Williamson-Buchanan Steamers

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Captain William Buchanan , followed by his sons William, John and James, developed the largest private fleet of vessels on the Clyde. As a limited company from 1905, and after amalgamation with the fleet of captain John Williamson in 1919, the Buchanan name remained on the Clyde until the Second World War. Captains Buchanan and Williamson (Alex, senior) were the two main owners of PS Eagle from 1853 until 1862 when Captain Williamson established his own fleet. The Buchanan fleet expanded rapidly through the purchase of second hand vessels from other, often faltering, private owners. In later years vessels were purchased from the railway-owned steamer companies. New build was comparatively infrequent. The independent operators were not backed to the often excessive levels afforded to the railway steamers and their vessels were generally older and more spartan than their competitors. Nevertheless, these vessels could provide a cheap day out for the Glasgow day-tripper sailing directly from the Broomielaw in the city centre "all the way" to the Clyde resorts. John Williamson entered into private steamboat ownership in competition with his elder brothers James and Alex who managed the CSP and GSWR railway fleets respectively. Williamson was a partner in the Turbine Steamers Syndicate formed in 1901 to manage the revolutionary TS King Edward and remained as manager when the syndicate was incorporated as a limited company in 1902. In 1919 the fleet was merged with the Buchanan fleet to form Williamson-Buchanan Steamers Ltd, which ran in close coordination with Turbine Steamers Ltd. Williamson-Buchanan Steamers was the last remaining non-railway fleet but later became part of the Caledonian Steam Packet Company (CSP) in 1935. However, it was reconstituted as a separate CSP subsidiary in 1936 and operated as such until the Second World War. In 1933 the famous turbine steamer Queen Mary joined the fleet and remained on the Clyde until her withdrawal in 1977. After the Second World War, Williamson Buchanan Steamers was fully merged into the main CSP fleet and therefore ceased to exist as an independent identity.

        (c) The AJN Transport Britain Collection 2009                                                                                                                                                                                 A TRANSPORT BRITAIN WEBSITE