Black Bob (1853-1924) ran R P Houston & Co, a Liverpool shipping line.

He made serious money, allegedly from running 'coffin ships' and also
from shipping supplies to South Africa in anticipation that the Boer
War would last longer than predicted.

'Coffin ships' were overloaded and over-insured and I would like some
specifics about his coffin ship activities.

There's a tip in the offing for an informative answer.

I searched and really couldn't find much about it. Here's some
information about the ships owned by R P Houston:

http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/houston.html

Hi, Mosquitohawk

Many thanks for the list.

There doesn't seem to be anthing there to suggest that he was
deliberately running 'coffin ships'.

Anyway, thanks for looking.

If no one else comes up with anything within a few days, please post
that as an answer.

Thanks & regards

Bryan