Aitken and Lilburn - The Loch Line of Glasgow.

The company was started in 1867 by Wiliam Aitken and James Lilburn, who used the business methods of bygone years (visiting intending shippers daily and personally supervising the loading and dispatching of vessels) to great effect long after other had given up the practice. The Loch Line clippers were held up by seamen as examples of what well run and comfortable ships could and should be. The Line carried first, second and third class passengers The usual route was to load general cargo and passengers at Glasgow and then sail to Adelaide. The ships then sailed to Melbourne or Sydney where they loaded wool or grain, generally for London. Fares charged at the end of the 19th century were £40 to Melbourne, £42 to Sydney and £76 for a return trip.

Business commenced with the chartering of the Clan Ranald (eventually bought and renamed Loch Rannoch) the Ben Nevis and the Loch Awe - some 25 ships were added to the fleet over the next 30 years

In 1873 a second company, the General Shipping Co., was formed with a different group of investors, but also managed by Aitken and Lilburn. Originally, the Glasgow Shipping Co. was intended to serve Melbourne and the General Shipping Co. to serve Sydney but over time the two companies merged and were only distinguished for shareholding purposes. The company never changed to steamships but persisted with sail and from 1900 consistently ran at a financial loss. The ships usually managed one round voyage to Australia per year and half of this time was unprofitably spent in port, loading, unloading or waiting for cargoes. Experimental homeward voyages via San Francisco, South Africa and New Caledonia proved unprofitable, the service finally closed in 1911 and the remaining ships were sold.

Despite the excellence of the standard of maintenance of the fleet and the skill of the masters and crews, the 'Loch Line' had a reputation for misfortune, with no fewer than 14 of its 25 ships being wrecked or lost without trace. Some of the 'Loch Line' vessels were sadly more famous for the manner of their demise than for their careers. At the end, only 5 ships remained under the Loch Line flag - the Lochs Garry, Torridon, Broom, Etive, and Carron.

It should be noted that there were also in fact two other, arguably less famous, 'Loch Lines' - one based in Dundee and one in Liverpool - beware of confusion!

 

Loch Line (Aitken and Lilburn) ships:

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