Dedication

This archive is dedicated to my wife Isobel and to my daughters and their families, Janet, Kevin and Jamie and Lindsay, John, Sophie and Anna who have been dragged round almost every harbour and maritime museum from the East  Coast of Sweden around the whole of the North Sea and on to the American East Coast and including the Faroe Islands and Iceland................and to my parents, Douglas Paterson and Violet McCallum and my 'fisher' grandparents Archibald McCallum of Macduff and Williamina Watson of Whitehills and my great grandparents David McCallum of Macduff, Martha May of Cairnbulg and Alec Watson and Isabella Clark Levenie of Whitehills.

It is also dedicated to the many, many other fisher families everywhere who have risked everything to bring home the Silver Harvest from the sea.

We have a rich heritage in our communities, families and boats which have committed to the UK fishing industry over the past 150 years. Significant records and recollections of the people and their boats exist today. Fishing Boat Heritage has been created to provide a single easily accessed archive before much of this is lost forever. 

You will find boats listed according to their port letters and numbers with details of the boats and their owners and wherever possible, photographs also.

The initial focus will be on Banff (BF), Ayrshire(AR and BA) and Fraserburgh (PD and FR) registered boats from 1869 to 1989 with boats from other ports being added as information becomes available. If you are interested in the industry, the boats or perhaps your own family's history, Fishing Boat Heritage will provide an invaluable resource.

A huge amount of information is available and it will be uploaded as time permits It is also intended to add associated material such as brief histories of the harbours listed.

If you have information or photographs which you are willing to share, if you want us to prioritise a particular port in uploading information, or if you have a specific query which we can help you with, then please contact the website through our 'Contact' tab at the top of the website.

How to use this site

1. Select a Country on the left hand 'Countries & Ports' menu.

2. Select a Port from the resulting list.

3. Pick a boat to view the associated information.

4. Alternatively, type a boat number, a boat name, a family name, a port, a year or any other search criterion into the quick search bar above.

5. Use the breadcrumb located above to navigate the site.

Copyright

Every effort has been made and will continue to be made to avoid any breach of copyright. If you wish to contribute material to the website, and that would be most welcome, you will need to confirm to me that you control the copyright or have the copyright holders permission for it to be published. If by any chance any item slips through these controls please contact me and I will remove it until any copyright issues are resolved.

           'All hail the power of Jesu's name, Let angels prostrate fall,

           Bring forth the Royal Diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.'

................the boat featured in the artwork is the Royal Diadem BF 260  whose name came from the hymn.

Photgraphs above of the Royal Diadem and the Co Worker BF 274  are courtesy of Alistair Paterson, Macduff and the family of the late RWD Benzie, Aberdeen.