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British shipping companies (B)

James Baines & Co.
Baltic Steamship Co. Ltd
Baltic Trading Co Ltd.
R.B. Ballantyne & Co.
Bamburgh Shipping Co. Ltd
Bank Line
Alfred Bannister
Ed Bates & Sons
Belfast, Mersey & Manchester S.S. Co
Belfast Steamship Co. Ltd
Belle Steamers
Ben Line
Alan C. Bennett & Partners
Bennett S.S. Co.
Bibby Line Group Ltd.
J.A. Billmeir (Stanhope S.S. Co. Ltd.)
Black Ball Line
Blakes Holiday Boating
Bland Line Ltd.
Blue Funnel Line
Blue Star Line

See also:

James Baines & Co.

image by Ivan Sache

James Baines & Co.: (UK): red swallowtail with a black? dot.
Ivan Sache, 5 September 2005

Baltic Steamship Co. Ltd

image by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, "the house flag of the Baltic Steamship Co. Ltd, Liverpool. A blue swallow-tailed pennant with a white diamond bearing the red letter 'C'. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn. A rope and toggle is attached."
Jarig Bakker, 4 August 2004

Baltic Steamship Co. Ltd. Operated by A. Coker & Co. Ltd.
Neale Rosanoski, 19 May 2005

Baltic Trading Co. Ltd

image by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, "the house flag of the Baltic Trading Co Ltd, London. A black rectangular flag with a white diamond bearing a crossed hammer and torch and the letters 'BT Co' in red. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn."
Jarig Bakker, 4 August 2004

images by Rob Raeside

Baltic Trading Co. Ltd. Two previous flags are shown. Talbot-Booth between 1937 and 1944 shows white with the red letters "BT" towards the respective sides and enhanced over "C" and Brown 1943 and 1951 (Wedge, 1951) showing a golden field with the same lettering but spread closer to chief and base respectively
Neale Rosanoski, 19 May 2005.

R.B. Ballantyne & Co.

image by Ivan Sache, 12 March 2008

Lloyds Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of "R.B. Ballantyne & Co." (#98, p. 41), a company based in Glasgow (Scotland), as horizontally divided blue-white-blue with the blue letters "R.B.B." in the middle of the white stripe.
Ivan Sache, 12 March 2008

Bamburgh Shipping Co. Ltd

image by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, "the house flag of the Bamburgh Shipping Co. Ltd, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. A rectangular flag divided with pale blue over yellow and a red castle in the centre. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn. A rope and two Inglefield clips is attached.

The shipping line was founded in 1956 as a subsidiary of the Sheaf Steam Shipping Co. who owned 51% of the capital, the remainder by the British Iron & Steel Corporation. The company ran ore carriers and bulk carriers in the iron ore trade with North Northumbrian names. The company was sold to Ben Line in 1976."

Bamburgh is a town in Northumberland, just south of the Scottish border.
Jarig Bakker, 4 August 2004

Bank Line

image by Jorge Candeias, 24 April 2002

This is a company that serves the South Pacific islands but is, at least originally, a Scottish company. A couple of websites include information on this company, namely www.freightertravel.hb.co.nz/shippinglines/bankline.htm and ships.utopia.co.nz/Willowbank.html. The Scottish origins are very evident in the flag, which could be described as a Scottish flag with an arm of the cross removed and half of the field turned red. In other more vexillological words, it's a diagonal bicolour (lower hoist - upper fly) red over blue with a white diagonal band throughout.
Jorge Candeias, 24 April 2002

The "Bank Line" is part of the "Andrew Weir Shipping Co. Ltd." founded in 1885 and established in London. The "Bank Line" was formed by Andrew Weir in 1905 and since that time has been operating regular services between Europe and the South Pacific. Another subsidiary of "Andrew Weir" is "McAndrews", a ship agency organization that provides services throughout the Iberian Peninsula. Its regional offices are located in Spain and Portugal. It was established in 1770 by William McAndrews as a shipping and trading company.
Aingeru Astui Zarraga, 25 April 2002

