William Soler traces the rise and fall of the Clarence Hydraulic Lift Dock in the naturally-sculpted Msida Creek. In a classic case of humankind polluting the environment in the name of progress, the controversial and ill-fated industrialisation of what was once a small fishing village in the mid-19th century ended up contaminating its clear waters, ruining the pristine surroundings and obliterating its tranquil life forever.

 

In 1866, a distinguished English civil engineer by the name of Edwin Clark invented a system whereby piped water was compressed by steam-driven pumps into rams in cylinders to uplift floating vessels in a controlled manner. He developed the idea, actually mooted as far back as 1857, of constructing a machine by which ships of the time, weighing up to 3,000 register, could be placed on a pontoon within an iron dock, lifted out of the water and floated on the same pontoon out of the dock alongside a wharf for repairs.

He thus patented what became known as the Hydraulic Lift Dock which was capable, through the use of hydraulic power, of lifting any number of ships on the same number of pontoons. The floating ‘iron barges’ or pontoons with vessels upon them, could be towed out of the dock and moored to the nearby wharves, where repair teams worked on the vessel close to quayside industrial ship-repair facilities, while another vessel would enter the dock to raise another vessel on another pontoon.

Clark’s patent was described in detail in the February 27, 1866 edition (no. 1,155). of Journal of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Great Britain. Three years later, a pamphlet was published in Malta containing a drawing by the Maltese lithographer Leopoldo Brocktorff showing a plan and attractive elevations of the hydraulic dock, including a raised vessel.

This fine lithograph of local industrial heritage interest is being published in Malta for the first time since its appearance in the 1869 promotional booklet written in the Italian language, predominant in Malta at the time, titled “Descrizione dei lifts ossia Bacini galleggianti a Sollevamento Idraulico/Privativa dell’Ingegnere Edwin Clark di Londra”, listing also all the ships repaired in the Thames Dock in London up to  December 31, 1868.

The title of the lithograph, in Italian, in the bottom right corner reads, “La Privativa di Questo Dock Appartiene all’ingegnere Edwin Clark di Londra/Gli Ingegneri Emmerson & Murgatroyd di Stockport sono Costruttori di Docks di Questo Sistema ed Hanno per cio Apposito Stabilimento in Liverpool, Sefton Street. Lith. Brocktorff. Malta”. Leopoldo Brocktorff was the British Admiralty’s lithographer in the late 1860s. At the time, he was conducting his business from his lithographic establishment located also in Msida, close to his residence in Strada Concezione.

On May 15, 1869, Daniele Camilleri, on behalf of the Malta Government, granted a concession to John Thomas Emmerson in the water space of Msida Creek within specified limits, as shown on a drawing held at the National Archives in Rabat, for the construction and operation of a hydraulic lift dock for the repair of vessels. The precise location of the proposed lift was selected by William Scamp, the deputy director of the Admiralty at the time. The local government, in accordance with a resolution of the Council of Government of May 10, 1869, gave to Messrs Emmerson and Murgatroyd, the builders of the intricate wrought-iron structure of the old Valletta Market and of the Royal Opera House’s fine ironworks, stage and interiors, the concession of a suitable site for the erection of the proposed lift, as well as a portion of the wharves adjoining the site on which the said lift was to be constructed, located in the Pietà side of the creek, where a boiler house, machinery, engineering works, stores, workshops, quays and mooring facili­ties were to be constructed.

The Msida lease was granted in the waters of Msida Creek for 99 years from June 1, 1869, free from rent or other charges on the patented system of Edwin Clark, civil engineer, of Victoria Street, Westminster, London. Permission was granted to Emmerson to dredge any part of Msida Creek at his expense to accommodate the hydraulic dock.

The prospectus stated that the Anglo-Maltese Hydraulic Dock Company Ltd proposed to form a company with a share capital of Stg  110,000  for the purpose of constructing and working in Malta a hydraulic lift dock on Clark’s patent for the object of lifting and repairing steam or sailing vessels up to 3,000 tons register. The estimated cost of the Msida venture was around Stg 90,400, based on the lump-sum contract entered into by Emmerson and Murgatroyd on December 13, 1867, with the Secretary State for India, for a similar dock at Hog Island in Bombay.

