Church of St. Nicholas, grave of T and W Smith

Thomas (1783-1856) and William Smith (1787-1860) shipbuilders. Their father, Thomas Smith of Amble had taken over the wooden shipbuilding yard at St. Peters in 1810. Thomas and William continued the business. They built many high class East India Ships like the 980 ton Bucephalus, launched in 1840. By 1848 they were leasing extra space at North Shields. In 1871 St. Peter's shipyard was sold to R & W Hawthorn. Smith's business moved to North Shields. Smith's Dock Company Ltd was formed in 1899 and became the world's largest ship-repairing business.