The Graves Shipping Family of New Ross

An edited version of this story appeared in the Festive Star 2025.

Prologue:

In the long sweep of history, some family names linger quietly in the background, woven into the fabric of towns and cities without ever demanding attention. Yet, when followed carefully, those names reveal stories that reach far beyond their place of origin—stories shaped trade, ambition and adversity, and the restless pull of the sea.

In the nineteenth century, New Ross was one of Ireland’s great ports, its quays crowded with ships and its streets alive with commerce. From this busy inland harbour emerged the Graves family, merchants and shipowners whose influence would extend far beyond the banks of the River Barrow. Their vessels crossed the Atlantic, their timber built farms and towns across the south-east, and their business interests stretched from Waterford to Liverpool at a time when the Irish Sea was not a barrier, but a bridge.

This is not simply a tale of ships and trade, nor of ledgers and balance sheets. It is a story of people—of families who built enterprises, of emigrants who trusted their lives to Graves ships, of workers who earned their livelihoods in yards and offices, and of communities shaped by the presence of a name that became synonymous with industry and reliability.

It is also a story of connection: between Ireland and Britain, between provincial towns and great cities, and between the past and the present. The Graves story touches politics and philanthropy, tragedy and success, and even finds its way into unexpected places—into streets, institutions, and landmarks that still endure today.

What follows traces that journey, from New Ross to Liverpool and back again, uncovering how one family’s maritime enterprise became part of a much larger social and historical landscape—one whose echoes can still be felt, long after the last ship sailed and the last yard fell silent.

A 19th Century New Ross Shipping Family and the Liverpool Connection.

Whenever I hear or see the names ‘Graves of New Ross’ or ‘Graves of Waterford’, they conjure up pleasant childhood memories.

My father was a frequent customer at Graves Timber Yard on Park Road in Waterford, where he purchased timber and plywood for the various small boat-building projects he undertook. Sometimes I was allowed to accompany him, which I always looked forward to. I can clearly recall the smells and sounds of activity in the busy premises: machines humming in the background, the deafening roar of sawmills in operation, the chugging of cranes, lorries loading and unloading, and sturdy men carrying planks across the yard. There was a fine office building at the entrance, where payments were made as you left the yard.

The two photographs below, dating from c 1930, courtesy of Joe Falvey, demonstrate the extent of the premises of Graves & Co in Waterford and their facility to directly unload ships. The last ship to unload timber at Graves & Co was in 1972.

As a young boy, I would not have known the extent of the Graves complex in Waterford. It covered four acres and had the advantage of its own wharf adjoining the premises, as was also the case in New Ross. Graves & Co. at one time owned a steel barge called Rose Macrone, which plied timber between the premises.

Also, when travelling around the rural parts of Counties Waterford, Kilkenny and Wexford, nearly every hay barn or shed visible from the road had a sign erected at one end stating that it had been built by ‘Graves of New Ross’. All these farm buildings were fabricated at the Graves branch in New Ross. I later learned that as far back as 1880, the firm had established a licence from a Danish company to manufacture Graves Patent Roofing Felt, with exclusive rights for Britain and Ireland. This led to the famous Graves ‘Dutch-style’ hay barns, which were the first round-roofed hay barns. Graves patent roofing became world-famous and was used to cover some of Ireland’s most prestigious buildings. It was also used extensively for shelter huts and for lining trenches during the First World War.

What I did not know then, and only discovered many years later—much to my shame—was the importance of the vessels of William Graves & Son of New Ross. From the mid-1840s through to the mid-1850s, vessels belonging to Graves pioneered a connection with Savannah, the primary port in the state of Georgia, USA. Graves ships sailed from New Ross and Waterford to Québec in Canada and to Savannah. The sailings to Savannah took place during the autumn and winter months, and a typical port-to-port voyage took around forty days. Ice on the St Lawrence River rendered Québec, the traditional supply port, inaccessible during those months.