The concession became of vital importance to the Imperial Government of Malta. The British authorities at the time believed that Malta, being the halfway house of the Mediterranean Sea, or midway between Gibraltar and Alexandria, was ideally located to further British trade and imperial interests. The Suez Canal was being constructed at the time, opening the route to India. When completed, it would be a halting station on the way to Bombay, where there was a floating dock operating on Hog Island similar to the one proposed for Malta.

The opening of the Suez Canal would render Malta a most important haven and supply station for the repair of ships, for overhauls, for coal, water and other essential victuals on the route to India. It would pre-empt the establishment by Italy of a similar dock for repairing ships in the central Mediterranean, and therefore the Msida dock would give a great advantage to Malta if it got there first by providing what was required in the shipping industry after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.

The Msida dock would give a great advantage to Malta if it got there first after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869

The promoter, John Thomas Emmerson, submitted attractive recommendations to the British Imperial authorities through confidential despatches sent by the Chief Secretary to Government to the Secretary of State in London: “The Malta dock would become the most important British station for ships entering the Middle Sea and requiring repairs. The advantage of the island would be very great. It would thrive as a maritime industry and the Msida yard would become a critical asset to the Indian trade route.

“Within a decade or two, there could be a dock which would complement the two graving docks in Grand Harbour, thus establishing a naval base for the British fleet and a repair base for the mercantile community, employing thousands of hands, when 10,000 were unemployed and in the clutch of poverty. Nor is there any appearance of any change for the better, as there is not a single opening for families wishing to rear their children in any business connected with the shipbuilding trade.

“I also submit that for imperial purposes the proposed dock is most important. Since the abandonment of the Ionian Islands, Malta is the only British possession within the Mediterranean. Gibraltar is only at the entrance of the Mediterranean. Malta is the only British station of the Mediterranean fleet. In case of war, it would be of the greatest importance that there should be at Malta the means of repairing ships of war.

“Now the proposed site of the dock is admirable, adapted for war purposes. It is perfectly sheltered from the sea and thoroughly protected and defended by strong fortifications which could easily rebut attacks of the enemy. That the paramount importance in providing in this only Mediterranean British outpost the best means of repairing ships of war has been hitherto overlooked may be a matter of opinion, but this manifest want requires immediate attention.

“It can be supplied without any strain on the Exchequer – the dock will be constructed by private enterprise, but to ensure success and prevent delay and thereby to forestall competition, a certain support on the part of the government is required. The importance of providing for the repair of all classes of ships in time of war would justify a claim to the pecuniary support of the Imperial Government. I am informed that the Council of Government in Malta would consent to give a guarantee of certain interest to the shareholders in a company for the construction of the dock, which would easily be constructed in 18 months.”

For this purpose, the Anglo-Maltese Hydraulic Dock Company was set up in 1867 by Messrs Emmerson and Murgatroyd of Stockport to build and operate the dock. Its head office was at 5, Westminster Chambers, London. After the publishing of the prospectus with a capital of Stg 110,000, a dispute arose between the promoter and some members of the Maltese Council of Government.

The chief secretary, Sir Victor Houlton, tabled a motion in the Council of Government to build a hydraulic dock disguised as a “pressing need of developing the economy of Malta”. Actually, following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, Malta became the principal trading post on the British route to India, and the rise in the number of ships plying the Mediterranean and stopping at Malta, created the need of a bunkering and a coaling station, exacerbated by the change of sail to steam in the maritime industry.

Dr Ruggiero Sciortino, a prominent Maltese lawyer and a member of the Council of Government, who, at the time was the kingpin of the renowned quattro avvocati, objected to the outlay of funds for this project by the local government on the grounds that this was serving imperial and not local interests. Notwithstanding this objection, the Chief Secretary to Government, Sir Victor Houlton, presented a proposal for funding in the Council of Government on May 7, 1869, saying that it was necessary for the Maltese economy, and followed this up with a report three days later.

