The bulk of the timber exported from Canada passed through Liverpool. According to A.R.M. Lower "In 1850, of 1,064 ships clearing from Quebec, 166 cleared for Liverpool, 102 for London, 62 for Sunderland . . . Liverpool regulated the prices and the chances of selling in timber."
The lumber was unloaded through the bow permitting more timber ships to discharge their cargoes at the same time. The demand for wharf space was so pressing that the timber (both square timber and sawn lumber) was not allowed to remain at dockside for more than forty-eight hours.
Some companies obtained a return cargo which reduced the overhead costs of one-way trips. The stories of some of these "leather ships" or "sailors' coffins" carrying emigrants to Canada make for shocking reading. The more people a ship could accommodate the more money the shipowners made. And it was a long voyage westward from Britain - three months, while eastward it never took more than three weeks. The ever-present danger of starvation, disease, storm and shipwreck existed. By the 1860's the emigrants came by steamer rather than by sail. Conditions improved considerably. The cargoes of coal, brick, and salt took over the outbound trip from Great Britain to Canada.
Courtesy: Mersey Docks and Harbour Board (Liverpool)