The "Bank Line" is part of the "Andrew Weir Shipping Ltd." founded in 1885 and established in London. The "Bank Line" was formed by Andrew Weir in 1905 and since that time has been operating regular services between Europe and the South Pacific. Recently the Andrew Weir website noted that Andrew Weir Shipping (AWS) has signed an agreement to sell The Bank Line (South Pacific) service to The China Navigation Co Ltd (CNCo), the deepsea shipping arm of the Swire Group.
Phil Nelson, 12 October 2003

Bank Line. More accurately this is the flag of Andrew Weir Shipping Co. Ltd. with Bank Line being an original alias, "bank" being the common suffix used for their ship names, before the formation in 1905 of The Bank Line Ltd. under which most of the ships were then registered. In 1989 this latter company changed name to Andrew Weir Shipping Ltd. and thus the Bank Line "service" reference reverted to its original position and it is this service only which has been sold to China Navigation, the ships involved remaining under Weir as owners and managers and likewise with the flag. During their operations Weir have operated several service lines and one, the India-Africa Line which originated from the 1932 takeover of the India Natal Line, had its own flag which was blue with a narrow diagonal biband of white over red from upper hoist to lower fly.
Neale Rosanoski, 9 February 2004

Alfred Bannister

image by Ivan Sache, 10 April 2008

Lloyds Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of "Alfred Bannister" (#257, p. 49), a company based in Grimsby, as divided red-blue by a yellow descending diagonal, with a white "A" in the red triangle and a white "B" in the blue triangle.

"From April, 1917, to June 23rd, 1919, the whole of the fishing vessels were placed under the control of the Admiralty. [...] A Port Committee was appointed, consisting of Lieut.-Commander W. Grant, O.B.E. (the Port Fishery Captain), Messrs. T. W. Baskcomb, A. Bannister, G. Moody, J. D. Marsden, W. F. Goodwin, R. W. Roberts and H. L. Taylor. [...] The fishing vessels were now placed in sections, two vessels of each section being fitted with wireless and armed with guns."
"Grimsby Roll of Honour, 1914-1919"
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~englin/mem/grimsby.htm
Ivan Sache, 10 April 2008

Ed Bates & Sons

image by Ivan Sache, 9 April 2008

Lloyds Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of "Ed Bates & Sons" (#213, p. 47), a company based in Liverpool, as white with a thick red Maltese cross in the middle.
Ivan Sache, 9 April 2008

Belfast, Mersey & Manchester S.S. Co.

image by James Dignan

Based on Sampson (1957)
James Dignan, 11 October 2003

This company was a subsidiary of Coast Lines.
Phil Nelson, 11 October 2003

image by Rob Raeside

Belfast, Mersey & Manchester S.S. Co. Sources disagree over whether the letters were blue or black, or the red shown here. Originated as the Belfast & Mersey Steamship Co. with a similar flag bearing a larger white diamond and the blue letters "B+M" over "S.S.Co."
Neale Rosanoski, 9 February 2004

image by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, "the house flag of the Belfast Mersey and Manchester Steam Ship Co. Ltd, Belfast. A red rectangular flag with a white diamond in the centre and black letters 'BMM'. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn. A rope and toggle is attached.

The company traded under the name of Belfast Mersey and Manchester Steam Ship Co. Ltd from 1929, specializing in carrying cargo, particularly cattle between Belfast and Liverpool. The company was taken over by Coast Lines in 1945 from its managing owners Samuel Lawther & Sons of Belfast and John J. Mack & Sons Ltd, Liverpool. Its fleet merged with that of the Belfast Steamship Co. in 1960, its vessels retaining their former owner's house flag and funnel colours until the last was withdrawn from service in 1969. The company is now part of P&O."
Jarig Bakker, 4 August 2004

Belle Steamers

image by Eugene Ipavec, 13 March 2009

The Belle Steamers – all of them paddle steamers – were operated by the ‘London, Woolwich & Clacton-on-Sea Steamship Co.’ from 1888 on. This firm expanded during the following years despite serious competition on the passenger routes linking London and various harbours in South England. By the end of the century it had become the number one in that area. For one year – 1896 – the company was actually called ‘Belle Steamers Ltd’ but this well-known commercial name officially disappeared in 1897 upon the merger with the firms operating the piers at Clacton and Walton and others to form the ‘Coast Development Co.’ Pier access for berthing and fast ships proved major assets in competing with the General Steam Navigation Co. In 1905 the Co. became a Corporation and almost ousted General Steam in the area but other (land) modes of transport were expanding. Growing losses plus the outbreak of war in 1914 led to the firm’s winding up in 1915. The paddle steamers, operated by various companies (one of them named ‘Belle Steamers Ltd’), would continue to sail for many years.