Sciortino called for a graving dock instead of a hydraulic dock, similar to the ones built in Grand Harbour. A committee was set up to study this proposal, but the Council of Government, with a majority of members appointed by the Imperial Government, granted a 99-year concession to Emmerson to build a floating hydraulic dock in a stretch of water in the creek reserved for ship repair as from June 1, 1869, including a plot of land on the Pietà side of the creek for the development of the dock facility, to be completed by March 25, 1872, according to the design of Edwin Clark.

At the time, the Maltese members in the Council of Government of the 1849 constitution were in a minority, with the governor having a veto on any law proposed by the majority of the Council of Government members. The company complained that rumours were being spread that private subscription to shares would be poor and that the burden would fall onto the Maltese government.

Copious correspondence resulted in the wake of these claims, and the board of the Anglo-Maltese Hydraulic Dock Company rebutted that the amount of Stg 31,500 in shares were already subscribed without any appeal made to the public.

Clark was asked to report on the fair pricing of the dock construction. He referred to the dock prices being paid by the Indian government on a similar dock on Hog Island at Bombay built to his design and under his supervision, concluding that the Malta prices were fair and reasonable. This dispute caused a delay in starting work on the hydraulic dock. The contract had to be amended on May 23, 1871, at the request of the Anglo-Maltese Hydraulic Dock Company as the works were not expected to be completed on time.

Emmerson wrote to Maltese Crown Advocate Sir Adrian Dingli asking for an extension of time to complete the dock, observing that subscribers were increasing daily, while asking him to use his influence to grant the extension. He rudely added “your countrymen who promised so much have done nothing. I think they are inscribed in the book of fate, and that their doom is that first they must destroy all their prospects in order afterwards to learn a little better.”

The matter came to a head in the Council of Government debates when the council finally acceded to the request for a time extension while refusing to vote any funds for the development. The council also registered its disagreement with the Bombay schedule of prices.

Another cogent reason for the opposition to the development of the hydraulic dock was the pollution of Msida Creek resulting from the drainage problem. In earlier times, Msida Creek started off as a fishing village. It was sheltered from the vagaries of the weather when the waters were still pristine, as were the other parts of Marsamxett Harbour. Il-Menqa, the swamp at the head of the creek, was initially used for cotton and linseed, until it was eventually set up as a fish pond, which Gian Frangisk Abela in 1647 described as Misida Pescheria, picciol ridotto o piscina.

According to the Maltese historian Pietru Pawl Castagna, the Msida waters were clean and clear, suitable for fishing. Fish were abundant in a natural unpolluted habitat, and in old documents, in the description of the Menqa, the term pescheria was common. Fishermen from Msida and Birkirkara were regularly spending the day with hook and line along the unbuilt coastline, until the waters became contaminated with sewage draining into the creek from Birkirkara.

The Msida community counted 1,148 in the year 1861, according to a government census, and in 1871, when the construction of the dock was being debated, there were 19 fishermen hailing from Msida and a much larger number from Ħas-Sajjied, an old residential zone in Birkirkara still known by that name today. It is not excluded that Msida Creek hosted fishermen from San Ġwann, where there was an old chapel dedicated to St Andrew, the patron saint of fishermen.

The Menqa, and particularly the canal, was shallow; it became dirty over the years and full of stagnant water, unable to provide a habitat for fish. The local fishermen were constantly appealing to the authorities to clean the Menqa as it became unhealthy.

Around the middle of the 19th century, the waters at the head of Msida Creek, the Menqa, meandered and stretched deep inland as far as the fish pond and beyond up to L-Għajn tal-Ħasselin via a winding canal. The fish pond, whose location was opposite the old chapel of Our Lady of Conception on the opposite side of the canal, is shown very clearly in Charles William Pasley’s 1802 drawing and in an 1824 map held at the National Archives in Rabat, when the source of water was still pure. Old photos of the late 19th century attest to this watercourse. The pond was still used for fishing up to the end of the 19th century. It is depicted opposite the chapel in the inner part of the inlet, together with the Hydraulic Lift Dock, in an 1895 sea chart in the author’s possession. The map is based on a survey by Captains Graves and Spratt, drawn and updated by French hydrographic engineers for the Dépot de la Marine. Today, the meandering canal is no more. It was filled up after World War II with war debris up to the foot of Rue D’Argens.

