Booker Line, shipowners

From Guide to the Records of Merseyside Maritime Museum, volume 1: Booker Line Ltd. Josiah Booker, son of a Lancashire miller, started as a sugar planter in Demerara (Guyana) in 1815. He set up a Liverpool office in 1832 and sent his first ship to Demerara in 1835. In 1867 the firm started the "Liverpool Line" as a regular direct service and in 1900 merged with McConnell, another sugar firm. In 1911 it changed the name of its cargo liner service to the Booker Line on the purchase of its first steamer. The company operated coastal vessels in Guyana and in 1955 bought the Liverpool coasting shipowners, S. William Coe & Co. and then Metcalf Motor Coasters in 1972. The Line continued after 1976 (when the company handed over its sugar interests to the government of Guyana) until 1981. Coe Metcalf, the British coasting fleet, was sold to J. Fisher & Co. of Barrow, but still continues to run its ships from its Liverpool office. See the attached catalogue for further details of this small collection or contact The Archives Centre for a copy of the catalogue.