The Dominion Line was founded in 1870 as the Liverpool & Mississippi Steamship Co. In 1872 the name official name of the company was changed to Mississippi & Dominion Steamship Co Ltd. The sailings were advertised under the name "Dominion Line". In 1873 the line was represented in Norway by a general agent in Kristiania (Oslo) by the name of M. R. Raffel. He was authorized to convey emigrants by steamship via Hull - Liverpool to Quebec or New Orleans and to the final destination in America. The authorization was not renewed for 1874, and the line seams not to have been represented in Norway again before in 1880.
The agent from 1880 was J. Krantz of Kristiania. Authorization was to convey emigrants by steamship via Hull - Liverpool to Quebec or New Orleans and to the final destination in America. In Thorndheim the line was represented by head agent A. O. Helland from 1881.
In 1883 the line was represented by the following head agents in Scandinavia:
Joh. Krantz, Jernbanetorvet no. 11, Christiania (Kristiania - Oslo)
A. O. Hellan, Fjordgaten no. 10, Trondhjem (Trondheim)
Caspar Dreyer, Bergen
H. Hauge, Stavanger
J. E. Furo, Christiansund (Kristiansund N)
F. A. Nielsen, Christiansand (Kristiansand S)
J. E. Sørenson, Sillgatan No. 41, Göteborg
P. Christiansen, No. 7 Nyhavn, Kjøbenhavn (Copenhagen)
In Chicago the line was represented by O. Svenson, he was the general agent for the Western states. The main office was at 68 La Salle Street, Chicago. In the years from 1867 to 1871 O. Svenson was the general agent of the National Line in Kristiania. The great transatlantic companies had wide networks of agents all over Norway, and of course in America. An estimated 50% of the tickets used by Norwegian emigrants was prepaid in the USA.
Advertisement for the Dominion Line, from a 1883 booklet
The fleet in 1883 consisted of:
The S/S Vancouver - 5,700 Tons
The S/S Sarnia - 3,850 Tons
The S/S Montreal - 3,284 Tons
The S/S Dominion - 3,200 Tons
The S/S Texas - 2,700 Tons
The S/S Oregon - 3,850 Tons
The S/S Brooklyn - 3,600 Tons
The S/S Toronto - 3,284 Tons
The S/S Ontario - 3,176 Tons
The S/S Quebec - 2,700 Tons
The S/S Mississippi - 2,680 Tons
In 1894 Francis Bennett became the new general agent in Kristiania. To find out more about agents and routes you can go to our search page:
In 1902 the Dominion Line was absorbed by the International Mercantile Marine Co. From 1908 the service was operated under the name name "White Star-Dominion Line" and in 1926 it was renamed "White Star Line Canadian Service".
Articles:
The sinking of the Dominion Line steamship "Scotsman" in 1899 (The Saint John Globe 1899 - transcribed By Børge Solem 2004)
Eleven of the Scotsman's Passengers lost - WHILE LEAVING THE WRECKED STEAMSHIP - ALL WERE WOMEN AND CHILDREN. Vessel is a Total Loss - Particulars of the Disaster - Great Suffering Endured. A transcript from the Saint John Globe, bringing the story about the sinking of the Scotsman and the drowning of 11 passengers
Fin more images in the Dominion Line picture gallery