The Għajn tal-Ħasselin originates from the fawwara, or spring, located in the inner reaches of the creek, and is mentioned in Gian Frangisk Abela’s 1647 Malta Illustrata. The clarity and purity of the spring was good for washing clothes, and women from other villages came to Msida to wash their clothes, although it is said that the cholera of 1865 came to Msida when two ladies from Valletta washed their clothes in this fawwara.

The source of water was unknown, but it probably originated from higher ground in what is now San Ġwann and beyond, further inland. In later years, both Davy and Chadwick proposed the use of the fawwara for the washing of people, clothes and streets, but not for drinking. The għajn was exposed in the early days and the ħasselin were constantly complaining of the scorching heat in summer and of the cold in winter, until it was roofed over in the form of a loggia for shelter from the elements during the 1730s. The masonry structure was originally known as the loggia and later as the fontana delle arcate.

There is also a very close connection between John Emmerson, the hydraulic dock developer, and the construction of Msida parish church. Emmerson owned a large portion of land on the inner northwest coast of Msida Creek, in the contrada of Ta’ Xbiex, which at the time stretched up to and including Rue D’Argens. The land was bounded to the east by Via San Giuliano, today’s Rue D’Argens, which road was named after a French knight of Malta, Luc Boyer D’Argens, from Occitaine, near the river Argens in Provence.

By a contract signed on December 31, 1882, Emmerson sold to Bishop Carmelo dei Conti Scicluna several tumoli of land intended for the construction of the parish church of St Joseph. The bishop authorised the archpriest, Fr Salvatore Caruana, to appear in his name in the deed of transfer, while Dr Fortunato Mizzi and Giuseppe Doublesin were witnesses to the contract. The foundation stone of the parish church was laid in April 1886, when the lift dock had been in operation for the previous 13 years.

The 1895 French chart of Msida Creek clearly depicts the eglise, on the Ta’ Xbiex side, the Dock Flottant, the magasins, the corps morts (moorings) on the Pietà side, all at the innermost sheltered part of the creek, where fishing by the Msida community was then playing second fiddle to the dock, pontoons and ships, due to what we now call pollution from contamination by the heavy industrial marine installation.

When the hydraulic dock idea was mooted in 1869, the Msida community feared the worst. The locals protested that Msida would become industrialised, thus destroying the small fishing industry and the livelihood of the increasing number of fishermen. The tranquillity and natural habitat were already threatened by two sources – drainage flowing into the creek from Birkirkara, together with the presence of the Msida coal stores on the Ta’ Xbiex side of the bay. Coal, being an extremely dirty and sooty contaminant, was dreaded and obnoxious smells were wafting into the creek. The local community was constantly making representations to government through the good services of Dr Sciortino, fearing an epidemic.

Even in later years, in 1895, when the dock had been contributing to the pollution of the creek for 22 years, Giuseppe Bencini accused the government that it was dragging its feet with regard to pollution prevention. The pressure of the Council of Government forced the governor to call at Msida personally in late 1896, but the governor’s visit was interpreted by the local community as a decoy for an inspection of the creek to see whether it was adequate for a proposed torpedo depot and an extension of the ferry service to Msida, both proposals being seen by the local community as further intensifying industrial facilities which would be contaminating further Msida Creek, whose condition was by this time becoming a health hazard.

Notwithstanding all the early protests, the dock was inaugurated 149 years ago, on Thursday, January 23, 1873, by Lord Clarence Paget. The governor, Sir Charles Thomas von Straubenzee and Lady von Straubenzee, were welcomed by Lord Clarence Paget and Mr Emmerson and by their resident engineer Scott Tucker. The governor’s daughter “launched” the lifting operation by starting the hydraulic pumps which lifted HMS Cruise, 1,500 tons, on the pontoon in 20 minutes clear of the water, surrounded by six ships of the Royal Navy bedecked for the occasion.

