Search Results

This chapter explores the underlying and long-term effects of the Second World War on the future of Elder Dempster and its relationship with West Africa. It focuses on the political and economic independence of West African colonies, and the resulting major changes in the structure and organisation of its trading areas, including the formation of independently owned shipping lines. The chapter describes the greater momentum of the establishment and extension of new ports at the end of the war, and reports the corresponding dramatic increase in West African trade. It concludes with an analysis of the decline in Elder Dempster’s share of West African trade, and provides a calculation of its profitability and success in the post-war era.

This chapter explores the effects of the First World War on the shipping and West African trade market. It outlines Elder Dempster’s financial and trading position after the war and details the difficulties that came as a result of reduced freight rates, loss of vessels, and a fall in the value of West African produce. It juxtaposes Elder Dempster’s losses with the progress of Dutch and German lines and presents the two rival countries as a threat to the British shipping industry. The chapter concludes with the re-establishment of the West African Lines Conference.

This chapter provides an initial description of the three major groupings of West African merchants during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Niger Company, the Miller-Swanzy group and the African Association, and details their attempts to enter the shipping trade. The chapter focuses mainly on Alfred Lewis Jones’ decision to regulate the West African shipping trade via shipping conferences and explores his techniques and success rate in negotiating terms and agreements. It concludes with the eventual outcome of the conference in which Elder Dempster possessed an almost complete control of the British West African and West African carrying trade.

This chapter studies the expansion of the network of activities built up by Elder Dempster and explores the ways in which Alfred Lewis Jones extended his power and reach across the shipping, trade and banking markets in West Africa and the United Kingdom. It examines the steps taken by Jones in order to maintain a foothold in the West African shipping business and discusses the methods used when approached with limitations on his authority, in the form of rivals, government regulation and criticism from the press and public opinion. The chapter also features a commentary of the personal and professional relationship between Jones and John Holt, and old colleague and friend.

This chapter introduces the formation of the United Africa Company and explains actions taken to secure shipping space. It discusses Elder Dempster and other merchants and organisations’ reactions to the changes made by the Company in the declining economic climate. It also discusses The Great Depression after 1929 and the resulting sharp decline in shipping activity and West African trade, which was in part contributed to by the breakdown in the financial organisation of the Royal Mail Group. The chapter ends with a description of Lord Kylsant’s failings, downfall, and eventual conviction but focuses on Elder Dempster’s relationship with the United Africa Company, and analyses the disagreements and negotiations made between the two.

This final chapter evaluates the accuracy of the previous forecasts and predictions made in 1972. It assesses Elder Dempster’s successes and failures whilst taking into consideration the changing global economy and overall decline of British trade and shipping. It discusses alternative strategies that might have enabled the Company to remain viable in the rapidly changing business world of West Africa and prevent its eventual sale to Delmas Vieljeux in 1989. The chapter concludes with a report of the enormous progress and profit made by the Ocean Group at the end of the 20^th Century as a result of its transition away from traditional maritime activities to land-based enterprises.

This chapter reports Elder Dempster’s increasing activity and finances and discusses the conference system and the larger merchants unsatisfied with it. It addresses the reorganisation of the British and African Steam Navigation Company in 1900 and examines the financing of the Elder Dempster fleet. The chapter acknowledges that precise details of amounts of income are not available, yet provides research on Jones’ mode of living and the transformation of the value of Elder Dempster by exploring the sources of profit. Also discussed is the development and economic advancement of British West Africa between 1852 and 1910 as a result of investment, the invention of the steamship, and advances in medical science.

This chapter describes the reconstruction of Elder Dempster’s company structure and development after the Second World War. It states the company’s losses in terms of vessels and staff, and assesses the changes made in management and head office accommodation in order to allow Elder Dempster to meet the level of success it had achieved in the early 20^th Century. The chapter also addresses the changing composition of the West African trade after the war, which included alterations in the determination of freight rates; the extension of the West African Lines Conference; and the intrusion of Scandinavian lines into the West African trade market. The chapter concludes with Elder Dempster’s purchase of the British and Burmese Steam Navigation Company Limited.

