Collection GB 0064 SSS - Shaw Savill & Albion Co Ltd

Identity area

Reference code

GB 0064 SSS

Title

Shaw Savill & Albion Co Ltd

Date(s)

  • 1924-[1975] (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent and medium

100ft: 30m

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

From their first venture in 1858, Shaw and Savill specialized in the New Zealand trade. When they gained a share of the New Zealand Government contract for a regular mail, passenger and cargo service between the United Kingdom and New Zealand, they began operating a joint service with the White Star Line. In 1899 the White Star Line began a steamship service from Liverpool to Australia via the Cape and in 1905 Shaw Savill and the White Star Line acquired a further interest in the Australian trade when they became the major shareholders in the Aberdeen Line. The Royal Mail Group purchased the White Star Line in 1926 and in 1928 the Australian Government's Commonwealth Line which was then amalgamated with the Aberdeen Line to provide a fortnightly service from London to Australia via Suez and Colombo. The group also acquired the major shareholding in Shaw Savill in 1928, but after the group's collapse and the reorganization which followed this, Shaw Savill became part of the Furness Withy Group (q.v.) in 1933. In 1939 a new fast passenger and cargo service to New Zealand via the Cape and Australia was inaugurated. In the postwar period many of the new vessels were designed without accommodation for passengers, but in 1955 the SOUTHERN CROSS was built solely for passengers and with one-class accommodation to operate on a new round-the-world route. When she was joined by her sister ship the NORTHERN STAR they maintained eight round-the-world sailings a year until the decline in the passenger trade in the early 1970s.

Archival history

Most of the Company's records had been destroyed in the Second World War. When the Passenger Office in the Haymarket, London, was closed in 1975, its records were also deposited in the Museum.

GB 0064 SSS 1924-[1975] Collection 100ft: 30m Shaw Savill & Albion Co Ltd

From their first venture in 1858, Shaw and Savill specialized in the New Zealand trade. When they gained a share of the New Zealand Government contract for a regular mail, passenger and cargo service between the United Kingdom and New Zealand, they began operating a joint service with the White Star Line. In 1899 the White Star Line began a steamship service from Liverpool to Australia via the Cape and in 1905 Shaw Savill and the White Star Line acquired a further interest in the Australian trade when they became the major shareholders in the Aberdeen Line. The Royal Mail Group purchased the White Star Line in 1926 and in 1928 the Australian Government's Commonwealth Line which was then amalgamated with the Aberdeen Line to provide a fortnightly service from London to Australia via Suez and Colombo. The group also acquired the major shareholding in Shaw Savill in 1928, but after the group's collapse and the reorganization which followed this, Shaw Savill became part of the Furness Withy Group (q.v.) in 1933. In 1939 a new fast passenger and cargo service to New Zealand via the Cape and Australia was inaugurated. In the postwar period many of the new vessels were designed without accommodation for passengers, but in 1955 the SOUTHERN CROSS was built solely for passengers and with one-class accommodation to operate on a new round-the-world route. When she was joined by her sister ship the NORTHERN STAR they maintained eight round-the-world sailings a year until the decline in the passenger trade in the early 1970s.

Most of the Company's records had been destroyed in the Second World War. When the Passenger Office in the Haymarket, London, was closed in 1975, its records were also deposited in the Museum.

The records were donated by the Company in 1981.

Papers of Shaw Savill and Albion Co Ltd. The bulk of the correspondence files belong to the period 1947 to 1965, although the earliest paper is dated 1924. They are concerned with the building and trials of new vessels, ships in service, standard freight rates and routine instructions to masters. There are summaries of passage money and numbers of passengers, 1900 to 1946; analyses of passage money, outward, 1946 to 1960, 1970 to 1972; passage money, homeward, 1965 to 1968. the records cover chartered vessels as well as the Company's own ships. (Although there is some information about individual passengers, this is not a complete record of passengers carried: more comprehensive lists can be found in the passenger lists in the Board of Trade records at the Public Record Office.). In 1969 a series of refrigerator and engine logs, 1956 to 1962, were deposited as well as deck logs, 1944 to 1965.

Only a few examples of the deck logs have been retained to show the type and format of documents of the period.

Please contact the Archive for further information.

Please contact the Archive for further information.

English

Detailed catalogue online at the: National Maritime Museum website .

Edited by Sarah Drewery, Sep 2011.

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

2010-08-26 Enterprises Companies Shipping Transport companies Transport Vehicles Ships Maritime transport Water transport Shaw Savill & Albion Co Ltd

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

The records were donated by the Company in 1981.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Papers of Shaw Savill and Albion Co Ltd. The bulk of the correspondence files belong to the period 1947 to 1965, although the earliest paper is dated 1924. They are concerned with the building and trials of new vessels, ships in service, standard freight rates and routine instructions to masters. There are summaries of passage money and numbers of passengers, 1900 to 1946; analyses of passage money, outward, 1946 to 1960, 1970 to 1972; passage money, homeward, 1965 to 1968. the records cover chartered vessels as well as the Company's own ships. (Although there is some information about individual passengers, this is not a complete record of passengers carried: more comprehensive lists can be found in the passenger lists in the Board of Trade records at the Public Record Office.). In 1969 a series of refrigerator and engine logs, 1956 to 1962, were deposited as well as deck logs, 1944 to 1965.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Only a few examples of the deck logs have been retained to show the type and format of documents of the period.

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Please contact the Archive for further information.

Conditions governing reproduction

Please contact the Archive for further information.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Detailed catalogue online at the: National Maritime Museum website .

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

National Maritime Museum

Rules and/or conventions used

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area