Voyages were initially undertaken in ballast, but later carried emigrants. On the return voyage from Québec, the cargo was usually timber, while ships bound for Savannah returned to Liverpool carrying cotton.

The late Jack O’Leary, County Wexford maritime historian, noted that from 1847 to 1858, New Ross-based ships—many of them owned by Graves—carried 19,913 people to North America. Ships belonging to Graves were well regarded for their low mortality rates. The most famous of these was the 458-ton, three-masted barque Dunbrody, built in Québec in 1845 by Thomas Hamilton Oliver. Dunbrody had been built solely as a cargo vessel, but in 1847, due to the famine and a shortage of passenger vessels to carry the mass exodus of people escaping starvation to North America, she was—along with other transatlantic vessels—converted to carry passengers.

It is documented that in the eleven years from 1847 to 1858, Dunbrody recorded a total of only seven mortalities on board. In 1869, after twenty-four years of service with the Graves family, Dunbrody was sold.

Another well-known ship owned by the Graves family was the Lady Bagot, a barque of 442 tons with a square stern, built at Québec in 1842. In March 2019, Tides and Tales Maritime Community Project posted the story of the Lady Bagot.
Please see: https://tidesandtales.ie/?s=lady+bagot

Between 1997 and 2001, a full-scale seagoing replica of the original Dunbrody was built in New Ross by the JF Kennedy Trust. The build team involved many participants from community and unemployment schemes, working closely with a core group of experienced shipwrights.

Since 2001, the replica Dunbrody has been open to visitors at the quayside in New Ross. The ship is now one of the premier tourist attractions in the South-East of Ireland. Visitors can view an interactive exhibition and experience life on board an emigrant ship.

The highlight of the visit of the Tall Ships’ Race to Waterford in 2005 was the Parade of Sail, as all participating vessels sailed down Waterford Harbour, led by the three Irish tall ships Dunbrody, Jeanie Johnston and Asgard II. Sadly, by the time the Tall Ships’ Race returned to Waterford in 2011, Asgard II had been lost, having sunk in the Bay of Biscay in September 2008. Fortunately, there was no loss of life. Dunbrody and Jeanie Johnston are no longer sea-going.

There is no doubt that the Dunbrody Famine Ship and Irish Emigrant Experience, based in New Ross, has played a significant role in raising awareness of the prominence of New Ross shipping in the 19th century and the major part played by members of the Graves family.

The Graves family originated in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny. Anthony Graves, a banker from the town, moved his family to New Ross in 1805 and established himself as a merchant. His son William established the family business in 1811 at the Block House, The Quay, New Ross. By 1815, he was engaged in the emigration trade from New Ross to Québec, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Samuel Elly. By 1825, the company owned four ships on that route. The company ceased trading in 1827, and Mr Graves founded another company with a Mr Watson. The Graves business later moved its headquarters to Waterford in 1851.

William Graves, who lived at Rosbercon Castle, had four sons.

Anthony Elly Graves, born in 1815, worked with his father in managing the family business in New Ross. He was also a noted writer and, like his father, was prominent in the political life of the town, serving on various local committees. Anthony was a keen yachtsman. Lloyd’s Register of Yachts for 1883 lists him as the owner of two yachts: Spray, an 18-ton cutter, and Sprite, a 5-ton yacht. The 1878 Register records him as the owner of Flambeau, a 14-ton steam yacht. He is also listed as a member of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, Queenstown. The 1883 Register records his address as Rosbercon Castle, New Ross, and again notes his ownership of Spray and Sprite.

Extracts from Lloyd’s Registers of Yachts for 1878 and 1883, courtesy of Cormac Lowth.

Anthony Elly Graves died on 16 May 1891, aged seventy-five, at Rosbercon Castle, New Ross. One of his sons shared the same name.

William Cameron Graves, born in 1820, died in 1846 at the age of twenty-six. He was not married.

James Palmer Graves, born in 1822, lived at Waterpark, Waterford. He was elected President of Waterford Chamber of Commerce in 1884. Later, he travelled to Savannah, Georgia, where the company already had established business interests.

The family of James Palmer Graves was grief-stricken in July 1897 when his son, Richard, was tragically drowned in a yachting accident at Templetown, on the Co. Wexford side of Waterford Harbour. His friend and sailing companion, Harry Snow, son of Captain and Mrs Snow of Blenheim, Waterford, also lost his life. The tragedy caused widespread sympathy throughout Waterford. Richard Graves was buried at the Abbey Church, Ferrybank. James Palmer Graves died in 1901 and was buried in the same church. A newspaper described his funeral as being largely attended and “of a most respectable character,” representative of all creeds and classes in the city.

The most famous of the four Graves brothers was Samuel Robert Graves, born on 7 June 1818. Samuel Robert is credited with expanding the family’s business interests to Liverpool, where he built a successful shipping fleet of more than forty vessels. On 6 September 1848, he married Elizabeth Anne, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Haughton of Burrin House, Carlow. They had six children—three sons and three daughters. Harriet, a sister of Elizabeth Anne, married Anthony Elly Graves (Samuel Robert’s brother) in 1850.

Samuel Robert began business in Liverpool in 1846 and went on to gain many notable distinctions. Under his watchful eye, a trading office and warehouse were opened in Oriel Street, Liverpool. He was elected Chairman of the Liverpool Shipowners’ Association from 1856 to 1859. In 1857, he was elected to Liverpool City Council for the No. 8, or Pitt Street, Ward. In 1858, he became a member of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, and in the following year was appointed to the Royal Commission on Lighthouses, Buoys and Beacons.
Please see: https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/blog/lens-lighthouse

In the General Election of 1857, he stood as a candidate for the Borough of New Ross. He advocated a reduction in income tax and the continuation of the grant to Maynooth College. His candidature was unsuccessful on that occasion.

On 4 July 1859, he embarked from Portsmouth with members of the Commission for coastal inspection on HMS Vivid.

Samuel Robert Graves was elected Mayor of Liverpool for the years 1860–61, becoming the first Irishman ever to hold that office. He was Commodore of the Royal Mersey Yacht Club and was reputedly a friend of Queen Victoria and her son, the Prince of Wales, whom he entertained on a regular basis. He held many directorships, including positions with the London and North-Western Railway Company and the Pacific Steam Navigation Company. He was also the author of National Dangers and A Cruise in the Baltic.

On 14 July 1865, he was elected as a Conservative MP for Liverpool. He retained his seat at the General Election of 1868, polling 16,766 votes—the highest recorded by any borough member. The Liberal Party was in power at the time, first under Lord Palmerston and later under William Gladstone. Samuel Robert Graves spoke frequently in the House of Commons, particularly during debates concerning naval and Irish matters.

On 18 January 1873, aged fifty-four, Samuel Robert Graves died unexpectedly from a heart attack. The Illustrated London News eulogised him as “one of the prominent members of Liverpool’s great mercantile community.” In 1874, the Conservative Party, under Benjamin Disraeli, returned to power. This was the election that saw the Irish Home Rule Party emerge as a significant third force in Parliament, winning sixty seats. It has been stated that Samuel Robert Graves would likely have been appointed to a Conservative cabinet had he lived.

The Drogheda Conservative, on 25 January 1873, contained a large report on the life, death, and funeral of Mr Graves. The following extract demonstrates the dramatic effect that his sad passing had on the city of Liverpool:

Mr Graves, who had represented Liverpool in Parliament for nearly eight years, died with awful suddenness at an early hour on Saturday morning in London, whither he had gone on public business. The news, which became known in Liverpool about ten o’clock, spread with almost electrical rapidity, and awakened a feeling of deep and universal sorrow. The differences of party were merged in the lamentation of the community—it was one hearty and sincere chorus of sympathy and regret. The town at once put on an outward semblance of mourning: every public building displayed its flag at half-mast, and along the line of docks the gay bunting was withdrawn and ensigns lowered to half-mast.

The people were filled with grief to an extent of which we have no parallel in local history; for no doubt the circumstances of the untoward occurrence intensified the natural sorrow at the death of an honoured and popular citizen. By his sudden and calamitous death, he was arrested in a course of political life which gave the assurance of distinguished services in a still larger sphere of labour. While Parliament is deprived of one of its most practical and industrious members, Liverpool has suffered a peculiar and almost irreparable loss, for Mr Graves was more than a politician and a partisan. It has struck a sympathetic chord in the heart of the community, equally among Conservatives and Liberals, and the natural grief inseparable from the sad occurrence is heightened by the tragic suddenness of its circumstances.

It was not only in shipping and political affairs that Samuel Robert Graves made his mark on life in Liverpool. He also bequeathed a legacy to the city that has endured to this day—a venue that has given pride and pleasure to generations of Liverpudlians. In his capacity as Lord Mayor, he advanced a proposal to develop grounds on the outskirts of the city for football. Football was still in its infancy in England at the time, with the desire for clubs to adopt a common code providing the impetus behind the foundation of the Football Association in 1863.

The football grounds ran directly behind the family business. It has been said that Samuel Robert Graves was credited with giving the land free of charge. He then sanctioned a proposal to build a roadway through the new grounds, naming it Anfield Lane, after the one beside his ancestral home in New Ross, located in the townland of Annefield. Annefield Lane ran just above Rosbercon Castle, and the name “Annefield” was later chosen for Samuel Robert Graves’s home in Liverpool. Shortened in time to Anfield, it became the name of a district in Liverpool and today survives most famously as the name of one of the most iconic football stadiums in the world, home of Liverpool Football Club—Anfield Stadium.

Samuel Robert Graves died before Everton Football Club was founded in 1878 and therefore would not have witnessed them playing at Anfield from 1884 until 1891. A dispute over rent in that year saw Everton move to nearby Goodison Park. Anfield has been the home of Liverpool Football Club since it was founded in 1892.

A bronze plaque is now on permanent display in Christ Church Cathedral in Waterford, bearing the names of staff and employees of Graves & Co. who served in the Great War, 1914–1918. The plaque was originally displayed at the company offices in Waterford and was subsequently donated to the cathedral.

The name A. P. Graves appears on the memorial. This refers to Alan Percy Graves, the only son of Anthony Elly Graves and Margaret Massey Napper, who resided at Rockenham House, Ferrybank, Waterford, and a grandson of Anthony Elly Graves, who died in 1891. The younger Anthony Elly Graves died suddenly on 16 October 1917 while motoring from Waterford to New Ross to attend a meeting of the directors of Cherry’s Brewery. A. P. Graves, who had joined the 2nd Life Guards and was stationed in France at the time of his father’s death, was unable to return home for the funeral. In 1929, he married Countess Marie-Luise zu Dohna at Buckow, Germany, and at the commencement of the Second World War he was British Military Attaché in Berlin.

Following the death of Anthony Elly Graves in 1917, the business was taken over by Haughtons of Cork. The Cork Haughtons, a prominent Quaker family, were likely related to the Haughtons of Carlow. As noted earlier, Samuel Robert Graves had married Elizabeth Anne Haughton of Carlow.

In 1934, the company was taken over by Robert Elmes and Edward McBride as majority shareholders. The Elmes connection with the business, in fact, went back as far as 1886, when Samuel Robinson, married to Florence Elmes, joined the company. Robert Elmes joined in 1898, becoming Company Accountant in 1913. Edward McBride joined in 1906. Members of the McBride and Elmes families continued to play prominent roles in the company for many years. The firm was a substantial employer in both Waterford and New Ross, with up to 180 employees in the 1960s. Interestingly, like the Graves family before them, members of the Elmes and McBride families were keen sailing and boating enthusiasts. David McBride was a leading helmsman in the Enterprise dinghy class at Waterford Harbour Sailing Club during the 1960s and 1970s.

In December 1971, Graves was sold to Tony O’Reilly’s Fitzwilton Group, which also owned Dockrells Builders Providers in Dublin and Cork. In 1990, ownership passed to the Brooks Thomas Group, who changed the company name, and so the once immensely proud and long-established name disappeared from New Ross and Waterford after almost 180 years in business.

In 2011, to mark the bicentenary of the founding of the family business by William Graves at New Ross in 1811, a most pleasant celebration took place. Mark Elmes, a grandson of Robert Elmes (joined 1898), and Edward McBride, a grandson of his namesake Edward McBride (joined 1906), curated and displayed a diverse collection of memorabilia gathered over many years, and also delivered an illustrated talk on the history of the company.

Epilogue

The story of the Graves family is, in many ways, the story of Ireland itself in the long nineteenth century and beyond—a story of enterprise and emigration, of sea routes and city streets, of loss, adaptation and endurance. From the quays of New Ross to the docks of Liverpool, from timber yards in Waterford to football fields on the outskirts of an English city, the Graves name left an imprint that was both practical and lasting.

Ships came and went, businesses expanded and contracted, and generations rose and passed, yet the thread of continuity remained. The timber trade that sustained farm buildings across the south-east, the vessels that carried emigrants toward uncertain futures, the civic leadership exercised in Liverpool, and the employment provided to hundreds of families in Waterford and New Ross—all were expressions of the same instinct: to build, to connect, and to look outward beyond the horizon.

Time, inevitably, brought change. The age of sail gave way to steam, family firms yielded to larger commercial interests, and even the proud Graves name eventually disappeared from the quays and yards it had once dominated. Yet its legacy did not vanish. It survives in records and registers, in ships’ names and place names, in Anfield itself, and in the quieter memories of people whose lives brushed against the company in work, trade, or childhood experience.

For me, that legacy is also personal. The smells of timber, the sounds of machinery, and the sense of purpose in a busy yard were echoes of a much older maritime world, one I only came to understand fully many years later. In tracing the Graves story from New Ross to Liverpool and back again, it becomes clear that this was never just a business history. It was a human one—rooted in place, shaped by the sea, and woven into the wider fabric of Irish and British life.

Sources:

Sailing Ships of Wexford 1840s -1940s, Brian Cleare and Jack O’leary R.I.P. - (Saltee C Publications 2019.)
Available to buy here: https://rosslare-maritime-enthusiasts.sumupstore.com/product/sailing-ships-of-wexford-1840-s-1940-s-a-century-of-sail 

Wexford Savannah Axis:   
https://www.irishgeorgia.com/wex-sav-axis

THE ORIGIN OF ANFIELD BY CHRIS MCMULLAN - An online forum 2002. https://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=4575.0

Historical Notes on the Graves Family compiled by Peter McDonald, New Ross historian and kindly made available.

New Ross Street Focus Facebook – various postings.

https://wikishire.co.uk/wiki/Anfield

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Graves-4551

https://www.icuf.ie/dobbin-atlantic-scholars-report-graves-archives-exploring-trade-emigration-links-south-east-ireland-newfoundland/

Munster Express, July 7th, 1897

Waterford News, June 28th, 1901

Waterford News, October 19th, 1917

Munster Express, September 16th, 2011

Munster Express, September 23rd, 2011

Irish Independent, November 9th, 2011

Munster Express, March 7th, 2017

 Many thanks to the following for their generous assistance in compiling this article:

Paul Colfer, Brian Cleare, Brendan Grogan, Liam Ryan, Joe Falvey, Cormac Lowth, Nicholas Leach, Liverpool Records Office, Peter McDonald, Edward McBride, and Mark Elmes.