William Anderson (either a blood relative of Adamson who ran the North Sands & Panns shipyard, or a separate figure altogether) opened a shipyard at Pallion, where the Doxford Yard would later be located.

William Adamson was born in Easington, Yorkshire in 1815 and came to Sunderland by the 1840s when he married Mary Ann Robinson at Bishopwearmouth Parish Church. An excellent profile of him can be found here: https://www.ghgraham.org/williamadamson1815.html

Little detail exists of the yard, especially because it falls between the remit of published Ordnance Survey maps. It is known at least 33 ships were constructed by Adamson at Pallion, mainly for himself aside from one Danish figure and John Adamson (presumably his brother). Adamson also operated the Pallion Foundry in at least the 1860s, presumably the brass foundry seen on 1890s maps, as he advertises in local newspapers for skilled and active foundry travellers. For this reason, we can safely assume his yard was at this site, as well as the plain suggestion Adamson Street also sat adjacent.

Vessels appear to have ceased being constructed by 1870. There was a fire at the site in 1868; however, this is unlikely to have contributed to closure. It appears Adamson retained his portfolio of ships after ceasing construction, so he may have focused attention on his cargo fleet. He bought a vessel from Short Brothers Ltd in 1876, showing he was still active.

William Adamson died at 40 Fawcett Street, his residence, in 1884 and is listed as a shipowner until his death. He was interred at Bishopwearmouth Cemetery.

The site was later taken over by a partnership of Thomas Kish and Henry Boolds, from 1882 until 1884 before Doxford’s expanded their enterprise. The Kish family were already well-known shipowners, specialising in colliers on the North Sea trade. They later went into steamships and had their own chandlery, before eventually setting up this yard. Within the two years they constructed a respectable 15 vessels, all iron steamships, both for themselves and burgeoning steamship companies along the English coast and the Low Countries.

Their names, of course attached to the business, ended up in turmoil after an accusation of fraud and negligence on the Kish family after the wrecking of the steamship Furious, owned by the Port of London, in 1886. Though ultimately nothing was proved, the sheer fact of experiencing a Board of Trade enquiry left their reputation skinned, and a conclusion saw them to be “negligent” to abandon and lose the vessel, which formed the spine of the investigation. The firm ceased building just before, and the site ended up in the hands of Doxford.