The keelmen at Sunderland sent a deputation to Lord Londonderry in December 1833 regarding the transport of coals to Penshaw. The practice had been, since the 1790's, to send coals from Lady Londonderry's collieries at Rainton along the four mile waggonway to Penshaw Staithes. The coals were then loaded onto "lighters" (flat bottom barges) to be transported down the River Wear by the keelmen and then re-loaded onto sailing ships at the Port of Sunderland. Maps of the 1730's show that the River Wear was navigable as far upstream as Picktree close to Chester "New Bridge". The practice of transporting coal to Penshaw Staithes was costing Lord & Lady Londonderry £10,000 per year. The route was expensive, caused damage to the large coals which paid the highest premium on the London market and was subject to many disputes and work stoppages by the keelmen. These were the main incentives for Lord Londonderry to build the new harbour at Seaham. Lord Londonderry expresses his regret at the hardship in discontinuing the practice but points out that he can no longer send coals to Penshaw now that a direct railway from Rainton to his new harbour was open.
Progress invariably marches on trampling all in it's way. In 1832 the railway from Hetton to Seaham was begun and coals from Colonel Bradyll's Hetton Collieries would very soon run to the new harbour at Seaham losing yet more trade for the keelmen at Sunderland. This would be the end of the heyday of keelmen in Sunderland.
This is the report of the appeal by the Sunderland Keelmen that appeared in the Morning Chronicle in 1833......
The Morning Chronicle - 24th December 1833
The above map is Dobson's original plan for Seaham Harbour in 1830 showing the planned new railway from Rainton pits to Seaham. (Courtesy of The Brian Slee Collection)
History of Seaham - Stories and remarkable and memorable events in the history of Seaham 
