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The Plimsoll Sensation: The Great Campaign to Save Lives at Sea
This enthusiastically reviewed, scrupulously researched, and Mountbatten Maritime Prize-winning book chronicles a resonant episode of Victorian history led by Samuel Plimsoll, MP, "The Sailor's Friend," and his wife Eliza, who worked together to defend sailors against nefarious practices including overloading and the use of unseaworthy "coffin ships." It is the tale of the decade of agitation that was known as the Plimsoll Sensation and takes us from storm ravaged seas to the heart of the British establishment, featuring courtroom conflicts and outrageous breaches of protocol in the House of Commons. The backlash of libel cases and vilification almost ruined Plimsoll, but his drive and passion made him feverishly popular with the public; he was the subject of plays, novels, street ballads, and music hall songs. With the demonstrative support of his country, he faced down his enemies, came close to ousting Disraeli's government, and achieved lasting safety measures for merchant sailors, including the load line that bears his name.
416 pages, Paperback
First published September 28, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 23, 2019
The Plimsoll Sensation was published in 2006 and was a winner of the Mountbatten Maritime Prize. The author took an interest in Samuel Plimsoll after living, by chance, near a road and pub named after him. What an exceptional book to come out of going for a pint!
This insightful history chronicles the relentless campaign by the MP for Derby, Samuel Plimsoll, for the safe loading and repair of ships in the 19th century. Plimsoll was a self-made man whose religious faith and strong sense of justice gave him the strength to face significant political opposition to these safety reforms.
I was deeply moved by the introduction, which outlines the sinking of an emigrant ship headed for Australia. Like one of the women on the ship, I am also an immigrant in Australia and had a four month old son at the time of reading. One of the few survivors reported that "mothers were weeping over the little ones about with them to be engulfed, and the children, ignorant of their coming death, were pitifully enquiring as to the cause of so much woe." How awful to go through pregnancy, childbirth and then for the entire family to drown because the ship was knowingly overloaded with iron, stone and lead as 'dead weight.' The ship owners, uncharacteristically, had taken out a large insurance policy for this voyage. The passengers' deaths caught public imagination because of the letters they wrote before they drowned and because of reports that they were kneeling in prayer and were singing hymns until they went under.
These "coffin ships" were dangerously over loaded for insurance payouts and profit. The practice was widespread. For marine insurance, there was no independent valuation, so the profiteering shipowners only had to declare a value on a vessel basically guaranteed to sink to increase their considerable prosperity. The wives and children of sailors were then left in poverty while the mercenary owners profited. There was a shocking lack of provisions and squabbling over who was responsible for the results of "the widow and orphan manufacturing system." 70,000 sailors' children ('water babies') went to orphanages if they lost their mothers to poor health or the mothers couldn't care for them due to extreme poverty.
It's a fascinating look at the influence industry had over politics. Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli made numerous delays and choices which revealed that the government, like the ship owners, valued profits over lives. My paperback copy includes a number of prints from Punch, the London Sketchbook and Vanity Fair that show widespread popular support for Plimsoll and disgust with Disraeli and his supporters. One includes the 'lion of British public opinion' attempting to bite Disraeli's head off.
Jones does an excellent job of summarizing the class differences which further harmed the rights of sailors and their families. There are horrifying stories of how sailors faced setting out on unseaworthy ships or imprisonment for abandoning their duties. The police were enlisted to escort ships out of the harbour until it was too far for anyone to swim to shore. These men didn't have the vote and despite Britain's pride in its naval powers, the average sailor, even the captains, had little to no influence in politics or the courts. The age, conditions and names of ships were hidden or changed, which was another wicked practice Plimsoll fought against. At every stage from the acquisition to the loading of the ships there was a breathtaking disregard for human lives.
"The sailor's friend" Plimsoll worked tirelessly on these reforms and he and his wife faced endless ridicule for their activism. He was described as being sustained by his wife, who was often thanked for her fundraising efforts and strategies, even though she wasn't allowed as a woman into many areas of the parliament building and rarely spoke in public. Plimsoll himself was not a sailor and his only connection to the sea was being born in Bristol. His detractors pounced on these details, even though he was "a man bold enough to tell what he believes to be the truth." They could not attack his ideas and so they attacked his character.
Plimsoll and his family dedicated nearly a decade of their lives to this safety campaign, risking their financial circumstances and exhausting themselves fighting against corrupt, self-interested and powerful Members of Parliament. The Plimsolls rightfully believed they were preventing mass murder. He was described as a mentally unstable, attention seeking, self-serving, unreliable, misinformed and out of touch. His persistent efforts along with his personal highs and lows are beautifully shared in this biography.
I'd recommend The Plimsoll Sensation for those interested in maritime history, the industrial revolution, social campaigns, British politics and speech writing. It's an enthralling story of philanthropy and reform. Our fading memories of Plimsoll's work and the horrors of unrestrained profiteering have been preserved and restored in this remarkable book.
