Founding Killick Martin and Company was founded in 1861 under the name Killick Martin by
Captain James Killick (1816–1889) and
James Henry Martin. James Killick was born at the Killick family home, named
Whitehall in
Cheam, England, in 1816. concentrated on the running of the office and securing of cargo. The first vessel owned by the company,
Gazelle, was built in 1862. She was primarily a
sailing vessel with auxiliary steam power, although registered at
Lloyd's as a sailing vessel.
Gazelle was sold after only one year in the fleet, and, after that, the company only owned and operated
clipper ships. During its ship owning period, Killick Martin & Company were represented in
Hong Kong and
China by
Jardine Matheson. '
John Gadd – Captain of Kaisow''''' Captain John Gadd was born in 1825. He took command of Kaisow at 50 years of age in 1875 and stayed with the ship until she was sold in 1885. Both sides of the Sunda straights were hit taking out 165 villages. The town of
Anjur was completely wiped out, killing approximately 36,000 people. Some estimates for fatalities are as high as 120,000.
James Lowe - Captain of Agnes Muir James Lowe was the son of Robert Lowe, another Captain in the Killick Martin & Company fleet. Robert Lowe had been Captain of
Osaka for 11 years. James Lowe served in sixteen different ships from 1864 to 1918 and was an apprentice on the
‘Taeping’ during
the Great Tea Race in 1866.
House flag (1868) Killick Martin & Company initially used a house flag or
maritime flag to identify the company's vessels with two blue stripes and a wider white center stripe. From 1868, the design was changed by adding a vertical blue bar to form an "H". and one was flown above
Trinity House on 15 March 1961 to celebrate the company's 100th anniversary.
The tea trade (1865–1879) Killick Martin & Company's founder and senior partner James Killick was an experienced sea captain, completing numerous voyages with tea from China, including his record-breaking passage in 1852 with
Challenger. After forming Killick Martin & Company it is not surprising that James Killick's primary focus was on the
tea trade. On 3 March 1925, Great Britain completed negotiations to allow China to use its share of the United Kingdom's Boxer Indemnity which totalled GBP 7,537,500 in 1901, to purchase railway infrastructure and in China. Killick Martin & Company was selected as agents by the Chinese Government Purchasing Commission, set up in London under Dr. Ching-Chun Wang, Commissioner and Director of the Chinese government Purchasing Commission in 1931 to handle the shipments to China.
Bombing of Fen Court Offices (1941) Killick Martin & Company moved from George Yard in Lombard Street to 7 Fen Court in September 1886. They purchased the freehold of the building just after the end of the First World War. Some use was also made of 5 Fen Court for storage. A gap of ten years took place before they acted again in 1872 and 1873 as agents for
Benledi. By 1881 William Thompson's ships were known as Ben Line and had started using the prefix ‘Ben’ within their names. Killick Martin & Company were appointed as agents for all
Ben Line vessels in 1883, and within a few weeks loaded their first ship
Benarty in
Antwerp. ;1950–1970 Between 1950 and 1972, Ben Line continued to develop its liner services between Europe and the Far East, with Killick Martin & Company as its UK Agents operating fast, custom built tween deck vessels. Ben Line pioneered a number of new trade routes, and became one of the leading liner companies in the trade. ;1970-1992 Containerised services began in the Far East trade towards the end of 1971. Although the operation of the ships were integrated within Trio (the name coming from the companies owning the vessels originating in three countries, Great Britain, Germany and Japan) each company marketed its services separately, and BLC did this via Killick Martin & Company. Until 1964 the ships sailed to the UK with Bananas, but had returned empty. The UK port was Liverpool, but was switched to Preston and then Barry in South Wales. In 1986 the three ‘Seabee’ ships were transferred to the US Navy's Military Sealift Command. They were used in Desert Storm and Desert Shield operations. These ships were replaced with the Tyson and Tillie Lykes, 2,000 TEU container vessels built in 1985.
United Arab Shipping Company In 1972 Kuwait Shipping Company (KSC) appointed Killick Martin & Company Ltd as its agents. Four years later KSC merged into the
United Arab Shipping Company (UASC). A joint company formed by the governments of
Kuwait,
UAE,
Bahrain,
Saudi Arabia,
Iraq, and
Qatar. UASC also appointed Killick Martin & Company Ltd as its agents. By the mid-1980s Killick Martin & Company Ltd's business for the Middle East grew substantially and the volumes handled were second only to those in the Far East trade for Ben Line.
Atlantis Air (1947) On 21 April 1947 Atlantis Air Ltd was formed by Killick Martin & Company together with
Elder Dempster (Canary Islands) and appointed
Skyways to commence a thrice weekly service from June that year between
Northolt and
Gando Grand Canaria via
Lisbon using
Avro York aircraft. In the mid-1960s Atlantic Air had an office in Building 88 at Heathrow Airport which assisted its sister company Killick Martin & Company Ltd when it was asked by
Cathay Pacific to take responsibility for its first-ever cargo flight into
Gatwick Airport.
Killick Vogt (1980–1993) Killick Martin & Company Ltd formed a joint venture with Vogt & Maguire Ltd in 1980. Vogt & Maguire Ltd where established shipping agents in London and Liverpool, incorporated in 1953 like Killick Martin & Company, but with a history stretching back over 100 years. Killick Vogt Ltd set up sub-office arrangements in various ports so that the shipping line agency business of both parent companies could be handled throughout the country. In November 1986 Killick Martin & Company Ltd acquired the other 50% shareholding from Vogt & Maguire Ltd and in its financial statement as of 31 October 1987 the company was dormant. In December of that year, its name was changed to Killick Martin Services Ltd. The company was dormant under this name between 1987 and 1990. In May 1990 the companies name was changed from Killick Martin Services Ltd to Dolphin International Freight Services Ltd and was sold in April 1993.
Freight forwarding (1921–present) Killick Martin & Company commenced freight forwarding services in 1921. The company at the time was organised into three areas of activity. The liner agency for Ben Line, the liner agency for Holt/Blue Funnel Line and a freight forwarding division. Unfortunately little is known of its early freight forwarding activities as all records were lost in the bombing of 7 Feb Court in 1941. Killick Martin & Company continued to offer freight forwarding services after World War II, but it was the rapid development of its liner agency business that became its key focus. To address this and offset its declining liner agency business in the early 1990s, Killick Martin & Company Ltd was restructured in 1996 into four separate operating companies, and one of these, KM International Ltd took control of all freight forwarding activities. The other divisions were Eastgate Transport Ltd, United Arab Agencies Ltd and Killick Martin Chartering Ltd, which was 51% owned. When Killick Martin & Company Ltd was on the verge of administration in June 1999, a director of KM International Ltd acquired with another partner the business from the then appointed administrators, (which incidentally was originally the company registered as Atlantis Air Ltd in 1947), and changed the name from KM International Ltd to Killick Martin & Company Ltd. Killick Martin & Company was first offered for sale to Atlantic Pacific Group Ltd in 2014. The former director who acquired the business from the administrators in 1999 transferred in 2015 with a number of employees to Atlantic Pacific Global Logistics Ltd and operated Killick Martin as a division. Atlantic Pacific Group Ltd decided to separate these activities back into a separate company in July 2017 to focus on supply chain management and freight forwarding services. == Awards ==