Newport's Maritime History

To quote local historian Peter Brown, "The history of Newport and its development is the story of the development of shipping. The growth of shipping dictated the economy, the workforce and the town's location."

Peter has kindly offered to contribute articles relating to the maritime history of the city to the Newport Past website. We plan to add these over a period of time and there will be a link from this page to the new section.

For now we are pulling together contributions by other local historians to this integral aspect of Newport's history. The links to these sections are in the side menu to the left.

  • JIM DYER has contributed a wide range of articles including: John Cashmore - Everything Iron And Steel, Newport Harbour Commissioners, The Merchant Navy, Newport Sailors' Stories and The Migration Of The Irish To Newport In The 1800s.
  • BOB TRETT has contributed items including: Newport Quay And The Port Of Newport, Ships And Shipping In The Late Middle Ages and The Newport Ship.
  • HAYDN DAVIS has written an article titled When The Newport Ship Was Sailing.
  • MONTY DART kindly contributed an article and video about The Newport Dock Disaster 1909.
  • RICHARD FRAME and MIKE BUCKINGHAM have contributed some of their stories gleaned from the headstones at St Woolos Cemetery including the Drowning of Constable Rodway, The Frozen Body Of Sailor Joseph Graham, The Sea Captain Who Died At Newport Dry Dock and Pilots, Plunder And Prosecutions.