Sutherland, B.J., & Co Ltd

The records consist of the only continuous sequence of the Directors' and General minute books, 1909 to 1954. Of the account books there are ledgers, 1919 to 1954; and cash books and journals, 1946 to 1954. From the early 1950s, however, the records are very detailed. Each of the last seven vessels has a complete dossier of receipted accounts as well as a voyage book. There are also oil conversion accounts for two ships, 1949 and 1953; cargo claims and average settlements, 1945 to 1954; reconditioning claims, Ministry of War Transport, 1943 to 1945; insurance policies, 1941 to 1955; two pocket books of fleet particulars, giving the shipowner the details necessary for making quick decisions on the profitability of accepting a chartering offer; three volumes on cargoes loaded, 1919 to 1953; position books, 1935 to 1954, which set out the ships' itineraries; correspondence, 1948 to 1954; detailed analyses of trading results on various ships, 1923 to 1953; sales contracts relating to the final disposal of the fleet, 1953 to 1954. In addition, there are nineteen log books of the Radfield, 1941 to 1945, which was not a Sutherland ship, but managed for the Ministry of Transport by another Tyneside firm. Finally, there are also private papers, including ledgers of the elder Benjamin Sutherland, 1877 to 1891; of Sir Arthur Sutherland, 1906 to 1953; and papers relating to the estate of Sir Arthur's brother, Benjamin, who died in 1909.

Administrative / biographical background
Benjamin Sutherland (d.1901), flour and grain importer, was persuaded by his younger son Arthur (later Sir Arthur) Sutherland (1867-1953) to buy a steamship in 1892. The Sutherland Steamship Company was set up in 1896 with three ships and became a limited liability company in 1902 under the name of B.J. Sutherland and Co Ltd. The company acquired several small fleets and managed them through separate companies. They also built new ships, most of which were the new unorthodox turret deck design which enabled a larger amount of cargo to be carried than was possible in the ordinary steamer of similar registered tonnage. Sutherland's expanded rapidly before the First World War. In 1920 the enterprise was streamlined when the subsidiary companies were wound up. The policy of the company changed during the slump and most of the second-hand ships were sold; new, efficient motor ships from Doxfords made the company profitable again in 1936 after a long lean period which went back to 1923. Until the First World War coal outwards and grain home was the trade pattern; between the wars the coal export trade progressively declined and both the nature and provenance of return cargoes changed. The company entered the Second World War with seven vessels and two more were built in 1940. In addition, five ships were managed on behalf of the Ministry of Transport. The postwar fleet was maintained at five vessels until voluntary liquidation in 1954, the company surviving Sir Arthur Sutherland by only a year. See Sir Arthur Sutherland's autobiography, 'Tynesider' (Newcastle, 1947); Rowan M. Hackman, 'B.J. Sutherland and Co Ltd', Marine News, Journal of the World Ship Society (1954).