Papers relating to the master mariner George Frederick Smith (1900 - 1987) and vessels of the King Line, latterly under the ownership of Clan Line Steamers Ltd. (managed by Cayzer Irvine & Co. Ltd.). There are accounts, receipts, portage bills, records of crew conduct and wages; also letters and telegrams communicating with the offices of shipowners, marine superintendents and agents.

These records are not available for public access until 1 January 2047 due to the General Data Protection Regulations (2017). Please contact Archive staff for further information about access to these records.

The box listing is as follows:

Box 1
Folder containing financial and crew records relating to the KING EDGAR ex EMPIRE GAMBIA (1945), KING NEPTUNE (1924) and KING ROBERT (1943), circa 1946-1957.
Envelope labelled ‘KH Finance Voyage 1-2-3’ containing papers relating to the KING HENRY (1958), 1958-1960.
Envelope labelled ‘Mail Owners To & From: 8 November 1958 to 13 April 1960’ containing letters and telegrams, also relating to the KING HENRY (1958).
A small newspaper clipping from 1946, concerning the handover of Henry Pu Yi, the former Emperor of Manchuria, to the Chinese authorities by the Russians.

Box 2
Bundle of letters and telegraphs, sent between Smith as master of the KING HENRY (1958) and the offices of his employers, 1961-1962.

Box 3
Folder labelled ‘Postage Accounts of Crew and Prices, Various Ports’ containing letters, telegrams and financial papers relating to the KING ROBERT (1943) and KING NEPTUNE (1924), 1956-1957.
Envelope labelled ‘Ximanea Voyage 4’ containing papers relating to the KING HENRY (1958), 1960-1962.

Box 4
Folder labelled ‘Portage a/as up to 1958’ containing financial and crew records relating to the KING NEPTUNE (1924), KING ALEXANDER (1952) and KING EDGAR ex EMPIRE GAMBIA (1945),1950-1958. Including notes on the stranding of the KING EDGAR in Channel Barra San Pedro in June 1958.
Bundle labelled 'Letters to Owners Voyage 3 March 1960-December 1960 Letters to Agents, Shippers, etc. Voyages 1-2-3 December 1958 to December 1960', all relating to the KING HENRY (1958). There is also a letter from Smith requesting retirement and a place on the pension sheme, dated 16 January 1962.

Box 5
Bundle labelled 'Letters: Owners Voyage 3 (April 1960-December 1960) Agents, Shippers, etc. Voyages 1-2-3 December 1958 to December 1960’ containing papers relating to the KING HENRY (1958), 1959-1960.

Administrative / biographical background
Smith was born in Lewisham in 1900. After studying at the Royal Hospital School at Greenwich he went to sea as an apprentice on the collier ZAMBESI (1901), owned by Turner, Brightman & Co., London. When this vessel was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean in April 1917, his indentures were transferred to the KING JOHN (1906). He was employed on cargo ships of the King Line throughout the rest of his career. He qualified as master in 1924 (certificate number 0014274). He was master of the KING JOHN (1928) when this vessel was sunk by a German raider in July 1940. He was then held in various prison camps until the end of the conflict. Between 1958 and his retirement in 1962 he was master of the KING HENRY (1958). Smith became senior master of the King Line, was awarded the Lloyd’s War Medal for Bravery at Sea and appointed an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He was living in the Sidcup area when he died in 1987.