Granaries, Shipyards and Wharves - Cycling from Guildford

� WALK ALONG THE SIDE OF THE GREENLAND ENTRANCE DOCK,
CROSS THE FOOTBRIDGE, AND WALK BACK TOWARDS THE RIVER,
PAUSING AT THE RIVERSIDE
From 1725 to 1730, the SOUTH SHIPYARD seems to
have been included in the lease of GREENLAND DOCK
to the South Sea Company (of “Bubble” notoriety)
during that concern’s ill-fated venture into the
whaling trade. In 1760, the Bedford estate, which had
acquired the Rotherhithe properties by marriage,
leased the two shipyards to John Randall. Three years
later the Wells family of shipbuilders bought the
GREENLAND DOCK complex from the Bedford Estate,
but had to let this lease run its course.
John Randall (I) was already in business at what is
now NELSON DOCK, and would shortly take into
partnership John Brent. For nearly 70 years, this firm
trading as Randall & Brent, S. & D. Brent and Daniel
Brent would be at the forefront of shipbuilding on the
Thames. For much of this period, it is not possible to
say which ships were built at which of the three yards.
During the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
however their output of warships and East Indiamen
was greater than that of the more famous Blackwall
Yard. In 1802 the shipwrights on the Thames came
out on strike, at a time when yards were hurrying to
complete the refitting or building of East Indiamen, in
time for them to catch the trade winds in the South
Atlantic. Any delay, and they could not leave for
another year. The government took the matter so
seriously that shipwrights were lent from the Royal
Dockyards to complete the work. The GREENLAND
DOCK SHIPYARDS were among those affected, and
on Saturday 22 August 1802 John Randall (II) came
down here to try and negotiate with the strikers. One of
his workmen lost his temper, and struck Randall with a
piece of wood. Much distressed, Randall returned to his
house in Great Cumberland Street and threw himself
from an upper window, sustaining fatal injuries.
That ended the involvement of the Randalls, and by
1815, Daniel Brent, running the business on his own,
left NELSON DOCK and concentrated his efforts here.
He was to produce a remarkable series of early
14 SOUTHWARK HISTORY WALKS