Ravenscrag: The Allan Royal Mail Line

Ravenscrag: The Allan Royal Mail Line - Thomas E. Appleton. GGA Image ID # 779888dc49

 

The front cover shows the brig Favourite, off Greenock with Roseneath in the background. It is reproduced from a painting attributed to Robert Salmon (1775-1852), by permission of Richard Allan, Moreton-in-the-Marsh.

Ravenscrag is the story of the Allans, and of the line of sail and steamships which dominated the Canadian Atlantic routes for nearly a century, changing the course of Canadian history.

Beginning with the patriarch Sandy Allan, the story follows his five sons through emigration to Canada and the founding of the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company, the Allan Line. The story climaxes when Sir Hugh Allan makes a bid to control the proposed Canada Pacific Railway Company, which would have thrown a web of steel and steam "from sea to sea," and halfway round the world.

In the ensuing political crisis, Macdonald's government falls and the history of the CPR and the Allan Line diverge until the line is bought by Canadian Pacific.

A story of Atlantic trade under sail, of shipwrecks and storms, of iron screw steamers with black smoke and sooty rigging, Ravenscrag captures the flavour of the times when many thousands of families emigrated to Canada, many of them under the Allan flag.

It also makes clear the many links with Scottish life preserved by the sail and steam ships. Extensively researched on both side of the Atlantic, the book contains a complete nautical catalogue of all Allan ships, with a full selection of photographs, many published for the first time. The whole forms a readable and exciting portrait of shipping at one of the most interesting and important eras in Canada's history.

CONTENTS

• Acknowledgements vi
• Frontispiece viii
• Prologue Ravenscrag 9
• One The Ayrshire Allans 17
• Two Square Sail to Quebec 29
• Three The Montreal Ocean Steamship Company 46
• Four Denny of Dumbarton 70
• Five The Dangers of the Sea 83
• Six The Railway Rumpus 103
• Seven The Blessings of the Land 120
• Eight Twenty Knots to Canada 132
• Nine High Noon 148
• Ten Indian Summer 161
• Epilogue Allan Memorial 172
• Appendices 186
• Appendix I 188
• Appendix II 189
• Appendix III 190
• Appendix IV 193
• Bibliography 214
• Index 218
  

Ravenscrag is the story of the Allans and of the great line of sail and steam ships which bore their name, dominating the Canadian Atlantic routes for more than a century and making a major contribution to Canadian history.

MCCLELLAND AND STEWART LIMITED
THE CANADIAN PUBLISHERS
0-7710-0720-5

Author: Thomas E. Appleton
Title: Ravenscrag: The Allan Royal Mail Line
Edition:
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 169
ISBN: 0-7710-0720-5
DCN: 387.5'06'57'1
Publisher: McClelland and Stewart Limited
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Pub. Date: © 1974
Language: English
Subjects:
Description:
Notes: Ex-Library
Size:
Dust Jacket: Yes
Synopsis: Ravenscrag is the story of the Allans and of the great line of sail and steam ships which bore their name, dominating the Canadian Atlantic routes for more than a century and making a major contribution to Canadian history.

Library of Congress Catalogue Listing

Personal name	Appleton, Thomas E.
Main title	Ravenscrag : the Allan Royal Mail Line / Thomas E. Appleton.
Published/Created	Toronto : McClelland and Stewart, [1974]

Description

• 222 p., [8] leaves of plates : ill.; 24 cm.

ISBN

• 0771007205

LC classification (full)

• HE945.A37 A66

LC classification (partial)

• HE945.A37

Subjects

• Allan Line Steamship Co.--History.
• Shipping--Canada--History.

Notes

• Includes index.
• Bibliography: p. 214-217.

LCCN

• 75505815

Dewey class no.

• 387.5/06/571

Geographic area code

• n-cn---

National bib no.

• C***

Type of material

• Book