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Richard Dunston Limited

1858-

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Richard Dunston came from Torksey in Lincolnshire, having operated a small wooden shipbuilding yard on the Foss Dyke. In 1858 he moved to Thorne and started building wooden barges on the bank of the Stainforth and Keadby Canal. The new shipyard was kept busy constructing wooden vessels of up to about 80 tons carrying capacity for use in the Humber and its tributaries. In 1902 Richard Dunston died and control of the shipyard fell to his son, Thomas Dunston. Thomas Dunston died in 1910 and the present Chairman assumed control. He saw that the days of the wooden barge were coming to an end and changes in the shipyard were made by the erection of buildings and plant designed for the construction of iron and steel ships. In 1932, the company acquired the shipyard of Henry Scarr Ltd, of Hessle-on-Humber, where vessels could be launched directly into the River Humber, thus enabling the Company to develop the construction of larger ships. In 1942 a decision was made to lay aside a portion of the yard especially for the construction of all-welded ships, which were at that date somewhat of a novelty. The Company became one of the biggest producers of small welded vessels in the country.