B: Stevedores loading a ship in the Millwall Docks. 1871.
The Dockers
Working in Gangs
Dockers generally formed themselves into gangs for loading and unloading ships. Where possible they tried to keep these gangs together on a regular basis as their safety often depended on other members of the gang, especially when handling cargoes in confined spaces or in difficult conditions.
Gangs varied in size according to the job, but usually they were made up of between eleven to thirteen men.
Fathers would get their sons into gangs and brothers, their brothers creating a close-knit community of workers with strong bonds of loyalty.
Unloading ships was organised by the dock companies and once the cargo had left the ship it could be moved from the quayside by relatively unskilled dockers.
Loading ships was organised by the shipowners who contracted gangs of stevedores under a master stevedore to carry out this task.
Loading a ship demanded special skills. Cargo had to be placed carefully in the hold to make sure the ship did not become unbalanced at sea and capsize as a result. Also it had to be loaded in the right order for when the ship unloaded at different ports.
The stevedore was therefore one of the most skilled of the dockers and regarded as superior to the shore worker. For this he was rewarded with higher pay particularly as he often had to work under pressure in difficult and dangerous conditions.
A: The master stevedore sends men on board to prepare and rig the ropes and hoisting tackle, men to build platforms and stages, and to arrange the gang-ways or gang-planks along which the goods are moved from quay to vessel, and men or boys to work the winches and cranes on the vessel.
It is of great importance that the work of discharging and reloading a vessel should be carried on as quickly as possible, and to ensure this it is no uncommon practice for two or more gangs of men to be working simultaneously in one hatchway, and where the hatchway is narrow or small the risk of accident is much increased.'
Howarth and Wilson, West Ham A Study in Social arid Industrial Problems, 1907.
B: Stevedores loading a ship in the Millwall Docks. 1871.
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Building the Docks |
In Operations |
On the Waterfront |
The Dockers|
The Strikes of 1889 |
In the 20c |
In the WW2 |
The Closure |
Contact
Nigel Sagar
Design and Technology
London Borough of Barking
and Dagenham
Email: nigel.sagar@lbbd.gov.uk
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