• Current opened records

  • Harland & Wolff plc

Aircraft manufacturers
Location:
  • Belfast, Northern Ireland
History:
  • In 1853 Robert Hickson laid out a small shipyard on Queen's Island, Belfast. In 1858 Edward Harland his yard manager, bought the yard trading thereafter as Edward James Harland & Co. In 1861 Harland took Gustav Wolff, his drawing office manager, into partnership as Harland & Wolff Ltd. Harland replaced his ships' wooden upper decks with iron ones and gave the hulls a squarer cross section which increased strength and capacity. In 1871 William Pirrie and Walter Wilson also joined the partnership. Queen's Island Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd was incorporated as a limited liability company in 1885, changing its name to Harland & Wolff Ltd in 1888. When Harland died in 1895 William Pirrie became the chairman. Between 1909 and 1914 the company built the Olympic, Titanic and Britannic, commissioning Sir William Arrol & Co to construct a massive twin slipway and gantry for the ships. Between 1912 and 1919, due to the need for new capacity and the increasing political instability in Ireland, the company bought several shipyards on the River Clyde. It also acquired repair facilities in Southampton (1907), Liverpool (1912) and Woolwich (1924). During the First World War, in addition to monitors and cruisers, Harland & Wolff built over 800 aircraft from 1916, the Airco DH6, Avro 504J/K and Handley Page V. In 1918 the company opened a new shipyard in Belfast to specialise in mass-produced ships of the designs developed during the First World War. In 1936 the company set up a separate aircraft manufacturing subsidiary with Short Brothers, called Short & Harland Ltd . During the Second World War the company built six aircraft carriers and 133 other naval ships and repaired over 22,000 vessels. It also manufactured tanks and artillery components. The Queen's Island yard was heavily bombed in 1941 causing considerable damage to the shipbuilding facilities and destroying the aircraft factory. With the rise of the jet-powered airliner in the late 1950s the demand for ocean liners declined. Several of the company's shipyards were closed from the early 1960s when the company consolidated its operations in Belfast. It also disposed of its repair facilities in London, Liverpool and Southampton. Continuing financial problems led to the company's nationalisation in 1977 and the business was re-privatised in 1989 after a management buy-out.
Principal and significant aircraft manufactured:
  • Airco DH6 (1916); Avro 504J/K; Handley Page O; Handley Page V.
Publications:
  • M S Moss and J Hume, Shipbuilders to the world: 125 years of Harland & Wolff (1986).
Records 1:

  • Public Record Office of Northern Ireland

    Partnership agreements 1861, 1874; memorandum and articles of association 1862, 1932, 1984; certificates of incorporation 1885-1984; managing directors' meeting minutes 1907-28; papers re government management 1982-90; executive papers: Fred Rebbick 1915-62, Denis Rebbick 1960-70, John Mallabar 1966-70; annual reports 1973-80; balance sheets 1905, 1940-70; private ledgers 1896-1924; general journal 1922-23; account papers 1929; ship expenses ledgers 1941-83; drawing office papers 1908-85; shipyard leases 1920-86; private fire brigade papers c.1920-40; staff records 1909-86; registers: employees 1870-1922, apprenticeships 1887-94, accidents 1921-67, compensation claims 1940-59; apprenticeship indentures 1871-76, 1925, 1938; wages books 1943-79; staff rules posters 1888-90; sports club cash book 1922-33; agency press cuttings 1940-45; promotional material 1985-86; photographs 1941, 1945-46, 1950-84 [D2805].

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