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The beginnings of Anchor
Line Ltd can be
seen in 1838 when two brothers, Nicol and Robert Handyside, established
themselves in Glasgow,
Scotland,
as shipbrokers and
merchants. They used chartered tonnage to trade with the Baltic and Russia.
At that
time Nicol was the Russian Consul in Glasgow.
The business operated under the name N & R Handyside & Co, and
in 1852
the name Anchor Line was used by them for the first time, but only as a
by-line
in an advertisement. Nevertheless, it was an indication of the
intention of the
Handysides to branch out into ship-owning on their own account. In the
same
year Thomas Henderson joined the business. He was one of four brothers
from
Pittenweem, Fife, Scotland, all master
mariners. He
had retired from the sea and had an ambition to establish steamship
routes from
the river Clyde to Canada
and the USA.
The business bought its
first ship from the
builders in 1854. In June 1855, Thomas Henderson became a full partner
and the
firm was renamed Handysides & Henderson. In 1856, one of the
company’s
clippers was converted to steam propulsion and sailed to New York,
realising Thomas Henderson’s dream
by opening the Atlantic service for the Anchor Line of steam packets,
with
Handysides & Henderson as managing owners. There was an
interruption to the
service for about two years from 1857 after the converted clipper was
lost and
two ships were chartered to take troops to India
to quell the Indian Mutiny.
Also in 1857, John Henderson, another of the brothers, joined
Handysides &
Henderson, while the other two, David and William, founded the
Finnieston
Steamship Works Co, Finneston, Glagsow, intending only to construct
steam
engines for converting sail to steam and for fitting to hulls built by
other
yards.
This firm became D & W
Henderson in when
shipbuilding commenced. In 1859, John Henderson was enrolled as a
partner in
Handysides & Henderson. The only rivals in the Glasgow to New York
trade
wound up, and the transatlantic service resumed with two ships, a third
ship
being added in 1860. In the early 1850s N & R Handyside & Co
had begun
managing the ships of the Glasgow & Lisbon Steam Packet Co. That
company
went out of business in 1863, and the trade was taken over by the
Anchor Line
of Peninsular & Mediterranean Steam Packets. At the end of 1863,
Nicol
Handyside retired and the name of the firm became Handyside &
Henderson. In
1865, the Anchor Line opened its own office in New
York
under the name Henderson Brothers, and sold tickets through more than
three
thousand ticket agencies throughout North America.
An office was also opened in Londonderry,
Ireland.
In
1869, Henderson Brothers opened offices at Liverpool,
England, and Dundee, Scotland.
A service from Naples, Italy, to New York begun.
In November 1869, the Suez
Canal opened and
this made India as
important
to the Anchor Line as America
now that the Far East was 4,000 miles
closer.
An Anchor vessel made the first British merchant ship journey,
southbound
through the canal, on the day following the opening. In 1872, the
Anchor Line
and D & W Henderson jointly bought the shipyard of Tod &
MacGregor,
Meadowside, Partick, Glasgow, to build the hulls into which the engines
from D
& W Henderson’s Finnieston works could be fitted. The Handyside
connection
was severed in 1873 with the retirement of Robert, and the Anchor Line
partnership consisted solely of the Henderson
brothers. They opened a Manchester
office in 1882. During the 1890s, all four Henderson brothers died. The firm
drifted due
to the lack of direction, and lost ground. In 1899, the name Anchor
Line
(Henderson Bros) Ltd came into being by the formation of a limited
liability
company. The Tod & MacGregor and D & W Henderson interests were
sold
off.
The Cunard Steamship Co Ltd
bought the whole
of the Ordinary shares of the Anchor Line (Henderson Bros) Ltd in 1911.
