# Houlder Line

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Former British shipping company

[House flag](/source/House_flag) used by Houlder Line

The first of four Houlder ships to be called *Oswestry Grange*. This one was a [refrigerated cargo ship](/source/Reefer_ship) built in 1902 and sold in 1912

**Houlder Line** was a number of related British shipping companies originally established by the Houlder brothers.[1]

## History

*Drayton Grange* in [Brisbane](/source/Brisbane). She was built for Houlder Brothers in 1901 and sold in 1912.

Houlder Brothers & Co was formed in London 1856 and operated in the market for chartered tonnage. In 1861 the company acquired the *Golden Horn*, which they used on the North Atlantic routes to the United States. The company later expanded to service routes to New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands.[1] From 1875 to 1880 the company worked with [John T. Arundel & Co.](/source/John_T._Arundel) in a [guano](/source/Guano) mining business on [Flint Island](/source/Flint_Island) in the [Pacific Ocean](/source/Pacific_Ocean). In 1881 the company entered the passenger and cargo trade to the [River Plate](/source/R%C3%ADo_de_la_Plata).[1]

In 1911 [Furness, Withy & Co Ltd](/source/Furness_Withy) bought a 50 per cent share in Houlder Brothers. By that date Houlder Brothers controlled a fleet of 19 ships via three subsidiaries: nine ships in Houlder Line Ltd, nine in the Empire Transport Company and one in the Oswestry Grange Steamchip Company.[2] In 1914 Houlder Brothers Ltd and Furness, Withy established a [joint venture](/source/Joint_venture), the Furness-Houlder Argentine Line.[3]

## Ship names

The second of two Houlder ships to be called *Urmston Grange*. She was built in 1942 as the [Empire ship](/source/Empire_ship) *Empire Pibroch*. Houlder Brothers bought and renamed her in 1946 and sold her in 1959.

From the 1890s onwards Houlder ships gave many of its ships names ending in *Grange*. The group re-used some of these names three or more times on successive ships: *Beacon Grange*, *Elstree Grange*, *Langton Grange*, *Oswestry Grange*, *Ovingdean Grange* and *Royston Grange*.[1] The first word in the ships name was usually an English village or town having an initial making up part of the company name: e.g. *[**H**ornby](/source/Hornby%2C_Hambleton) Grange*, *[**O**swestry](/source/Oswestry) Grange*, *[**U**pwey](/source/Upwey%2C_Dorset) Grange*, *[**L**angton](/source/Langton%2C_Lincolnshire) Grange*, *[**D**unster](/source/Dunster) Grange*, *[**E**lstree](/source/Elstree) Grange*. Until the [1972 disaster](/source/STV_Royston_Grange) *[**R**oyston](/source/Royston%2C_South_Yorkshire)* was traditionally used to supply the 'R' but after this *[**R**ipon](/source/Ripon)* was used.

## Losses

Houlder Line lost 12 ships in the [First World War](/source/World_War_I) and 11 in the [Second World War](/source/World_War_II).[4] Furness-Houlder Argentine Lines lost three ships in the Second World War: [*Canonesa*](/source/SS_Canonesa),[5][6] *Duquesa*[7] and [*El Argentino*](/source/MV_El_Argentino).[8] In 1917 [*British Transport*](/source/SS_British_Transport), from Houlder's Empire Transport Company subsidiary, became the first merchant ship to sink a [u-boat](/source/U-boat).[9]

In 1972 [STV *Royston Grange*](/source/SS_Royston_Grange_(1959)) collided with a [tanker](/source/Tanker_(ship)) in the [Río de la Plata](/source/R%C3%ADo_de_la_Plata). Both ships caught fire, killing all 74 people aboard *Royston Grange* and eight crew members on the tanker. *Royston Grange* was the [sister ship](/source/Sister_ship) of STV *Hardwick Grange*, which was transferred to [Shaw, Savill & Albion Line](/source/Shaw%2C_Savill_%26_Albion_Line) in 1975.[10]

## End of shipping operations

Houlder Line ceased shipping operations in 1987, when *Lord Kelvin* was sold to Norwegian buyers.[1]

The company continues as the independent engineering consultancy Houlder Ltd.[11]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Swiggum_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Swiggum_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Swiggum_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Swiggum_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Swiggum_1-4) Swiggum, Susan; Kohli, Marjorie (18 January 2006). ["Houlder Line / Alexander SS Co"](http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/houlder.shtml). *TheShipsList*. Retrieved 2 February 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBurrell199252_2-0)** [Burrell 1992](#CITEREFBurrell1992), p. 52.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Raeside, Rob. ["Furness Houlder Argentine Lines"](http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gb~hff.html#fhal). *Flags of the World*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Lettens, Jan; Racey, Carl. ["Houlder Bros. & Co. Ltd., Houlder Line, Empire Steam Nav, Empire Transport"](https://wrecksite.eu/ownerBuilderView.aspx?5861). *Wrecksite*. Retrieved 2 February 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Helgason, Guðmundur. ["SS Canonesa"](http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/543.html). *uboat.net*. Retrieved 21 January 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Purnell_6-0)** Purnell, Tom. ["Canonesa, Convoy HX72 & U-100"](https://canonesa.uk/). *canonesa.uk*. Retrieved 18 November 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Duquesa"](http://www.teesbuiltships.co.uk/view.php?year_built=&builder=&ref=167489&vessel=DUQUESA). *Tees Built Ships*. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 2 February 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["El Argentino"](http://clydeships.co.uk/view.php?year_built=&builder=&ref=6563&vessel=EL+ARGENTINO). *Scottish Built Ships*. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 2 February 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBurrell199273_9-0)** [Burrell 1992](#CITEREFBurrell1992), p. 73.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Hardwicke Grange"](http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/H-Ships/hardwickegrange1961.html). *Tyne Built Ships*. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 2 February 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Houlder"](https://houlderltd.com/).

## Bibliography

- Burrell, David (1992). *Furness Withy 1891–1991*. Kendal: [World Ship Society](/source/World_Ship_Society). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-905617-70-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-905617-70-3).

## External links

- ["Houlder Brothers and Co"](https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Houlder_Brothers_and_Co). *Grace's Guide to British Industrial History*.

- ["Houlder Line"](https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Houlder_Line). *Grace's Guide to British Industrial History*.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Houlder Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houlder_Line) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houlder_Line?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.