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The history of Hartlepool and West Hartlepool is bound up with the sea. Local people have made their living, and sometimes their fortunes.
Modern shipbuilding began in Hartlepool in 1836, with the building of the Castle Eden by the Hartlepools General Shipping Company. It ended in 1961 with the Blanchland, the last ship built by William Gray and Company Limited. The years in between saw the change from wooden sailing ships to iron steamships to steel tankers, and the growth of an industry that would shape the town for over 120 years.
Thomas Richardson of Castle Eden and John Parkin of Sunderland established a shipyard at Old Hartlepool in 1835 and built The Castle Eden ship. The shipbuilding company of William Gray was established here in 1862 and Gray became one of the most influential men in the town. He was the first mayor of West Hartlepool in 1887. William Gray shipbuilders won the Blue Ribband prize for maximum output in 1878, 1882, 1888, 1895, 1898 and 1900. The yard closed in 1961.
The Wingfield Castle was one of three sisters, the Tattershall Castle, the Wingfield Castle and the later Lincoln Castle
Zuiderdijk (Id. No. 2724)—a freighter built in 1912 by William Gray & Co. Ltd. at Hartlepool, England— was operated by the Holland-America Line until 1918
In 1934 William Gray & Company of West Hartlepool, built the Tattershall Castle for the London and North Eastern Railway Company (LNER)
Norlina (No. 1597), a freighter built as Harfleur in 1909 by William Gray & Co., Ltd, West Hartlepool, England, was renamed Georgiana in 1915
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