This chapter describes the First World War’s effect on British shipping and West African trade. It discusses shipping losses and incidents, and describes the consequences of the end of trade with Germany and Austria; the closure of the Baltic and Black seas; congestion at ports; and the strain and depletion of ships. The chapter also reports the collapse of the West African Shipping Conference at the beginning of the war and describes the ways in this affected Elder Dempster and the Lever Brothers.

This chapter predicts future challenges to the progress and viability of Elder Dempster, and reflects on West African nations’ increasing desire to independently carry and operate their own shipping services. It discusses the advantages of conference systems and palletisation schemes and provides a forecast on growth in West African trade as a whole. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the existing situation of West African trade and Elder Dempster’s future prospects at the time of writing in 1972, and takes into consideration the company’s valuable association with Ocean Transport and Trading Limited.

This chapter follows the professional career of Alfred Lewis Jones to his position as senior partner of Elder Dempster and Company. It details Jones’ early career history, including the establishment of his firm, Alfred L. Jones and Company, and his junior partnership with Elder Dempster and Company. The chapter concludes with Jones’ decision to create a conference system to regulate the West African shipping trade, as a result of constant negotiations with rival opponents Woermann Line of Hamburg and the Royal Niger Company.

This chapter explores the lives of Alexander Elder and John Dempster, two men whose work, power and influence changed the whole of Britain’s shipping and commercial relationship with West Africa. It discusses the pair’s impact on the British West African shipping trade in general and on Elder Dempster and Company in particular. The chapter details the rivalry between the African Steam Ship Company and the British and African Steam Navigation Company and presents the eventual negotiation and agreements made between the two. It concludes with the abrupt ending of the agency of the African Steam Ship Company.

This chapter presents the aftermath of Alfred Lewis Jones’ death and reports the changes made to Elder Dempster by his successors, Owen Cosby Philipps, known as Lord Kylsant, and Lord Pirrie. It provides a brief biography and career history for the pair but focuses mainly on the decisions made by them towards the company, its finances and professional relationships, and compares their actions to those of their predecessor. The chapter explores the opportunist decisions made by John Holt and Company after Jones’ death and describes the allowances made towards him by Philipps and Pirrie. The chapter concludes with the introduction of the Lever Brothers and their company, West African Oils Limited, and reports the shipping restrictions they faced at the hands of Elder Dempster. It ends with the lingering threat of the Lever Brothers waiting for an opportunity to bypass these restrictions.

This chapter documents the establishment of Elder Dempster Lines Limited, a company under the control of Richard Holt, and follows the fluctuations in West African imports and exports in the 1930s. It examines the successes and failures of Elder Dempster in this period by assessing shipping tonnage and financial results, and comparing the data to the growth of rival lines. The chapter concludes with an introduction of Elder Dempster’s entry into commercial aviation as Elders Colonial Airways Limited, a venture that came to an end in the 1940s due to the outbreak of the Second World War.

This chapter discusses Macgregor Laird’s involvement in the formation of the African Steam Ship Company and his role as its first managing director. It also discusses Laird’s personal and professional life as an early pioneer of West African Trade and shareholder in the African Inland Commercial Company. The chapter largely focuses on the usefulness of the River Niger as a ‘highway’ into Central Africa and accounts Laird’s own expedition up the river from October 1832 to August 1833, taken in order to prove that it was navigable for steam vessels. The chapter concludes with an account of the progress of the African Steam Ship Company in the period 1863 to 1868 and outlines the company’s failure to expand as a contributing factor to the intervention of the competing line of The British and African Steam Navigation Company.

This chapter discusses the effects of the Second World War on the British shipping industry. It provides an analysis of the loss of seamen and vessels in comparison to the previous world war, and describes the subsequent trading conditions of West Africa. It also presents the establishment of the West African Co-Ordination Committee, formed by Elder Dempster, John Holt and the United Africa Company and comments on their actions made on behalf of the Ministry of War Transport in 1940.