Messrs. James Little & Co., in conjunction with the Midland and Furness Railways, established, in 1867, a service of mail, passengers and cargo steamers between Barrow and Belfast.

For the conduct of the business connected with this service, Messrs. Little opened a branch office in Belfast, and, as they had also started the Barrow to Douglas trade that same year, they opened an office in Barrow. The first steamers employed on the Barrow and Belfast station were the paddle-steamers Roe, Talbot, and Shelburne. In 1870 a larger and faster paddle-steamer, the Antrim, was added to the fleet.

The service is now maintained by the swift and powerful Royal Mail Steamships City of Belfast, Duchess of Devonshire, Manx Queen or Londonderry. The Duchess of Devonshire has already been briefly described. Her sister vessel in the service, the City of Belfast, is slightly smaller. Her gross register tonnage is 1,055 tons.

These powerful steamers leave Belfast every evening at 8-30, Irish time, and arrive in Barrow about 6 o’clock on the following morning, in time to connect with the early morning Midland trains to all parts of England and Scotland. The steamers leave Barrow daily (Sundays excepted) on arrival of the through trains from London, Bristol, Leeds, &c., that is about 8-30 p.m., and arrive in Belfast about 5-30 the following morning (Irish time).

In 1873 Messrs. Little opened a branch office in Glasgow, and in 1883 one in Liverpool. In addition to the mail and other steamship services on the West Coast of Britain, Messrs. James Little & Co. have a regular service of steamers from London to Terneuzen, in Holland, and for the efficient working of this service they, in conjunction with Mr. J. W. Johnston, opened an office in London in 1886, the name and address of the London firm being Little & Johnston, 46, Leadenhall Street, who also have a sub-office in Terneuzen.

They have also several ocean steamers, not built for any special trade, but of large carrying capacity, under the management of their Glasgow house.

The fleet of this firm at the present date (1903) consists of fourteen full-powered steamships, having a gross registered tonnage of 25,279 tons, and named as follows:—

Ann Webster792tons gross.
Ariadne292”
Borderer2983”
Border Knight3730”
City of Belfast1055”
Duchess of Devonshire1265”
Duchess of Buccleuch804”
Halling777”
Hermiston4383”
Indianapolis2464”
Londonderry736”
Manx Queen989”
Riverdale4206”
River Lagan803”
25,279

Duchess of Buccleuch. James Little & Co.