HISTORY
SIR THOMAS WILTON Mayor and a one-man industry
Harbour in rapid decline, a number of coaling agents, then well established in the once previously thriving coal bunkering trade, left the town.
I Into one of their vacated offices
moved a young Geordie who thought there was still some life left in the coal trade yet. his name was Thomas Wilton and he was to play a massive role in the town for the next 38 years. starting as a manager with a small company, Wilton took the next step in 1892 to obtain permission to moor hulk barges on the Dart itself and to start his own company. he formed a partnership with a Torquay coaling agent called mr renwick. renwick and Wilton co. ltd was formed in early 1893 and the basis of his empire had been established. however, it was not without challenges: his business was actually failing in its first year. With typical clear thinking he pinpointed the problem: a lack of deep-water berths on the Dart for larger vessels. he used his increasing influence to demand the Great Western railway, which owned the railway yard at Kingswear, to increase berths to encourage more visitors. he also diversified, buying tugs and fishing vessels. he was engaged in an aggressive business plan, expanding and buying assets when, coal lumpers, the men who made their money loading coal for companies like mr Wilton’s, were depending on soup kitchens to feed their families.
n 1886, with steam ship visits to Dartmouth
By Phil Scoble
realising that political power could lead to financial gain, Wilton joined the council and by 1901 was the council’s main representative on the Dart harbour commission – something which today would be flagged up immediately as a conflict of interest. In an illustration of the times, the owners of the other two main coaling companies on the river joined him on the commission. In 1908 he bought out mr
renwick and immediately began investing in boats and equipment. Wilton was a man determined to make the most he possibly could
Sir Thomas Wilton, Mayor of Dartmouth (1900–1901 & 1914–1919), T. H. Campbell, Dartmouth Guildhall
out of the harbour. In 1910 he was chairman of the
harbour commission and worked very hard to keep a coaling company out of the harbour. In doing so he acted against the express wishes of the town council, who he was supposed to be on the commission to represent. In a slack time for business, the coal lumpers and their families were desperate for more trade in the harbour and so when
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