Page 18 - Bulletin 21

15

The Shipping Rivalry (1876-1900): The Union Steamships Co. vs the Castle Mail

Packets Co.

The Union Steamership Co. (known as The Union Line) was founded by Arthur Anderson in
1853; The Castle Mail Packets Co. (known as The Castle Line) was founded by Donald

Currie (later Sir Donald) in 1862. These two companies became intense rivals in 1876 after
the Ocean Mail Contract was awarded by the Cape Government, on the basis of its being

shared jointly with the specific proviso that any form of amalgamation was forbidden. Each

company’s mailship arrived in Cape Town on alternate weeks.

Liners from both companies were extensively used by tens of thousands of passengers who

travelled to South Africa via Cape Town, The Gateway to Africa, especially during the
Diamond Rush of the 1870s and the Gold Rush of the 1890s.

In 1893 Sir Francis Evans, Chairman of the Union Line, made a significant move when he

leased the Grand Hotel from the Commercial Assurance Co. This hotel could now offer
luxury accommodation to his passengers, who were either visiting the Mother City or en

route to the north, and had an influential role in the decision about which Line to choose.

The Grand Hotel, originally Parke’s Hotel, was owned by William Mortimer Farmer from

1876 to 1891. In May 1891 he sold the hotel to the Commercial Assurance Co. who
demolished the building, and employed architect Charles Freeman to design the Grand Hotel.

Construction was completed in 1893. (Figs. 1.11 & 1.12.) This was a luxurious hotel of note

and embraced all Freeman’s art nouveau designs, including balconies, balustrades and
mouldings. The mouldings, which epitomised art nouveau architecture, included two statues

placed in niches in the facade facing Strand Street. One was of Bacchus, god of wine, and the
other Persephone, goddess of spring.

The hotel now gave the Union Line ‘the edge’ over her rivals. Sir Donald Currie, Chairman
of the Castle Mail Packets Co., was quick to react and realised that his company should

embark on a similar project. In 1893, the same year as the opening of the Grand Hotel, he
bought the site on which the Mount Nelson now stands from a Mr Hamilton Ross. This

included his home (built 1843) which was later demolished.