George Green Blackwall shipbuilder 1767-1849

George Green (1767 – 21 February 1849) was a ship builder from

Blackwall, London Blackwall is an area of Poplar, London, Poplar, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, East London. The neighbourhood includes Leamouth and the Coldharbour, Tower Hamlets, Coldharbour conservation area. The area takes its name from a historic ...

Biography

Green served his shipbuilding apprenticeship with John Perry on the largest dock on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

at the

Blackwall Yard Blackwall Yard is a small body of water that used to be a shipyard on the River Thames in Blackwall, engaged in ship building and later ship repairs for over 350 years. The yard closed in 1987. History East India Company Blackwall was a sh ...

, repairing and building ships primarily for the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

. As Perry began to withdraw from the business the firm became Perry Sons & Green (having married John Perry's second daughter in 1796), Perry Wells & Green (a half share having been sold to

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe ( ) is a district of South London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, with the Isle of Dogs to the ea ...

shipbuilder John Wells) and eventually Wigram & Green. In 1821 the firm built its first steamship. During this period the yard built Blackwall Frigates. He married Sarah Perry in 1796 giving birth to Richard Green in 1803. Following Sarah's death in 1805, George Green remarried Elizabeth Unwin giving birth to Frederick Green and Henry Green. Frederick went on to set up Frederick Green and Co., and was the father of Joseph Green and Sir Frederick Green. Green died in 1849 and was buried in Trinity Congregational Chapel, in Tower Hamlets, London. All the remaining monuments in the old Trinity churchyard were removed, except for the table tomb of George Green, which can be found in Trinity Gardens today.

Legacy and Philanthropy

After George retired in 1838, Richard took over with step-brother Henry to form R & H Green's until 1907. In that time they contributed to the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

building 25 naval vessels. In 1910 the company amalgamated with Silley Weir & Company, as R.& H. Green and Silley Weir Ltd, which constructed and repaired munitions ships, minesweepers, hospital ships and destroyers during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. * George Green's School endowed in 1828 * Trinity Independent Chapel and its associated "minister's house, sailors' home, schools, and almshouses", according to the ''

Survey of London The Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive architectural survey of central London and its suburbs, or the area formerly administered by the London County Council. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an A ...

''. * The Sailors' Home (133 East India Dock Road) and opened in 1841, providing 200 beds caring for the crews of his ships in between their voyages, protecting them from the Crimping System. Unusually for its time, the Sailors' Home was racially integrated (see

Lascar A lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, British Somaliland or other lands east of the Cape of Good Hope who was employed on European ships from the 16th century until the mid-20th centur ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, George 1767 births 1849 deaths English shipbuilders Christian missions to seafarers English philanthropists