Strick , Frank Clarke , 1849-1943 , shipowner

Frank Clarke Strick (1849-1943) set himself up in business in 1885 in London as a shipbroker and coal exporter; two years later he purchased a small vessel and to raise additional capital he founded, with others, the London and Paris Steamship Company Limited. A new company was formed to operate the vessel called the Anglo-Algerian Steamship Company Limited. This was the first strand in a pattern of Strick trading which was to last for many years -- coal from South Wales or North East Coast ports to West Italian ports, loading iron ore homewards from Benisaf in North Africa for the United Kingdom or the Continent, under contract, using owned or chartered vessels. A successful voyage to the Persian Gulf in 1892 with coal and general cargo induced Strick to build ships for the Gulf trade, within the framework of a new company, the Anglo-Arabian and Persian Steamship Company Limited. By the beginning of the century, Frank Strick had fifteen ships sailing under his flag, serving the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf trades; less regularly, his ships were also to be found in the Indian Ocean or the United States. La Tunisienne Steam Navigation Company Limited was formed by Strick in 1909; this company operated vessels in the North African trade, where Strick's interests were important. In addition Strick's controlled coal bunkering depots in Port Said, Algiers and Oran. In 1919 Strick sold the remaining Strick Line fleet and business to Lord Inchcape and it was absorbed into P and O in 1923. The company went into voluntary liquidation, but Strick had no intention of retiring, forming a new company under the name of London, Paris and Marseilles Steamship Company (later London and Paris Steamship Co Ltd) and continuing to operate La Tunisienne. The Persian Gulf trade was carried on under the joint management of Frank C. Strick and Company Ltd and Cray, Dawes and Company. At first the ships were owned by single-ship companies, but later Strick Line (1923) Limited was formed to own and operate the fleet. Ships of Anglo-American Steamship Company (1896) Limited, in a joint service with Ellerman's Bucknall Steamship Lines, carried large quantities of the prospectors'equipment, stores and personnel to the Gulf. The Anglo-Persian Oil Company Limited (later Anglo-Iranian, later British Petroleum) was formed in 1909 and its Managing Director was appointed a director of Anglo-Algerian. Strick opened his own offices in the Gulf through a partnership with Lloyd, Scott and Company; the firm was known as Strick, Scott and Company. In 1913 Anglo-Algerian became the Strick Line Ltd. By 1928 Strick wished to re-acquire an interest in the Persian Gulf and in the company which bore his name. He succeeded in negotiating with P&O the purchase by his London and Paris Company of a 49% minority interest in Strick Line (1923) Ltd and the Shahristan Steamship Company Ltd. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War the Strick ownership of twenty-five ships was divided into three fleets -- Strick Line, La Tunisienne and Cory and Strick. During the war Strick Line built eight vessels and Frank C. Strick managed twelve; but twenty vessels were lost. In 1960 Strick Line acquired Frank C Strick and Co Ltd. In 1972 P and O completed its acquisition of all the Strick interests and absorbed them into the and O Group.