This article endeavours to construct the history of the Beckwith family and their various partners in a shipping business which, in various forms, operated out of the port of Colchester from 1816 to 1919. The family’s interests began with Joseph Beckwith, a master mariner on the coastal trade. Through his connections with shipowners, his sons also entered the trade. Benjamin Beckwith was a master mariner and in the 1840s began to take shares in ships. In turn his son, Joseph Hawkins Beckwith, invested heavily in the shipping business and through a network of business associates established the firm of Mills and Beckwith around 1860. This evolved into Beckwith and Marriage in 1880, and then from 1882, Beckwith & Co. The business was primarily focussed on the coastal trade, operating sailing barges and, from 1880, small steamers. The business contracted in the 1910s and did not survive the First World War. The history of Beckwith & Co. sheds light on the coastal trade, which has been poorly treated by historians. It was a small but crucial part of the maritime and commercial infrastructure of Britain in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

本文致力于构建贝克威斯家族及其各个合伙人的历史，从 1816 年到 1919 年，该家族以各种形式在科尔切斯特港以外的地方经营航运业务。该家族的兴趣始于约瑟夫·贝克威斯 (Joseph Beckwith)，他是一位在科尔切斯特港运营的船长。沿海贸易。通过他与船东的关系，他的儿子们也进入了这一行业。本杰明·贝克威斯 (Benjamin Beckwith) 是一位航海大师，在 1840 年代开始入股船舶。而他的儿子约瑟夫·霍金斯·贝克威斯 (Joseph Hawkins Beckwith) 对航运业务进行了大量投资，并通过商业伙伴网络在 1860 年左右成立了 Mills and Beckwith 公司。这家公司于 1880 年演变为 Beckwith and Marriage，随后从 1882 年起，Beckwith & Co. 更名为 Beckwith & Co.。该业务主要集中于沿海贸易，经营帆船驳船，并从 1880 年开始经营小型轮船。该公司的业务在 1910 年代萎缩，并未能在第一次世界大战中幸存下来。贝克威斯公司的历史揭示了历史学家对沿海贸易的不重视。它是十九世纪末二十世纪初英国海上和商业基础设施的一个小但重要的部分。