THE Southampton dockers strike of 1890 forms the backdrop of a new novel published this month.

The dispute which turned into a three-day riot plays an important part in Perry Scrimshaw's Rite of Passage, by debut author Chris Hannon.

Chris, who wrote the book as part of his masters degree in creative writing at Sussex University, was looking for a port setting for his story which also features a section in Argentina.

“Before I chose Southampton I knew nothing about the strike,” he said. “It’s a fascinating period in the city’s history.”

In Chris’s fictionalised account his teenage hero Perry causes the riot which was subdued by the fire brigade using hoses.

The Dockers were protesting at Royal Mail Steam packet Company’s refusal to grant a wage increase of 1d which other firms including the Southampton Dock company had agreed to.

This and the refusal of the employers to recognise the fledging Dockers’ Union prompted the strike which began on September 7.

“Blacklegs” from Portsmouth were brought in by train and they were attacked when they arrived at the station.

The mayor of Southampton requested help from the Home Office and troops were sent to the city, although never used, and gunboats patrolled the harbour.

The strike was called off on 15 September and the Southampton strikers were stabbed in the back by the London-based executives of the Dockers and Seamen's Unions who refused to declare the strike official or give strike pay. This lack of support fom high up led to the collapse of the Dockers’ Union in Southampton.

Chris research took him to the old wall and the area round Blue Angel Lane and Simnel Street which was an overcrowded slum at the end of the 19th century where many of the dock workers lived.

“To see it today you would have no idea it had been like that,” said Chris, who lives in Shoreham.

Chris explained that he chose 1890 as it was time of transition when steam was taking over from sail but many the ships criss-crossing the Atlantic were powered by both sail and engine.

He was inspired to set the middle section of the story in Argentina after spending some years teaching English in Buenos Aires.

“While I was there it was very depressed following the economic crash but in 1890 it was something of a boom town, one of the richest cities in the world,” said the 31-year-old who recently quit his job with BT to follow a full-time writing career.

Perry Scrimshaw's Rite of Passage is available from Amazon, priced £8.99 as paperback or £1.99 for the Kindle.