Porthmadog Harbour Records

Records of Porthmadog Harbour, 1850-1977, including financial records, 1866-1918, including Harbour accounts, 1881-1901; correspondence, 1871-1917, including letters of F. W. Roche to W. E. Morris, 1882-1896; tenders to build a new barge for the Harbour, 1886; harbour dues receipt books, 1902-1914; bills of loading, 1913-1917; statements of tonnage, 1892-1918; SS Rebecca harbour dues accounts, 1892-1918; Oakeley Slate Co. accounts, 1908-1910; bills and vouchers, 1869-1917; bye laws, 1850-1969; charts, 1963, 1969; records relating to Allsopp and Sons Ltd, 1867-1914, including agreements with W. E. Morris, 1867-1877, correspondence of Morris and Allsopp and Sons, 1867-1904, and correspondence of Morris and customers, 1903-1904.

Porthmadog Harbour (Portmadoc Harbour), Caernarfonshire, was constructed by W. A. Madocks between 1821 and 1825. It became a centre for the export of slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog, Merionethshire, with 116,000 tons being shipped out in 1873. Porthmadog and nearby Borth-y-Gest also became important centres for shipbuilding. The Carnarvonshire and Merionethshire Steamship Company was formed in 1864. It purchased the Steam Ship Rebecca to carry stores from Liverpool to supply the growing town of Porthmadog. She was replaced with the Rebecca II in 1896. The service was discontinued and the Company wound up in 1917. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries the harbour was owned or managed successively by F.W.A. Roche, E. Breese and Ellen B. Davidson for the Harbour Trust. William Evans Morris and Richard Jones Morris ran the harbour office. W. E. Morris also acted as local agent for the brewers S. Allsopp and Sons Ltd, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire.

Arranged into the following: financial; correspondence; tenders; harbour dues; bills and vouchers; agency for Allsopp and Son; miscellaneous; additional deposit, Aug.; additional deposit, Sept. 1983; Additional Porthmadog Harbour Collection.

No restrictions

Compiled by Rhys Jones for the ANW project. The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Caernarfon Record Office, Portmadoc Harbour Collection, catalogue; Porthmadog Town Guide Online (www.porthmadog.co.uk/), viewed 15 September 2004.

Hard copies of the catalogue are available at Caernarfon Record Office and the National Library of Wales. The catalogue is available online.

Usual copyright regulations apply

All records have been retained

Accruals are not expected

Further papers are in Caernarfon Record Office, XM4229, and National Library of Wales, Portmadoc Records.