Harrison Line

Thomas and James Harrison moved from the family farm in Cockerham, Lancashire, to the port of Liverpool to join the thriving shipping trade. Both were apprenticed to the shipping agent Samuel Brown and Son, Thomas in 1830 and James in 1838. Thomas was made a partner in 1839 and the name of the firm was changed to George Brown and Harrison (George was Samuel’s son). James Harrison was made a partner in 1849. Closely involved with Samuel Brown, and integral to the development of the Liverpool firm, was Richard Williamson, trading out of France, who had been supplying cargoes of brandy from Charente. Four small ships were bought for the brandy trade in the late 1830s, owned under varying co-partnership arrangements between the two sides.

After the death of George Brown in 1853, the business continued under the name of T and J Harrison, still concentrating on the brandy trade into Liverpool and London. Price competition led to Harrison’s withdrawal from the London market in 1863 giving impetus to the firm’s geographic expansion. By the late 1860s, the principal shareholders in the ships were Thomas and James, with smaller shares being held by another brother, Edward George Harrison, the fourth partner being Richard Pierre Williamson (the son of the elder Richard) in France. Another name also appeared then, that of the bookkeeper, John William Hughes who steadily increased his shareholding in the ships and he and his family played an important role in the development of the Harrison Line.