British Mail Steamers to South America, 1851-1965: A History of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and Royal Mail Lines

269 Pages·2014·2.459 MB·English

by  Robert E. Forrester

British Mail steaMers to south aMerica,
1851–1965
Modern economic and social history series
General editor: Derek h. aldcroft
titles in this series include:
British Conservatism and Trade Unionism, 1945–1964
Peter Dorey
The International Order of Asia in the 1930s and 1950s
edited by shigeru akita and Nicholas J. White
Personal Capitalism and Corporate Governance
British Manufacturing in the First Half of the Twentieth Century
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A Decent Provision
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Commerce and Culture
Nineteenth-Century Business Elites
edited by robert lee
The Eclipse of ‘Elegant Economy’
The Impact of the Second World War on Attitudes to Personal Finance in Britain
Martin cohen
The American Reaper
Harvesting Networks and Technology, 1830–1910
Gordon M. Winder
Land, Proto-Industry and Population in Catalonia, c. 1680–1829
An Alternative Transition to Capitalism?
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The Making of a World Trading Power
The European Economic Community (EEC) in the GATT Kennedy Round
Negotiations (1963–67)
lucia coppolaro
Eastern European Railways in Transition
Nineteenth to Twenty-first Centuries
edited by ralf roth and henry Jacolin
British Mail steamers to south
america, 1851–1965
a history of the royal Mail steam Packet company
and royal Mail lines
roBert e. Forrester
First published 2014 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © 2014 Robert E. Forrester.
robert e. Forrester has asserted his right under the copyright, Designs and Patents act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only
for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
a catalogue record for this book is available from the British library
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Forrester, robert e.
British Mail steamers to south america, 1851–1965: a history of the royal Mail
steam Packet company and royal Mail lines / by robert e. Forrester.
pages cm. – (Modern economic and social history)
includes bibliographical references and index.
1.royal Mail steam Packet company – history. 2. Postal service – Great Britain –
history – 19th century. 3. Postal service – Great Britain – history – 20th century.
4.Mail steamers – Great Britain – history – 19th century. 5. Mail steamers – Great
Britain – history – 20th century. i. title.
he6935.F67 2014
383’.142098–dc23 2013035958
isBN 978-1-472-41661-2 (hbk)
Contents
General Editor’s Preface vii
List of Illustrations ix
List of Tables xi
Preface xiii
1 1840: The West Indies Mail Contract 1
2 1851: Across the South Atlantic 11
3 A Decade of Contrasting Fortunes 43
4 The Second Epoch 57
5 Difficult Trading Conditions 71
6 A Period of Uncertainty 83
7 Focus on South America 107
8 The First World War and its Aftermath 129
9 Post-war Downturn and Collapse 145
10 Royal Mail Lines Ltd 159
11 The War Years, 1939–45 171
12 Post-war Recovery 177
13 The End of the Line 193
Appendix: The Fleet List, 1850–1965 221
Bibliography 229
Index 235
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Modern Economic and Social
History Series
General Editor’s Preface
Economic and social history has been a flourishing subject of scholarly study during
recent decades. Not only has the volume of literature increased enormously but the
range of interest in time, space and subject matter has broadened considerably
so that today there are many sub-branches of the subject which have developed
considerable status in their own right.
One of the aims of this series is to encourage the publication of scholarly
monographs on any aspect of modern economic and social history. The
geographical coverage is world-wide and contributions on the non-British themes
will be especially welcome. While emphasis will be placed on works embodying
original research, it is also intended that the series should provide the opportunity
to publish studies of a more general thematic nature which offer a reappraisal or
critical analysis of major issues of debate.
Derek H. Aldcroft
University of Leicester
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List of Illustrations
2.1 Advertisement in the press for first sailing on
9 January 1851 18
2.2 Thames (1841). From T.A. Bushell, Royal Mail, 1839–1939
(Trade and Travel Publications Ltd, London, 1939) 24
3.1 Great Western (1838). From T.A. Bushell, Royal Mail,
1839–1939 (Trade and Travel Publications Ltd, London, 1939) 46
4.1 Elbe (1870). J & M Clarkson Collection 69
5.1 Magdalena (1889). J & M Clarkson Collection 79
6.1 La Plata (1896). J & M Clarkson Collection 98
7.1 Alcantara (1914). J & M Clarkson Collection 125
9.1 Alcantara (1926). J & M Clarkson Collection 149
10.1 Highland Chieftain (1929). J & M Clarkson Collection 168
12.1 Andes (1939). J & M Clarkson Collection 185
13.1 Arlanza (1960). J & M Clarkson Collection 203