Ravenscrag: The Allan Royal Mail Line
Front Cover, Ravenscrag: The Allan Royal Mail Line by Thomas E. Appleton, 1974. GGA Image ID # 779888dc49
On the Front Cover
The brig Favorite, 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.
Synopsis
Ravenscrag is the story of the Allans and of the great line of sail and steamships which bore their name, dominating the Canadian Atlantic routes for more than a century and making a major contribution to Canadian history. Twelve Pages of Black & White Photographs Follow Page 160.
Back Cover, Ravenscrag: The Allan Royal Mail Line by Thomas E. Appleton, 1974. GGA Image ID # 202899e0b8
On the Back Cover
The back cover shows the RMS Parisian, from an advertisement of 1881, by permission of Miss Ishbel D. Crawford, Glasgow.
From the Inside DJ Flaps
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 bids to control the proposed Canada Pacific Railway Company, which would have thrown a web of steel and steam "from sea to sea" and halfway around the world.
Macdonald's government fell in the ensuing political crisis, and the history of the CPR and the Allan Line diverged until Canadian Pacific bought the line.
Ravenscrag is a story of Atlantic trade under sail, of shipwrecks and storms, of iron screw steamers with black smoke and sooty rigging; Ravenscrag captures the flavor of the times when many thousands of families emigrated to Canada, many of them under the Allan flag.
It also clarifies the many links with Scottish life preserved by the sail and steamships. Extensively researched on both sides of the Atlantic, the book contains a complete nautical catalog of all Allan ships, with a full selection of photographs, many published for the first time.
The whole forms a readable and exciting shipping portrait of one of Canada's most interesting and important eras.
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
About the Author
Thomas E. Appleton, a marine historian with Canada's Ministry of Transport, has had a lot of experience in the world of ships and shipping. A lifelong student of Marine history, he started his career as an apprentice in the merchant service.
He spent the war years as an RNVR officer in command of minesweepers and escort ships. He later served for six years on the active list of the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve.
Since joining the Department in 1960, Mr. Appleton has traveled widely on various administrative and operational assignments. He has conducted extensive research on both sides of the Atlantic for Ravenscrag.
A professional engineer and a member of the Engineering Institute of Canada, he brings the full range of technical knowledge to bear on his subject. His first book, Usque Ad Mare, is a history of the Canadian Coast Guard and Marine Services.
Allan Line Ships Featured in Ravenscrag
Sailing Ships
- Abeona
- Albion
- Ardmillan I
- Ardmillan II
- Anglesea
- Blonde
- Brilliant
- Britannia
- Brunette
- Cairngorm
- Caledonia
- Canada
- Catherine
- Cherokee
- Chippewa
- City of Montreal
- City of Toronto
- Dunbritton
- Favourite I
- Favourite II
- Florence
- Glasgow
- Glenbervie
- Glencairn I
- Glencairn II
- Glendaruel
- Glenfinnart
- Gleniffer
- Glenmorag
- Harlequin
- Iona
- Jean
- Marion
- Medora
- Minerva
- Mohawk
- Montreal
- Ottawa
- Pericles
- Polly
- Pomona
- Ravenscrag
- Romsdal
- Staffa
- St. Lawrence
- Saint Patrick
- Strathblane
- Strathearn
- Thailia
- Thistle
Steamships
- Alsatian
- America
- Anglo-Saxon
- Assyrian
- Australasian
- Austrian
- Bavarian
- Belgian
- Bohemian
- Brazilian
- Buenos Ayrean
- Calgarian
- Californian
- Canadian I
- Canadian II
- Canadian III
- Carthaginian
- Caspian
- Castilian
- Circassian
- Corean
- Corinthian I
- Corinthian II
- Corsican
- Damascus
- European
- Gallia
- Germany
- Grampian
- Grecian
- Hanoverian
- Hesperian
- Hibernian
- Hungarian
- Huronian
- Indian
- Ionian
- Jura
- John Bell
- Lake Erie
- Laurentian
- Livonian
- Lucerne
- Manitoban
- Mongolian
- Monte Videan
- Moravian
- Nestorian
- North American
- Nort Briton
- Norwegian I
- Norwegian II
- Nova Scotian
- Numidian
- Ontarian
- Palestine
- Parisian
- Peruvian
- Phoenician
- Polynesian
- Pomeranian
- Pretorian
- Prussian
- Rosarian
- Roumanian
- Saint Andrew
- Saint David
- Saint Patrick
- Sarmatian
- Sardinian
- Scandinavian I
- Scandinavian II
- Scotian
- Siberian
- Sicilian
- State of California
- State of Georgia
- State of Indiana
- State of Nebraska
- State of Nevada
- Sweden
- Tainui
- Tunisian
- Turanian
- Victorian
- Virginian
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: HE945.A37 A66
- LC Subjects: Allan Line Steamship Co.--History. Shipping--Canada--History.
- Notes: Includes Chronology of the Allan Line. Allan Line Fleet List, index, and 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