An
interchange of directors took place at Board level, and the livery was
changed
to match Cunard’s, but there was no change in the management of Anchor
Line. In
1912 Messrs T & J Brocklebank, a company based in Liverpool,
amalgamated
their Calcutta
service with the Anchor Line’s, thereafter running under the title the
Anchor-Brocklebank Line. In 1914 the company owned 13 ships, 7 of which
were
destroyed in the war. In 1916 a joint venture was set up by Anchor Line
and
Donaldson Brothers Ltd, another British shipping company, whereby
Anchor
Donaldson Ltd was incorporated to serve the Clyde–Canada route.
In May 1935, Anchor Line
(Henderson Bros)
Ltd went into liquidation as a result of world-wide trade depression
and
immigration restrictions imposed by the USA. Control passed to
Runciman (London)
Ltd, and the
company was incorporated anew as Anchor Line (1935) Ltd with Lord
Runciman as
chairman. The Brocklebank and Donaldson Lines bought themselves out of
the new
organisation and so Anchor-Donaldson and Anchor-Brocklebank ceased to
exist.
Cunard also had no link with the new company. Anchor Line (1935) Ltd
concentrated on New York
and Indian services. By 1937 the company name had been changed again to
Anchor
Line Ltd, although it was still controlled by Runciman (London) Ltd. At
the outbreak of World War II,
Anchor Line (1935) Ltd had nine ships and one on the stocks. Altogether
six of
these ten ships were lost.
In 1949, a controlling
interest was taken by
the United Molasses Company and by 1953 Anchor Line Ltd was their
wholly owned
subsidiary. Runciman (London)
Ltd were retained as managers. In 1960, Anchor Line Ltd and the Cunard
Steamship Co Ltd entered an agreement to provide a joint fortnightly
London–Le
Havre–Glasgow–USA service. In 1965, Moor Line Ltd of Newcastle-on-Tyne,
England
(managed by Walter Runciman & Co Ltd) acquired Anchor Line Ltd from
the
United Molasses Co. Viscount Runciman was chairman of both Moor Line
Ltd and
Anchor Line Ltd. In 1966 Moor Line Ltd purchased the managing company
Walter
Runciman & Co Ltd and decided to move their administrative offices
from Newcastle-on-Tyne, England
to Glasgow, Scotland and have the
management of
the two companies, Moor Line Ltd and Anchor Line Ltd, under one roof.
The final
passenger voyage to India
took place in 1966.
In 1968, Moor Line Ltd
changed its name to
Walter Runciman & Co Ltd and transferred the ownership of the
entire fleet
to Anchor Line Ship Management Ltd, a newly created company. Runciman
Shipping
Ltd was formed for the day-to-day management of all the vessels. In
that year,
Anchor Line Ltd gave up the Glasgow–USA trade, but became agents for
Cunard
Brocklebank Ltd, handling all Atlantic Container Line traffic from Scotland
and
providing ancillary shore services for containers. The base was at
Braeside,
Renfrew, Renfrewshire,
Scotland.
The Runciman Group
expanded again in 1969 with the acquisition of the Currie Line Ltd, of
Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland
and in 1972 Anchor Line Ltd acquired George Gibson & Co Ltd, also
of Leith.
In 1976, the Anchor Line
Company Ltd
structure was recast. It retained ownership of the vessels and had
responsibility for shipping policy. There were five operating
Divisions: Anchor
Line Eastern Services Ltd (concerned with Eastern commercial
activities);
Anchor Line Ship Management Ltd (handling the bulk carriers and any
managed
vessels); Currie Line Ltd (concerned with European services, mainly
with
chartered tonnage, warehousing and road haulage); George Gibson &
Co Ltd
(concerned with the gas tanker fleet); Runciman Shipping Ltd (dealing
with the
administration). Anchor Line Eastern Services Ltd, Anchor Line Ship
Management
Ltd and George Gibson & Co Ltd were all active in 2005. Anchor
became the
shipowning company for the group in 1976 and by 1986 all that remained
of the
company were five liquid gas carriers, technically owned by Gibson
& Co.
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