Engineers S. Tucker and E.J. Ried later on tried to revive the idea of connecting Grand Harbour and Msida Creek by means of the excavation of a canal through Pietà, which solution would have allowed ships to be floated on the pontoons of the lift dock to the Grand Harbour to eliminate duplication of ship-repair facilities.

In 1883, after only 10 years of operations, the company was negotiating the sale of the dock to French interests, but the Imperial Government was reluctant to give its approval, fearing a disadvantage in case of war. The dock closed down in 1893, 20 years after starting operations in a flurry of enthusiasm which simmered out rapidly in the face of industrial and technological advances in shipbuilding and ship repair worldwide.

The dock closed down in 1893, 20 years after starting operations, in the face of industrial and technological advances in ship- building and ship repair worldwide

The dock was offered to the local mercantile community but the tariffs imposed by the Admiralty were too high to compete with Messina, and the offer was declined. Its view was vindicated when the Admiralty itself shied away from upgrading or operating the dock for its own naval vessels. The installation had become obsolete due to the increase in size of ships, with a frequently idle and empty dock.

In the end, the Admiralty took over the dock structure in 1893 but did not operate it. The naval authorities finally sounded its death knell when it was dismantled in 1903. The iron structure and all its ancillary mechanical plant and equipment were utilised by the Admiralty in the construction of the large no. 4 and 5 graving docks, which were being built at the time in French Creek by British contractor Pearson on commission by the Admiralty to enhance the capabilities of the Dockyard facilities in Grand Harbour for the larger vessels. Docks 4 and 5 eventually gave a fresh impetus to ship-repair facilities of Royal Navy warships when Malta had become the most important Mediterranean naval station of the British fleet. The Admiralty eventually developed the empty hydraulic dock facility into a torpedo depot in the early 1900s.

The pollution of Msida creek was the offshoot of the hydraulic dock development and it was accompanied by the obvious disadvantage of destroying the tranquillity of Msida Creek, as can be seen in various old Msida photos and postcards which convey a sense of calm and peace in the form of fishermen in a typical Maltese dgħajsa against the harsh background of the steel structure of the dock.

The implementation of this daring enterprise was made possible through the then innovative idea of the combination of hydraulic power and the coal-driven steam engine. The use of ‘water’ power had long been recognised by humankind, even before the Industrial Revolution. The water mill and the waterwheel, the forerunners of the water turbine and hydroelectricity, had harnessed the power of the flow of water for centuries. Archimedes’ Principle had established the buoyancy theories, so important for floatation as early as Greek times, and it was due to the development of steam engines that man could finally control the use of water to such an extent as to raise a ship out of water. Other associated inventions of key devices, such as the valve, air pumps and water pumps, became an essential part of the entire system.

Further later applications using oil are the hydraulic press, hydraulic balances and the hydraulic jack, which lift very heavy weights with a different medium through the use of compressed fluids in very much the same way as a ship is raised in a hydraulic lift dock.

In today’s technological age, where the use of hydraulic power in cranes of all sizes on building sites and in various industrial processes goes unnoticed, it is easy to underrate the importance and significance of the development of the compressed water medium a century ago, by means of which heavy weights, in this case ships, could be raised dry above sea level. Water is the most abundant fluid available to man, and the use of this resource was therefore environmentally friendly, although this aspect was not really appreciated at the time.

The only vestige of this indelible industrial heritage is the name of two streets in Msida called Dock Street and Clarence Street, the latter recalling the role of Admiral Lord Clarence Paget in the setting up of the Hydraulic Lift Dock.

Today, the moorings have been increased in Msida Creek, but the vessels are now luxury yachts, and the pontoons are modern floating contraptions from which the Msida community still fish, albeit as a time-honoured pastime instead of the perennial means of livelihood which the dock had obliterated when it encroached onto the creek around a century and a half ago – a scenario which we today call the progress-environment conundrum.

 

Acknowledgements

I owe a debt of gratitude to Mattea Bianchi for her valid help, to Ian Ellis and Giovanni Bonello for permission to publish their old photos, and to the staff of the National Malta Library and of the National Archives, Rabat, for their assistance.