The Inman Line
Ten years after the Cunard Company was established the late Mr. William Inman, in conjunction with Richardson Brothers, of Belfast, founded a line of steamers to Philadelphia. Their first steamer was the “City of Glasgow.” They shortly after made New York their headquarters in America. Mr. Inman’s policy was to cultivate the emigration trade, which had hitherto been carried by sailing ships; in this he was very successful, and the Inman Line, which existed for nearly forty years, will be remembered as containing some very fine and fast ships. The last ship Mr. Inman built, the “City of Rome,” was certainly the handsomest ship entering the Port. Mr. Inman died in 1881 comparatively young. He was an excellent public-spirited citizen, always ready and willing to help forward any good cause. We saw much of him at Windermere, where he loved to spend his holidays, and owned quite a flotilla of craft on the lake. Before he died the pride of place on the Atlantic had, however, been wrested from his hands by the more enterprising White Star Company. The Inman steamers passed into the hands of the Inman and International Steamship Company, under the direction of the late Mr. James Spence and Mr. Edmund Taylor, and eventually drifted to Southampton, and the old Inman Line, loved by Liverpool people for their handsome ships with their overhanging stems and long graceful lines, is now only a memory.