Sources:
http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/BelleSteamers.html
http://www.southwoldmuseum.org/Transport%20popups/Steamers_popup.htm

The first link to the relevant Simplon Postcards page leads to a number of period illustrations a number of which shows the house flag, a pennant really: vertically divided red-white-red with initials ‘BS’ counterchanged: white ‘B’ in the red hoist stripe and red ‘S’ in the central white stripe. Direct link to black and white photo of ‘Southend Belle’ showing house flag beneath name pennant (onomast): http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/BelleSteamers/SouthendBelle-10_900.jpg, giving the impression that the pennant was longer – in relation to its height – than suggested by the coloured drawings.
Sources:
http://website.lineone.net/~tom_lee/belle1913.htm
http://library.mysticseaport.org/initiative/Impage.cfm?PageNum=60&bibid=11061&ChapterId=8 (found in the on-line 1912 Lloyds Flags & Funnels)

Jan Mertens, 11 March 2009

Ben Line

image by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, "the house flag of Ben Line, Edinburgh. A white rectangular flag with broad red border and a blue anchor in the centre. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn. A rope and toggle is attached.

The company was founded in 1825 by two brothers Alexander and William Thomson who set up as shipbrokers in Leith. Their family had a background in the building trade and marble importation. With a declining demand for marble, Thomsons' ships exported coal to Canada and imported timber. From the 1850s the company began to explore routes to the Far East. The company took delivery of their first steamer in 1871 shortly after the opening of the Suez Canal. From the 1860s, the trade in Canadian timber trade ceased to be economical and was replaced by a steamer trade to the Baltic; this side of the business continued until 1927.

In 1919 Ben Line Steamers Ltd was formed, ending 'one ship accounting'. In 1972 Ben Line Ship Management Ltd was formed with Galbraith Wrightson Ltd as part of a diversification programme. During the 1970s the company also became involved in oil drilling, containerisation and chemical transport. In 1991, it combined with East Asiatic Co., Copenhagen, to run a weekly service to the Far East. The firm's role as a ship owner ended the following year when they sold all their remaining ships."
Jarig Bakker, 5 August 2004

Belfast Steamship Co. Ltd

image by Ivan Sache, 14 March 2004

Belfast Steamship Co. Ltd. Formed in 1851 and for a long time under the control of Coast Line Ltd., the fleet ended up being absorbed as part of P&O Ferries Ltd. Griffin 1895 reverses the colours i.e. a red circle on a white pennant but this would appear to be simply an error as nobody else, before or after, suggests that such a flag ever existed.
Neale Rosanoski, 9 February 2004

Alan C. Bennett & Partners

image by Jarig Bakker, 28 November 2005

Alan C. Bennett & Partners, Rochester - horizontal black-white-blue flag, with on black at the hoist yellow "ACB".
Source: Loughran (1995)
Jarig Bakker, 28 November 2005

Bennett S.S. Co. Ltd.

image by Jarig Bakker

The Yorkshireman John B. Bennett of Goole owned the Bennett S.S. Co. Ltd. It had been founded by his father, John Bennett, in 1873. In 1931 Bennett was ordered by the Army Council to cease using its markings. There then began a battle, which lasted almost as long as the company owned ships. Bennett pointed out that his father's use of the markings has long antedated the Act which forbade them. He argued the injustice of forcing him to abandon a symbol which has been in use for over 50 years, with the exception of the war period. For a further four and a half years, he countered every argument and finally, when it seemed that the War Office was poised to crack this tiny shipping company, he had the field of flag and funnel band colored to a very pale buff. Bennett considered himself undefeated, for the shade was virtually indistinguishable from white at any distance. Yet it fulfilled the requirements to the letter. Sadly, his shipping company was wiped out by war losses. After the war, a service under the name of the Bennett S.S. Co., was operated from Goole by the General S.N. Co., and as late as the 1960s the red cross could occasionally be seen.