"There was a time when greed and crime did cruelly prevail, and rotten ships were sent on trips to founder in the gale; When worthless cargoes, well insured, would to the bottom go, And sailors' lives were sacrificed, that men might wealthy grow...And so we then, as Englishmen, will honour and respect, the man who raised his voice and pen, our sailors to protect."
This insightful history chronicles the relentless campaign by the MP for Derby, Samuel Plimsoll, for the safe loading and repair of ships in the 19th century. Plimsoll was a self-made man whose religious faith and strong sense of justice gave him the strength to face significant political opposition to these safety reforms.
I was deeply moved by the introduction, which outlines the sinking of an emigrant ship headed for Australia. Like one of the women on the ship, I am also an immigrant in Australia and had a four month old son at the time of reading. One of the few survivors reported that "mothers were weeping over the little ones about with them to be engulfed, and the children, ignorant of their coming death, were pitifully enquiring as to the cause of so much woe." How awful to go through pregnancy, childbirth and then for the entire family to drown because the ship was knowingly overloaded with iron, stone and lead as 'dead weight.' The ship owners, uncharacteristically, had taken out a large insurance policy for this voyage. The passengers' deaths caught public imagination because of the letters they wrote before they drowned and because of reports that they were kneeling in prayer and were singing hymns until they went under.
These "coffin ships" were dangerously over loaded for insurance payouts and profit. The practice was widespread. For marine insurance, there was no independent valuation, so the profiteering shipowners only had to declare a value on a vessel basically guaranteed to sink to increase their considerable prosperity. The wives and children of sailors were then left in poverty while the mercenary owners profited. There was a shocking lack of provisions and squabbling over who was responsible for the results of "the widow and orphan manufacturing system." 70,000 sailors' children ('water babies') went to orphanages if they lost their mothers to poor health or the mothers couldn't care for them due to extreme poverty.
It's a fascinating look at the influence industry had over politics. Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli made numerous delays and choices which revealed that the government, like the ship owners, valued profits over lives. My paperback copy includes a number of prints from Punch, the London Sketchbook and Vanity Fair that show widespread popular support for Plimsoll and disgust with Disraeli and his supporters. One includes the 'lion of British public opinion' attempting to bite Disraeli's head off.
Jones does an excellent job of summarizing the class differences which further harmed the rights of sailors and their families. There are horrifying stories of how sailors faced setting out on unseaworthy ships or imprisonment for abandoning their duties. The police were enlisted to escort ships out of the harbour until it was too far for anyone to swim to shore. These men didn't have the vote and despite Britain's pride in its naval powers, the average sailor, even the captains, had little to no influence in politics or the courts. The age, conditions and names of ships were hidden or changed, which was another wicked practice Plimsoll fought against. At every stage from the acquisition to the loading of the ships there was a breathtaking disregard for human lives.
"The sailor's friend" Plimsoll worked tirelessly on these reforms and he and his wife faced endless ridicule for their activism. He was described as being sustained by his wife, who was often thanked for her fundraising efforts and strategies, even though she wasn't allowed as a woman into many areas of the parliament building and rarely spoke in public. Plimsoll himself was not a sailor and his only connection to the sea was being born in Bristol. His detractors pounced on these details, even though he was "a man bold enough to tell what he believes to be the truth." They could not attack his ideas and so they attacked his character.
Plimsoll and his family dedicated nearly a decade of their lives to this safety campaign, risking their financial circumstances and exhausting themselves fighting against corrupt, self-interested and powerful Members of Parliament. The Plimsolls rightfully believed they were preventing mass murder. He was described as a mentally unstable, attention seeking, self-serving, unreliable, misinformed and out of touch. His persistent efforts along with his personal highs and lows are beautifully shared in this biography.
I'd recommend The Plimsoll Sensation for those interested in maritime history, the industrial revolution, social campaigns, British politics and speech writing. It's an enthralling story of philanthropy and reform. Our fading memories of Plimsoll's work and the horrors of unrestrained profiteering have been preserved and restored in this remarkable book.
"There was a time when greed and crime did cruelly prevail, and rotten ships were sent on trips to founder in the gale; When worthless cargoes, well insured, would to the bottom go, And sailors' lives were sacrificed, that men might wealthy grow...And so we then, as Englishmen, will honour and respect, the man who raised his voice and pen, our sailors to protect."
September 3, 2019
A very thorough and detailed insight into a most interesting character.
November 26, 2025
Tells an important story about a seemingly common sense piece of legislation. To stop men thousands drowning at sea, the stubborn and greedy attitudes of Victorian MP's had to be fought against tooth and nail by Plimsoll and his supporters. Interesting story however the book drags a little , there are only a limited number of times I could read about a town hall speech before losing a bit of interest.
December 24, 2025
A very worth while and over due endeavour against the usual interests. One would have thought it would be as simple as voting for Christmas.
The author writes well and must have enjoyed the research as it branched off into auxiliary subjects.
The author writes well and must have enjoyed the research as it branched off into auxiliary subjects.
December 3, 2025
Having read about the “Plimsoll Line” in a book about the Edmund Fitzgerald, I needed to know more about the line’s namesake. Fascinating little detail from history in this book!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews