Tribute to Thomas Boyd, lifelong champion of Hull’s fishing industry, who has died at the age of 84

A man whose family name will be forever associated with the proud history of Hull’s fishing industry has sadly died.

Thomas Boyd, former chairman of Boyd Line, passed away on July 26 at the age of 84. Thomas grew up loving boats and first ventured to sea on a trawler when he was just 12.

Thomas Wilson Boyd was born on January 19, 1940 in Elterwater, Cumbria, while his father was fighting in the Second World War. Although not originally from Hull, he grew up with his sisters Anne and Elizabeth in Beacon Garth on the shores of the Humber. Thomas was educated at Malsis and Sedbergh, and won a Trevelyan Scholarship to St Catharine’s College to read medieval and modern languages, spending some of his time in Heidelburg.

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A keen sportsman, Thomas had a successful Rugby career, captaining English Schoolboys as well as Hull and East Riding and finally playing for both his university and the Oxford and Cambridge combined sides and becoming a member of The Hawks Club. He also earned his blades rowing a successful college crew for St Cats.

Thomas was in his teens when he built his first boat, Lilibet. Ocean racing soon became a significant part of his life, sailing for Great Britain as a member of the British Admirals Cup Ocean Racing Team and a founder member of the Sail Training Association (later the Tall Ships Youth Trust), overseeing the building of The Sir Winston Churchill in 1966.

Throughout his life he continued to sail, at both The Humber Yawl Club and the Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club. He latterly became a member of The Royal Yacht Squadron with his beloved ketch KS.

Thomas joined Boyd Line, in 1964, working alongside his father, Tom Boyd Senior, and later became chairman and managing director. He enjoyed a varied, fascinating and at points visionary career, building up the fleet of freezer trawlers and North Sea vessels and later undertaking a joint venture with the Falkland Islands.

Boyd Line’s heyday was in 1974 when it had 22 ships, including some of the most modern fishing vessels in the world. It was the first trawler company to catch and freeze herrings at sea.

The trawler company’s reputation enabled the company to meet the highest quality demanded in the UK market by such names as Unilever/Bird’s Eye, the Ross Group, Findus Ltd and many others. It later became one of the leaders in frozen fish packs for the home freezer trade.

In 1997, in his capacity as chairman and managing director of Boyd Line, Thomas wrote to the Hull Daily Mail about the “deplorable” national scandal surrounding illegally-caught “black fish”.

In his letter, he warned of the seas around Britain becoming “barren” without the necessary political action. He wrote: “In the waters of the North Atlantic, off Norway and Greenland, where our distant water vessels, the Arctic Corsair and Arctic Ranger fish, the fisheries are rigidly controlled by the coastline states, illegal fishing is made impossible by rigorous supervision by the coastguards.

“These controls may seem draconian, but the results are sustainable harvests of fish each year.” He continued: “Our fishermen, after spending up to 100 days at sea in distant waters, are currently seeing a relatively poor reward for their efforts as they are paid a share of the value of catch, and they would happily join with me in appealing to the authorities to put an end to this current folly.”

The following year, Thomas paid tribute to a Boyd Line skipper and first mate for their “outstanding seamanship” in battling icy Arctic conditions to save another of the company’s stricken trawlers. The Arctic Corsair – a successor to the original ship which is now a museum that will be a centrepiece to Hull’s North End Shipyard visitor attraction - was facing a rusty future after running aground off the coast of Norway.

Her sister ship, the Arctic Warrior, with skipper Alan Walker and his first officer Mick Langrick on board, raced to the rescue. They attached a tow line to the Corsair, moored for six days alongside the vessel, under the guidance of the Norwegian coastguard, and pulled her to safety.

At an awards ceremony to honour the men’s bravery, Thomas said: “It was an outstanding piece of seamanship. If they had not got her off, we would have lost the Corsair. The industry has had very difficult times lately and it is such a pleasure to be able to enjoy and celebrate such an occasion.”

Boyd Line was bought out in 2002 in a £7m deal with Icelandic fishing and seafood company UA, part of Eimskip Ltd. They in turn struck a £13.2m deal just two years later with Dutch firm Parlevliet & Van Der Plas and Aberdeen-based Onward Fishing Company, a subsidiary of Icelandic firm Samherjim, to take over the running of the business.

Among Thomas’s many fishing related responsibilities were president of The Hull Fishing Vessel Owners Association; director of the British Fishing Federation; an ambassador for sustainable pelagic fishing; a member of the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fisherman and roles at the Ocean Youth Trust and the RNLI. This culminated in him being awarded the OBE for services to Hull and The Fishing Industry.

In 1969 he married Elizabeth Huxley and they lived in Etton where they brought up Henrietta, Tom and Honor in a happy family home, later taking great joy in their six grandchildren. Living a varied life, Thomas sat on The Council of the University of Kingston of Hull; was president of Hull and East Riding Wildfowlers Association; High Sheriff, Deputy Lord Lieutenant for The County of The East Riding of Yorkshire and Consul to Iceland and to Norway.

Thomas was the first Honorary Colonel to be appointed from outside the Armed Forces and served as Honorary Colonel of the 150 Yorkshire Regiment Royal Logistic Corps for 12 years. In later life, Thomas was appointed to the Court of The Fishmongers Company and was Prime Warden in 2012, a year which encompassed The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

He was a true countryman and involved in village and church life in Etton, serving as Parish Councillor and Rectors Warden for 35 years.

On learning of Thomas’s death, tribute was paid by Anthony Boreham, who said: “As a young 16-year-old my first job was working at Boyd Line. My first trip was a disaster and I got my hand trapped in the pantry door, losing my fingernails!

“When we docked I was called into Tom’s office and we had a chat about how it happened and if I was okay. A lovely man and I’ll always remember that chat. My deepest condolences to his family and rest in peace Mr Tom.”

Jerry Thompson, chairman of Hull Fishing Heritage Centre, said Boyd Line’s history went right back to before the start of the Second World War. He said: “Thomas Boyd was a great statesman on the dock and employed such a lot of men.”

Thomas leaves a widow, Elizabeth, children Henrietta, Tom and Honor and grandchildren William and Lily, Lara and Manon, Cordelia and Leander. A private family funeral will be held and a thanksgiving service to celebrate his life will be held at Beverley Minster on Thursday, September 5 at noon.