Bibby Line Group Limited

by Jorge Candeias, 16 Feb 1999

Red with a yellow device in the center with wide black fimbriations. The device shows a hand holding a dagger.
Jorge Candeias, 16 Feb 1999

Originally it was a plain red flag, but later the crest of the Bibby family was added.
David Prothero, 17 Feb 1999

The Bibby Line Limited is the name for the marine division of Bibby Line Group Limited, involved in offshore platform construction, shipping
chemicals and the so-called "coastels" [sic], purpose-built offshore floating accommodation. There is a comprehensive history of this company, which originated in Liverpool in 1807 and has had its head offices there since foundation, on the Merchant Navy Association web site here: http://www.red-duster.co.uk/BIBBY.htm.
Sources:
(1) Bibby Line Group Limited, web site http://www.bibbyline.co.uk, Ships and More Ships The History of Bibby Line from 1807 to date, as
consulted 03 January 2008
(2) The Merchant Navy Association, web site http://www.red-duster.co.uk, as consulted 03 January 2008
Colin Dobson, 3 January 2008

J.A. Billmeir (Stanhope S.S. Co. Ltd.)

image by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, the house flag of J. A. Billmeir and Co. Ltd, London. A blue swallow-tailed burgee with a white diamond bearing the monogram 'JAB'. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn. A rope and toggle is attached."

Brown (1951) list this as "Stanhope S.S. Co. Ltd. (J.A. Billmeir), London. Between the "J" and the "B" is a gap on top, so changing the "A" into an "H". (possibly an error).
Jarig Bakker, 31 August 2004

J.A. Billmeir (Stanhope S.S. Co. Ltd.). Stanhope were a subsidiary company which was sold in 1964 to George Nott Industries Ltd. [possibly the sale also included Billmeir, sources are not clear] and presumably at that point ceased to fly the flag (although a 1967 book records them still using the old Billmeir funnel) and then around the 1980s the company title, i.e. as a shell company, was acquired by Townsend Thorensen Ferries and they became registered ferry owners, first for this company using their livery, and then for P&O Ferries in their colours until absorbed in the early 1990s. The "JHB" logo shown by Brown 1951 was an error, repeated in the 1958 edition with the latter also showing it as a normal rectangle but both points were corrected in this edition by a notation. The rectangular version is also shown by Stewart and the Liverpool Journal of Commerce chart for 1966.
Neale Rosanoski, 13 February 2005

Blackball Line

image by Jarig Bakker

A white swallowtail with a black ball.
Loughran (1979) (Survey of Mercantile Houseflags and Funnels) has the same image for the USA Black Ball line and the British one. He writes: "When Liverpool ship-owner J. Baines entered the trade <in 1851> he was sufficiently conscious of the merits of that famous house flag, and sufficiently unscrupulous to purloin it for his own vessels. He paid slight regard to the fact that the New York firm were still in existence, and his direct competitors. In spite of their protests, he continued to use the flag. The efficiency of his own fleet built on the impetus the house flag may have given him made the Liverpool Black Ball Line one of the leading companies in the Atlantic and Australian runs."
Jarig Bakker, 15 July 2004

The Black Ball Line noted here is that operated by James Baines & Co. of Liverpool, U.K. and according to Loughran (1979) both the name and the flag were appropriated from the American company of that name, despite their protests, which means that the field was red, not white. Loughran so shows it though he shows for both companies as a tapered swallowtail whereas some other sources show the American flag as non tapered. Basil Lubbock in "The Colonial Clippers" shows an illustration from a painting of the "James Baines" which though in B&W supports the red colour of the field but it is impossible to say for sure whether there is any tapering of the flag.
Neale Rosanoski, 26 August 2004

According to http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~nzbound/nzbound/lines.htm, the flag of the Blackball line was a white swallowtail with a black ball. On that site it says:

