The history of F. Smith & Son (Grimsby) Ltd. dates back as far as 1825. The company specialised in drilling boreholes for water. In 1919, F. Smith & Son undertook its first concrete piling work and the company eventually became Expanded Piling of Cheapside in Waltham. Nowadays, Expanded Piling is part of the construction firm Laing O’Rourke.
An Imagined Blue Plaque for Fred Bacon (1874–1966), Founder of Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District YMCA
Grimsby
“I wrote about this being my grandfather's boat - he was the engineer. It was first registered as INS 11 and is pronounced Pit-gay-vnay not Pit-gav-enny.”
Libby Lamb, 21 October 2026
“My grandfather was the engineer on this drifter when she was fishing out of Lossiemouth and then working as a minesweeper at Scapa Flow from 1915.”
Libby Lamb, 20 October 2026
“Stuart sent me a framed photo of the above photo. He was a dear friend of many years through first knowing his dear wife and lovely son.It is with great saddnessto learn of Stuarts death we emailed regularly ,he was a humble lovely person.I am chronically sick and bedbound ,Stuart's emails were always a pleasure to read and reply to.He was a nan of great integrity and humilityand the world has been better for him being part of itHow lovely ifa BleuePlaque could be erected fir himit is richly deserved.A lovely man who will be n greatly missed”
Cathy James, 19 October 2026
Smith & Son, Victoria Street West, Grimsby; fancy tin for mixed pins c1910s/1920s (or earlier)
Smith & Sons, Victoria Street, Grimsby c1913
Fred Smith of Compass House Advertisement 1957
Fred Smith’s Compass House, Grimsby – Enamel Lapel Badge, c.1955–1965
Wallace Burton Smith, newsagent and stationer, 54 Pasture Street, Grimsby 1901
Wm. Atkinson & Sons — Victorian Enamel Advertising Sign, Grimsby
