The Allan Shipping Line was started in 1819, by Captain Alexander Allan of Saltcoats, Ayrshire, trading and transporting between Scotland and Montreal, a route which quickly became synonymous with the Allan Line. By the 1830s the company had offices in Glasgow, Liverpool and Montreal. All five of Captain Allan's sons were actively involved with the business, but it was his second son, Sir Hugh Allan, who spearheaded the second generation. In 1854, Hugh launched the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company as part of the Allan Line, and two years later ousted Samuel Cunard to take control of the Royal Mail contract between Britain and North America. By the 1880s, the Allan Line was the world's largest privately owned shipping concern.
In 1891, the company took over the State Line (founded 1872) and was often referred to as the Allan & State Line. In 1897, Andrew Allan amalgamated the various branches of the Allan shipping empire under one company, Allan Line Steamship Company Ltd., of Glasgow. The company by then had added offices in Boston and London. In 1917, under Sir Montagu Allan, who represented the third generation of the Allan family, the company was purchased by Canadian Pacific Steamships, and by the following year the Allan name had disappeared from commercial shipping.
Media
The 1970s British television series The Onedin Line (1971-1980) is a complex and veiled take on the Allan Line Family and their steamships.
Notable collisions
In 1891, the Allan Line steamer Carthaginian collided with the York River Line steamer Charlotte in the shipping channel at Baltimore, Maryland. Among those aboard the Carthaginian was the Danish-American composer Asger Hamerik. While both boats were damaged, neither sank.
In 1905, the Allan Line steamer Parisian was involved in a collision with the Albano off of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The owners of the Albano were found by the Exchequer Court of Canada to be fully at fault, according to Reports of Cases Relating to Maritime Law. The case was later appealed to Canada's supreme court.
List of steamships
The Allan Line fleet evolved over the course of decades, changing as new ships were added, lost at sea, sold, or scrapped:
SS Alsatian - later RMS Empress of France
SS America
SS Anglo Saxon
SS Assyrian
SS Austrian
SS Australasian (1857) SS Australasian (1901) SS Bavarian (1899) SS Bohemian SS Brazilian SS Buenos Ayrean SS Calgarian SS Californian SS Canadian (1854) SS Canadian (1859) SS Canadian (1872) SS Carthaginian SS Caspian SS Castilian SS Circassian SS City of Vienna SS City of Bombay SS Corean SS Corinthian SS Corsican SS Damascus SS Diamant SS European SS Gallia SS Germany SS Grampian SS Grecian SS Hanoverian SS Hesperian
SS Hesperian
SS Hibernian (1861) SS Hibernian (1888) SS Hibernian (1902) SS Hungarian (1859) SS Hungarian (1902) SS Huronian SS Indian SS Ionian SS John Bell SS Jura SS Lake Erie SS Laurentian SS Livonian SS Lucerne SS Manitoban SS Melita SS Mersey SS Mongolian SS Monte Videan SS Moravian
SS North American
SS North Briton
SS Norway
SS Norwegian (1861) SS Norwegian (1865) SS Nova Scotian SS Numidian SS Ontarian SS Orcardian SS Ottawa SS Palestine SS Parisian
SS Pretorian
SS Prussian
SS Peruvian
SS Phoenician
SS Polynesian
SS Pomeranian
SS Roacian
SS Roumanian
SS Saint Andrew
SS Saint David
SS Saint George
SS Saint Patrick
SS Samaritan
SS Sardinian
SS Scandinavian (1869) SS Scandinavian (1898)
SS Siberian (1946) SS Sicilian SS Southwark SS State of California SS State of Georgia SS State of Indiana SS State of Nebraska SS State of Nevada SS State of Pennsylvania SS Sweden SS Tainui SS Tower Hill SS Tunisian SS Turanian RMS Victorian RMS Virginian SS Waldensian
References
Bibliography
Appleton, Thomas E. (1974). Ravenscrag: The Allan Royal Mail Line. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. (cloth) "C.P.R. Gets Allan Line; Report Declared to be Correct in Spite of Official Denials," New York Times. August 17, 1910.