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The Plimsoll SensationRadio 4 Mon-Fri 09:45 Book of the Week
The Plimsoll Sensation
By Nicolette Jones.
The story of maritime safety campaigner Samuel Plimsoll.
1/5. In 1876, the Board of Trade recorded that 856 British merchant ships were lost within ten miles of the British coast in conditions that were no worse than a strong breeze. However, successive governments did little to protect the lives of merchant seamen or combat various shipping malpractices. Samuel Plimsoll, the sailor's friend, was the philanthropist whose tireless campaigning finally saved hundreds of lives. But though he was lauded by the public he faced obstruction and ridicule, both in parliament and from the powerful ship owners of the time.
Read by Paul Copley.
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