The Shipping Services of the Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway's (GCR) involvement in shipping was as the successor to the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company (MS&LR), formed in 1846 from the amalgamation of three railway companies plus the Grimsby Docks Company. In the same year it acquired the rights to operate the long-established ferry services across the Humber from Barrow, New Holland and Goxhill. The MS&LR promoted the Deep Sea Fishing Company at Grimsby in 1854, the Great Northern and the Midland Railways also having an interest in the same. They sponsored by part-ownership some private shipping companies operating to the near Continent from 1856, but obtained full powers in their own right in July 1864, taking over five existing vessels and operating from Grimsby to Hamburg, Rotterdam and Antwerp. The first new ships were a quartet brought into service in 1865.
The Great Central, formed in 1897, took over a substantial fleet comprising Humber ferries and Continental steamers, several of which were to survive into LNER days. They continued a steady investment in new ships for all services, such that the LNER needed to do no more than build three new paddle ferries for the Hull - New Holland route.
In 1935 a managing company, Associated Humber Lines (AHL), was formed to manage the GCR fleet plus that of the Goole S.S. Company which managed the London Midland Scottish Railway (LMS) fleet based at Goole (in succession to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Company), and also two Hull-based companies in which the LNER held managing interests. However, all vessels continued to be owned by their respective companies, until A.H.L. became an owner in its own right from 1957. The Grimsby fleet retained the GCR funnel colours of white with a black top for some years before adopting the AHL colours which were based on the buff, red and black of the LMS with 'AHL' superimposed on the red band.
Grimsby
The following were operated by the GCR and entered service with the LNER:
| Name | Type | In Service | Out of Service |
| Nottingham | Passenger/cargo | 1891 | 1935 |
| Staveley | Passenger/cargo | 1891 | 1932 |
| Lutterworth | Passenger/cargo | 1891 | 1932 |
| City of Leeds | Passenger/cargo | 1903 | 1936 |
| City of Bradford | Passenger/cargo | 1903 | 1936 |
| Marylebone | Passenger/cargo | 1906 | 1932 |
| Dewsbury | Passenger/cargo | 1910 | 1959 |
| Accrington | Passenger/cargo | 1910 | 1951 |
| Bury | Passenger/cargo | 1911 | 1958 |
| Stockport | Passenger/cargo | 1911 | 1943 |
| Macclesfield | Passenger/cargo | 1914 | 1958 |
Hull - New Holland Ferry Service
The following operated the Hull to New Holland ferry service.
| Name | Type | In Service | Out of Service |
| Magna Charta | Paddle ferry | 1873 | 1924 |
| Grimsby | Paddle ferry | 1888 | 1924 |
| Cleethorpes | Paddle ferry | 1903 | 1934 |
| Brocklesby | Paddle ferry | 1912 | 1935 |
| Killingholme | Paddle ferry | 1912 | 1945 |
| Frodingham | Paddle ferry | 1928 | 1936 |
| Tattershall Castle | Paddle ferry | 1934 | 1975 |
| Wingfield Castle | Paddle ferry | 1934 | 1975 |
| Lincoln Castle | Paddle ferry | 1940 | 1979 |
Acknowledgments
Compiled by George Robinson.