G.K. Stothert & Co was a British engineering company primarily known for shipbuilding and repair founded in 1852 in Bristol, England.

History The Bristol offshoot of the Bath-based company which later became Stothert & Pitt had been set up in St Phillips in 1837 by Henry Stothert (as Henry Stothert & Co.) with the hope of gaining orders from the Great Western Railway. Edward Slaughter became a partner in 1840, resulting in the company being renamed Stothert, Slaughter & Co. By 1843 they had diversified into shipbuilding, producing two 105 ton iron screw steamers named Avon and Severn which were built for running between Newport and Bristol. The shipbuilding part of the company moved to Hotwells in January 1852, taking over the Hotwells shipyard that had previously been operated as George Lunell & Co. The yard already had some experience of building steam engines and iron hulled ships. Stothert, Slaughter & Co. launched their first ship from this site (the Juno) in May 1853. The shipyard was officially known as the Clifton Marine Engineering and Iron Shipbuilding Works. With Henry Stothert retiring and control passing to his nephew George Kelson Stothert (who had served an apprenticeship under Edward Slaughter) in 1854, it then separated from the parent company . Partnerships were formed with Ernest Theophilus Fripp (between 1854 and 1856), Frederick James Dickinson (briefly during 1856), and George Priestly Marten (1859–1863); after that, G. K. Stothert held sole control until 1899. When he died in 1908, the business was established as a limited company carrying his name. The business remained in operation under his name until 1933, although shipbuilding stopped in 1904. The railway works part of the company eventually became Avonside Engine Company.

A fire occurred at the yard in 1893; later correspondence states that this destroyed the company's records to that date.

After G. K. Stothert died, the obituary written by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers noted that he "...was one of the pioneers of iron shipbuilding in this country".

Location In 1852, the company started leasing an existing shipyard adjacent to the Cumberland Basin that was owned by the Society of Merchant Venturers. The premises had been used by George Lunnell between 1834 and 1851. The site consisted of slipways, Hotwells Dry Dock (now Pooles Wharf Marina) and Merchant's Dock (now filled in, although the old entrance is still visible).

In 1897, part of the site was sold by the Merchant Venturers (despite protests from G.K. Stothert) to the Great Western Railway to allow a line to be built to Canon's Marsh; these works restricted access to the shipyard from Hotwell Road and reduced the size of Merchant's Dock.

The company opened a branch at Sharpness during 1878, although this may have been quite short lived. The company opened an Avonmouth branch shortly after the completion of the Royal Edward Dock in 1909, which was in operation until at least 1920. This was housed in a building to the north of the Dry Dock.

Vessels Several large vessels were built within the first few years of operation, including the Scamander, Meander and Araxes, ranging between 780 and 1156 tons and being built in 1854 and 1855 for the Moss Line of Liverpool. Scamander and Meander were chartered by the French Government for service during the Crimean War, and G.K. Stothert also went to Crimea during 1855.

The company became known for producing river and canal tugs. They built thirteen used by or on behalf of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal Company and it successors. This commenced with an initial order for three for their haulage contractor in 1860 (Moss Rose, 1860, Mayflower, 1861 and Violet, 1862) and ended with a final order for two for the Severn & Canal Carrying Company in 1904 (Active and Victor) which are believed to be the final vessels launched by G.K. Stothert. In addition to the thirteen, the Danks, Venn and Sanders tug Pioneer was used by its owners on the Canal from 1858 onwards and may have passed into the hands of the Canal Company at a later date.

The only timber vessel recorded as being launched by the company was the sailing ship Rebecca Mary, launched in 1876.

The yard numbers the company used seem to have covered all works undertaken, rather than just vessels; Mayflower's current boiler (dating from 1909) is yard No. 303.

