Plimsoll, Samuel

Plimsoll, Samuel, 1824-98, English reformer. Plimsoll was particularly interested in the welfare of sailors. As a member of Parliament (1868-80) he secured legislation limiting the loading of ships. It required that a line be painted on the sides of all British merchant vessels to show the limit of submergence allowed by law. This line has come to be known as the Plimsoll mark or Plimsoll line. He wrote Our Seamen (1872).

(born Feb. 10, 1824, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Eng.—died June 3, 1898, Folkestone, Kent) British reformer. A London coal merchant, he served in Parliament (1868–80). With his book Our Seamen (1873), he helped overcome resistance to the Merchant Shipping Act, which instituted such reforms as the loading limit for cargo ships. A load line (the Plimsoll mark or line) was marked on the hull of every cargo ship, indicating the maximum depth to which the ship could be safely loaded.

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Plimsoll is a surname, and may refer to:

• James Plimsoll, a governor of Tasmania
• John Plimsoll, South African cricketer
• Oliver Plimsolls, fictional character in The League of Gentlemen (comedy)
• Samuel Plimsoll, British politician

Plimsoll may also refer to:

• the plimsoll symbol ⦵ (or o) that is used as a superscript in the notation of thermodynamics to indicate an arbitrarily chosen non-zero reference point ("standard state").
• Plimsoll line or Plimsoll mark on a ship's hull, named after Samuel Plimsoll
• Plimsoll shoe, which is named for the shoe's horizontal lines, which resemble the Plimsoll line