purchased the site in 1986. In 2010, the J Fenwick & Co Boat Store at 2-8 Weston Street, Balmain, NSW remains as a NSW Heritage listed site.SignificanceThese items are significant as records of everyday towage and lighterage operations in Sydney and Newcastle. The ledger in particular, with its meticulous harndwriting and clasp and lock, is a wonderful example of the importance placed in such records at the time.

The material is eminently suited to display. It ranges from the late 1900s to the 1950s and shows the growth and decline of a once well-known towage and lighterage operation. There are no other similar records in the National Maritime Collection.