Anchor Line

The Anchor Line was founded in 1856 as Handysides and Henderson, sailing Glasgow to New York and Glasgow to Quebec. The name used for the company in Norway when they entered the market about 1865, was "Anker Linien", or some times just noted in the sources as "Anker". By 1865 the Anchor Line was operating fortnightly service to New York and increased that to weekly and twice a week in the summer.

In 1869 the Anchor Line opened a route between Gotenborg - Christiania - Christiansand - Leith/Granton dock, Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland. The service was intended as a feeder service for the company's transatlantic service out of the port of Glasgow for New York. They were in sharp competition from the Allan Line, which had also opened a Scandinavian feeder service for their transatlantic passengers. However, at the same time it seams as if they were cooperating to some extent, as the Anchor Line agent in Trondhjem announced that the Anchor Line passengers would sail on the Allan Line feeders, S/S Norway, S/S Sweden and S/S Damascus to Newcastle on the first stage of the voyage. At the same time the Anchor line might have conveyed the Allan Line passengers on their feeders out of Kristiania. This relationship was not easy it seams, as the Trondhjem agents soon after started a newspaper campaign against each other. The ships used for the Scandinavian service was the S/S Scotia and the S/S Scandinavia. The first departure from Kristiania on this service was by the S/S Scandinavian on March 16th 1869, and the last departure was by the S/S Scotia on Oct. 5th 1872. The passengers were conveyed by train from Granton dock, Edinburgh, to Glasgow, a 2 hours journey. Steamships departed every Wednesday and Saturday according to newspaper announcements printed in Norwegian newspapers iun 1871.

The Scandinavian feeder service was not profitable and was discontinued. From then on the Anchor Line passengers were mainly conveyed on feeder ships operated by the Wilson Line via the port of Hull on their first stage of the voyage from Norway to America.

Routes on the Norway - Scotland service: - 1869 - 1870 - 1871 - 1872

Anchor Line announcement

The announcement for the Anchor Line Scandinavian service is from a 1869 booklet that was issued by the Henderson Brothers, general agents for the line. They were based in Christiania. The booklet gives information about intended sailings from Christiania every Tuesday after noon at 5 o'clock, calling at Christiansand on Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock. The ships would sail for Edinburgh and Glasgow, to connect up with the line's transatlantic steamers which would be leaving out of Glasgow for New York twice a week. For steerage accommodation from Christiania, Christiansand or Gotenburg to New York, the fee was 33 Speciedaler (about 39$), 2nd class accommodation was 42 Spd. (about 49$), and 1st class was between 75 and 85 Spd. Another announcement from a Norwegian newspaper in 1870.

The first general agent in Norway was David Aleksander Bruun Murray, (1869) as representative for Henderson Brothers of Glasgow. The authorization was to convey emigrants by steamship from Kristiania to Leith, from Leith by railway to Glasgow, and from there by steamship to New York, and to by railway to the final destination in America. In Trondhjem the first head agent was Hans L. Dahl (1868). In 1872 the general agency in Kristiania was taken over by James Grozier Herbertson, Agent for Henderson Bros., and on June 20th, 1874 the authorization was transferred to Just. O Møller. Olaf Rasch 1884 - 1900, Albert Raffel 1899 - 1900, Freberg & Kløcker 1902 - 1910, J K Freberg 1910 - 1914 and 1920 - 1921 (Anchor-Donaldson Line) , M R Raffel 1914 - 1925. They were based in Christiania (Kristiania - Oslo). There were agencies in other cities too, like in Trondheim. The head agent for the Anchor Line in Trondheim from 1868 to 1879 was L. H. Dahl. For more information check our list of Norwegian agents representing the Anchor Line.

Announcement card for the Anchor Line

See more pictures of steamships and announcements in the Anchor Line picture gallery