Rose s.s. 1363 Tons. Messrs. Alex. A. Laird & Co.
Chapter XII.
LAIRD LINE.
THE GLASGOW, DUBLIN, AND LONDONDERRY
STEAM PACKET CO., LTD.
This important company, which claims (on very strong evidence) to be the oldest steamship company in the world, was originated in 1814—two years after the launch of Bell’s Comet—by Mr. Lewis MacLellan and others. Its history is a most varied one, the several firms of Alex. A. Laird & Sons, Thos. Cameron & Co., and MacConnell & Laird, having become unified during its existence of nearly a century into the one large concern known throughout the kingdom as the “Laird Line.”
It has been the great pioneer of the steamship trade of the Clyde, not merely by reason of its long standing, but also because of the varied and extensive sphere of its operations.
The first steamer owned by the founder of the company was the Britannia, a small paddle-wheel steampacket, built, like all the vessels of her time, of wood.
The second steampacket was the Waterloo, built in 1816. A reference is made to both these steamers in the sixth chapter of the first part of this volume. They plied between the Bromielaw (Glasgow) and Greenock, Gourock, Rothesay, Tarbert, Lochgilphead, and Inverary. Even in these early days of steam navigation, it was the avowed policy of the manager of these steampackets to make all things subordinate to safety, and, in accordance with this policy, the masters of the steamers were instructed “not to contend with other boats so as to endanger the vessels, or alarm the passengers,” This sound policy, which has been continued by Mr. MacLellan’s successors to the present day, has, in large measure, contributed to the popularity and success of the firm.
It is interesting to note that over eighty years ago passenger season tickets were in force on the steampackets of this company. Those who are desirous of verifying this statement can do so by referring to the “Glasgow Chronicle” of the 23rd May, 1816, in which they will find the following advertisement:—
“The steampackets, Britannia and Waterloo, sail regularly from the Bromielaw to all the watering-places on both sides of the Clyde. Families wishing to agree for the season will learn the terms by applying to the masters on board, or to Mr. Lewis MacLellan, Gallowgate.”
The Britannia, in the year referred to, opened up for the first time, steam communication between Glasgow and Campbeltown, and in the early summer of 1820, she made her first trip from Glasgow to the Giant’s Causeway.