"James Baines founded the Blackball Line of Australian packets in 1851 and had Donald McKay, the American ship builder, build the Lightning, Champion of the Sea, Donald McKay and the James Baines. These vessels were comfortable, had well ventilated quarters for steerage passengers, state rooms for cabin passengers, smoking rooms, decorated saloons and were strongly rigged. There was also an American Black Ball Line, no connection.
The Blackball Line had a contract to deliver mail to Australia, started with the purchase of the St. John ship Marco Polo built by James Smith. This line carried more passengers to Australia than any other line. In addition to the Marco Polo the Blackball Line at various times owned 15 other Saint John ships including the Constance, Oliver Lang 1275 t, Palm Tree, Samarang 1175 tons b. 1857, Sovereign of the Seas, and the Zealandia (renamed Hebe). Reference: Saint John Ships and Their Builders by Esther Clark Wright. The Blackball Line went bankrupted in 1866.

Blackball vessels: Dover Castle, Elizabeth Ann Bright, Fiery Star (136t), Flying Cloud, Light Brigade, Indian Queen (1051 t), Montmorency (carried settlers to NZ in 1856-1857 and 1866-1867. The ship was destroyed by fire at Napier 28 March 1867 after discharging passengers), Morning Star, Owen Glendower, Sunda, Whirlwind.

Hollet, Dave. Fast Passage to Australia 1986 London: Fairplay. History of the Black Ball, Eagle, and White Star Lines of Australian packets.
Stammers, M.K. Passage Makers UK 1978 History of this line of Australian packets, 1852-71."

Jarig Bakker, 6 May 2002

See also: American Black Ball Line.

Blakes Holiday Boating

image by Ivan Sache

The main competitor of Moore & Co. is Blakes, who says: "With close to 100 years' experience in holiday boating, no one knows the Broads like Blakes." Blakes Holiday Boating is based in Barnoldswick, Lancashire. It is a division of the Holiday Cottage Group.

The house flag of Blakes is a red triangular flag with a light blue B fimbriated in white.
Company website: <http://www.blakes.co.uk>
Ivan Sache, 12 September 2004

Bland Line Ltd.

image by Phil Nelson, 11 April 2000

from Stewart and Styring's Flags, Funnels and Hull Colors 1963

image by Rob Raeside

Bland Line Ltd. Originated around 1810 and based Gibraltar, for most of the time shown as M.H. Bland & Co. Ltd. trading as Bland Line up until the 1970s, possibly becoming Bland Ltd. by 1980 and apparently ceasing in the latter 1980s. According to Brown 1978 & 1982 the diamond was altered so that the dexter half comprised horizontal lines of red-white (they show 19) [see second image which shows more lines for artistic effect].
Neale Rosanoski, 9 February 2004

Blue Star Line

image by James Dignan

Based on an illustration by Sampson (1957)
James Dignan, 8 October 2003

This company operated from London to Brazil and the River Plate. The house flag was a red burgee with a five-pointed blue star on a white disc.
Jarig Bakker, 8 October 2003

Brown's Flags and Funnels (1940): Blue Star Line Ltd., London
Funnel: Red with a blue five-pointed star on a white disk, close to a black top with a white band.
Flag: A red swallow-tailed flag with near the hoist on a white disk a blue five-pointed star. The angle of the fork is approximately 60 degrees, the diminishing of the outside is at approximately 5 degrees. The diameter of the disk appears to be equal to the distance between the tips.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 18 October 2003

Blue Star Line. The original flag did not have a white circle, with this being added in September 1928.
Neale Rosanoski, 9 February 2004

Larousse Commercial Illustré (1930) shows Blue Star Line (1920), London: a red swallow-tail with tapering edges, a five-pointed blue star near the hoist. It not only mentions '1920' but furthermore draws a funnel with the blue star on a white disk. The version with white disk is shown; although according to Neale, it replaced the previous one in 1928.
A nice site is dedicated to this line is at http://www.bluestarline.org/index.html and near the end of the following page, you will find a menu showing the earlier flag but with the star very near the upper edge: http://www.bluestarline.org/avila1.html whereas Larousse shows it as the on-line 1912 Lloyd's Flags & Funnels does:
see No. 1470 on p. 71, 'Blue Star Line Ltd., London': http://www.mysticseaport.org/library/initiative/ImPage.cfm?PageNum=71&BibId=11061&ChapterId=8
Jan Mertens, 28 May 2004