Year Name Yard No. ON GRT Type Propulsion Client 1843 AVON 3944 105 Passenger Screw Bristol New Steam Packet Company 1844 SEVERN 3947 104 Passenger Screw Bristol New Steam Packet Company1844MITAU20TugPaddleStrows & Co.1845CRETE134ScrewMiles1850WAVEPassengerScrewStothert & Slaughter1850JENNY LINDPassengerScrew 1851 JENNY JONES/BALMORAL 3953 166 Passenger / Cargo Screw Cardiff Steam Navigation Co 1852 QUEEN 3950 342 Passenger Paddle Hayle Brilliant Steam Navigation CompanyTransfer to Hotwells shipyard 1853 JUNO/DAKOTAH 3818 298 Cargo Steam T. Fyson, Bristol 1854 SCAMANDER 25998 Cargo Steam William M. Moss & others, Liverpool 1854 MEANDER 8 3907 985 Cargo Screw Ross & Co., Liverpool 1855 ARAXES 10550 1156 Cargo Screw William M. Moss & others, Liverpool 1856 THOMAS POWELL 26800 401 Cargo Screw Thomas Powell & others, Newport 1856 TAFF 14351 148 Passenger Paddle Bristol General Steam Navigation Company 1856 PROSPERO 13331 308 SailC.T. Bowring & Co. 1857 ARTIZAN 20481 454 Cargo Screw G. K. Stothert, Bristol 1857 CLIFTON/CAMILLA 18580 446 Cargo Screw J. Edwards & Co.1857BEATRICE16227322CargoScrewRobinson <1858 PIONEER Tug Screw Danks, Venn and Sanders 1858 TRINCULO 21493 310 SailC.T. Bowring & Co. 1860 ENTERPRIZE 29213 97 Coaster Screw George Greenvell, Stephen Steeds, Thomas Pilditch, Alfred Palmer 1860 MOSS ROSE N/A 33 Tug Screw T. Hadley, Purton 1860 EDMUND IRONSIDES 27876 94 Cargo ScrewJohn Markham 1861 AJAX 29215 124 Cargo Screw Bristol General Steam Navigation Company 1861 DOLPHIN 44110 32 Tug Screw Bristol General Steam Navigation Company 1861 MAYFLOWER 105412 32 Tug Screw T. Hadley, Purton 1861 PIONEER Tug ScrewWeaver Navigation Trustees 1862 ALARM 44109 21 Tug Screw Bristol General Steam Navigation Company 1862 VIOLET N/A Tug Screw T. Hadley, Purton1862SEVERN4425798TugPaddleBristol Channel Steam Towing Co., Cardiff (although launched for W.H. Martin & Co.) 1863 (SMALL YACHT FOR WEAVER NAVIGATION ENGINEER) Yacht ScrewWeaver Navigation Trustees 1864 RELIEF 50266 104 Tug Paddle The New Steam Tug Co. Ltd., Liverpool<1865EDWARD MORGAN<1865RAINBOW<1865FOUNTAIN<1865FAIRY<1865VOLUNTEERPossibly Bristol Steam Towing Company 1865 RESOLUTE 51410 271 Tug Paddle New Steam Tug Company Ltd., Liverpool 1865 ORION 52779 777 Passenger / Cargo Paddle General Steam Navigation Co. Ltd., London 1865 MAHA LUKSHMI 29930 1141 Cargo SailRennie, Clowes and Co. 1866 NIGER 53182 128 Tug Paddle Anthony Hutton, Bristol 1867 MYRTLE 105414 32 Tug Screw T. Hadley, Purton 1868 PRINCESS OF WALES/ GIPSY KING 41 53195 104 Tug Paddle G. K. Stothert & Co. 1868 NEWPORT 53191 153 Cargo Screw John Stothert, Bristol 1869 STAR 63394 79 Tug Paddle Joseph Hazell & others, Cardiff 1869 ALERT 106257 31 Tug Screw C. J. King & Sons, Bristol 1871 IXIA 49 65302 227 Coaster Screw Turner, Edwards and Co., Bristol 1871 WELSH PRINCE 50 65304 154 Coaster Screw Richard Charles Ring, Bristol 1871 HAZEL 184871 32 Tug Screw T. Hadley, Purton 1875 VOLUNTEER 85820 24 Tug Screw C. J. King & Sons, Bristol 1875 SEA KING 91051 45 Tug Screw C. J. King & Sons, Bristol 1876 SPEEDWELL 105413 40 Tug Screw Sharpness New Docks and Gloucester & Birmingham Navigation Company 1876 REBECCA MARY 74861 96 Cargo Sailing Vessel George Farren, Caernarvon 1876WORCESTERn/aTugScrewSharpness New Docks and Gloucester & Birmingham Navigation Company1876BIRMINGHAMn/aTugScrewSharpness New Docks and Gloucester & Birmingham Navigation Company1877GLOUCESTERn/aTugScrewSharpness New Docks and Gloucester & Birmingham Navigation Company 1878 NETHAM 78453 113 Coaster Screw Richard C. Ring, Bristol 1879 DOURO 51 78459 430 Cargo Screw G. K. Stothert & Co. 1880 SEA QUEEN 91052 53 Tug Screw C. J. King & Sons, Bristol 1881 LORD TREDEGAR/ WILLIAM PARFITT 106255 179 Dredger Screw Alexandra (Newport) Dock Company 1882 GALLOPER 84 86493 67 Tug Screw Young & Christie, Cardiff 1883 CLIFTON GROVE 89 85810 249 Coaster Screw William Butler & Co. Ltd., Bristol 1883 TEL-EL-KEBIR 90 89165 163 Coaster Screw L. J. Bowen, Cardiff 1884 ATALANTA 92 85813 143 Barge Screw Severn & Canal Carrying Co 1885 SEA PRINCE 114 91053 97 Tug Screw C. J. King & Sons, Bristol 1888 CONHAM 91069 77 Barge ScrewStone and Tinson 1889 PENMON 97222 97 ScrewWilliam E. Davies, London 1890 FLAGSTAFF 97233 97 Coaster Screw William E. Davies, London 1892 TREDEGAR/STOKE LEIGH 167 98828 115 Coaster Screw William Galbraith, Bristol 1892 CARBON 170 98829 126 Barge Screw Alfred J. Smith Ltd., Bristol 1893 MERTHYR 184 102483 143 Coaster Screw William Galbraith, Bristol 1897 RESOLUTE 105415 62 Tug Screw Severn & Canal Carrying Co 1897 RELIANCE 117716 62 Tug Screw Severn & Canal Carrying Co 1901 RECRUIT 112850 59 Tug Screw William Cory and Son Ltd., London 1901 MAESTEG 243 111318 156 Barge Screw Bristol Lighterage Co. Ltd. 1901 GARTH 244 114861 156 Barge Screw Bristol Lighterage Co. Ltd. 1903 SALAMANDER 163867 47 Fire Float Screw Bristol Fire Brigade 1904 VICTOR/SEVERN VICTOR 278 147385 44 Tug Screw Severn & Canal Carrying Co 1904 ACTIVE/SEVERN ACTIVE 280 147381 53 Tug Screw Severn & Canal Carrying Co

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