Samuel Plimsoll
The Plimsoll Line
Every modern ship bears the legend of an eighteenth century Bristolian politician and campaigner.
Samuel Plimsoll was born in Bristol on February 10th 1824. From an early age he was involved in the shipping of coal to London. He was made increasingly aware of the dangers faced by sailors as he became a leading expert in trade and maritime politics. Plimsoll was elected MP for Derby in the 1868 General Election and immediately began campaigning for legislation protecting sailors to be passed. He published the angry book ??Our Seamen?? in 1873 that contained documentary evidence that more than 1000 sailors were drowning each year as a result of the unscrupulous overloading of cargo ships. This book was handed to each member of the House of Commons and in 1876 the Government amended the 1871 Merchant Shipping Act by incorporating a load line, or ??Plimsoll line??, which denoted when a cargo ship was dangerously overloaded. Plimsoll stepped down as MP almost as soon as this Act had been passed, but continued to pursue issues affecting sailors until his death in 1898. A statue was erected as a memorial to Plimsoll in Hotwells, Bristol, in 1963. A plaque can also be visited on Colston Parade on the house where Plimsoll was born.
Submitted by: Michael Freeman, 03 February 2003
