A shipyard was founded here by James Briggs by 1853, though registers do state a ship was built by him in 1839 at Pallion (this may be an error).

Records dictate a James Briggs was born in Sunderland in 1791 as a Presbyterian, though any details on his personal life are scant. This is apart from being the father to William Briggs, who also constructed ships in the middle of the 19th century.

There is a couple of locations in Pallion where Briggs' yard could have been, but given the relatively substantial output I have pinned it on the western edge of where Doxford's yard would be. This was a large open space near Pallion Hall, the birthplace of Swan and residence of George Short who also built ships here.

22 ships are documented to have been built here. These were a mix of standard rigged ships and screw steamers. The engine fitted ships were mostly gunboats for The Admiralty. The 1850s was an era of a great naval arms race, when new ships were built in large numbers across the country to the most modern spec. Sail was still used, but these smaller gunboats were efficient in short distances to protect the larger rigged vessels. This was around the time ironclads were first introduced, though Brigg's vessels were all timber.

Briggs ceased production in 1866 with his last known ship Bryn Ivor. This was a rigged Barque for GW Jones of Newport. Mr Briggs went into retirement for the last 15 years of his life, before dying on the 3rd May 1881 at London. He is listed here as a "former shipbuilder".