Anchor Line (steamship company)

The Anchor Line was a Scottish steamship company, from 1855 to 1980.

The Anchor Line shipping company grew from small beginnings in tandem with the River Clyde shipbuilding industry as the Glasgow river was transformed. During the era of nineteenth century rapid industrialisation the Clyde changed from a shallow meandering river into one of the industrialised world's greatest ports and a hub of shipbuilding and marine engineering expertise. From the 1880s until the 1940s the company was famous for its sleek ships and for the comfort it offered its travellers at a very affordable cost. While not as large or famous as Cunard or P & O, the Anchor Line built up a reputation for value and became well known for employing some of the finest marine artists of the day to create its beautiful posters. It also played on its Scottish roots and employed Scottish crew and cabin crew, advertising 'Scottish ships and Scottish crew for Scottish passengers'.

The company beginnings can be traced to 1855 when Captain Thomas Henderson from Fife became a partner in the shipping agent firm of N & R Handyside & Co, of Glasgow who operated a few sailing vessels. This resulted in the formation of the company Handysides & Henderson with the aim of establishing a New York service. Although at first they only operated to India under sail, in 1856 the company advertised it was to begin transatlantic sailings and the sailing ship Tempest was sent to Randolf and Elder, to have 150 horsepower compound steam engines installed In October of that year the first Anchor Line service to New York set sail. Unfortunately, the following year the Tempest was lost at sea!. She left New York, under the command of Captain James Morris on February 13, 1857 bound for Glasgow, but was never heard of again. Rumour has it that on board was only one passenger

After some initial struggles however, by 1866 the company was operating weekly sailings from Glasgow and had also initiated services to the Mediterranean, Calcutta and Bombay (once the Suez Canal had opened). In 1873, ownership of the company was completely transferred to the Henderson family, being Thomas, his brother John who had joined the company a few years earlier and their two other brothers, David and William. The brothers lost time in acquiring a shipyard at Meadowside and it operated under the name D & W Henderson 32 ships for the Anchor Line over several decades.

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