Glossary of Terms

Cargo - goods carried by a ship.

Casual labour - workers who are only taken on for work when needed and are not employed on a regular basis.

Commodities - goods which are traded. Discharge-unload. Dock - a place, usually a man-made area of enclosed water, where ships are loaded, unloaded or repaired. Docker - someone who works in the docks, usually unloading ships and moving goods on the quayside.

Dock company - a company which owns or runs a dock or several docks.

Entrepreneur - the owner or manager of a business enterprise who, by risk and initiative, attempts to make profits.

Export dock - a dock where ships are loaded with goods which they are taking to other countries.

Import dock - a dock where ships discharge goods which they have brought into the port from other countries.

Lighter - a boat, usually flat-bottomed, used for transporting goods in the port.

Monopoly - sole control of the trade in a particular commodity.

Port - a place alongside water which has facilities for the loading and unloading of ships.

Port of London Authority (PLA) - the organisation responsible for the operation of the Port of London, the running of the docks and the tidal waterway from Teddington to the sea.

Quay - a landing place, usually made of stone or iron, lying next to the water for the loading and unloading of ships.

Stevedore - someone who works on board ship loading and unloading cargo.

Strike relief - help, usually money or food, given to workers on strike.

Transit shed - a place where goods are stored for short periods before they are loaded on to ships or after they have been unloaded.

Upstream docks - those which lie between Tower Bridge and Gallion's Reach including London and St Katharine Docks, West India and Millwall Docks, East India Docks and the Royal Docks.

Vested interests - those which exist when a group of people have a strong concern in a particular state of affairs, e.g. protecting their jobs, livelihood, property or their financial interests.

Warehouse - a building in which goods are stored.

Wharf - a platform built on or out from the shore. Ships can come alongside the wharf so that goods may be loaded or unloaded.

Wharfinger - a wharf-owner.

Please note that this glossary appears in other languages in Changing Times Teachers' Notes.