In early February 1907 the S.S. Fifeshire arrived at Victoria Docks in London with cargo from Australia and discharged:
“10,024 carcases of mutton, 11,824 carcases of lambs, and 395 cases of meat sundries from Melbourne, also 15,269 carcases of lamb and 163 cases of meat sundries from Geelong.” Mr Peppard, Agent-General, reported to the Government that “The Melbourne and Geelong long meats were discharged hard frozen. Some ‘Polar’ lambs were slightly affected with grass seed, while mostly all marks included some misshapen flanks.”
Herald, 3 April 1907
Built in 1898 as a ‘new meat-carrying steamer’ for the ‘trade between England and the colonies’, it replaced a smaller steamer with the same name. By 1907 the triple expansion steam liner, was also transporting people for the Federal-Houlder-Shire line.
In Liverpool, Captain Pilkington counted 219 passengers on the 3709 foot ship, who were heading for Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton and Port Chalmers:
Two passengers on board when the Fifeshire set sail on Saturday 30 March 1907, were auctioneer James Charteris (listed as 38, he was around 42 years of age), and his eldest son James, a 16 year old clerk. Their view of the city slightly different than from today – the Port of Liverpool Building was a few months away from completion, and construction on the Royal Liver Building wouldn’t start until the following year.
Although both James’ were born in Scotland, they were noted in the ‘English’ column, rather than ‘Scotch’.
The Federal-Houlder-Shire Line route at that time was often Scotland or England to ‘Las Palmas – Cape Town – Adelaide – Melbourne – Sydney – Auckland – Wellington – Lyttleton – Port Chalmers’, but this journey was ‘direct’. By Friday 26 April they had reached Cape Town, and a private cablegram to the papers confirmed that it was continuing on to Auckland.
Kenneth Britten hand-built a model of the S.S. Fifeshire, at a scale of 1:260
Three days before reaching New Zealand ‘a somewhat exciting incident occurred’ at latitude 16.44 north, and longitude 17.35 west, as they came across the steam yacht Galinette of Marseilles, that had:
“broken away from the vessel which was towing her. The Fifeshire took the yacht in tow, but it had to be abandoned after a few hours, owing to being in a sinking condition.”
Sydney Morning Herald and also Telegraph, 27 May 1907
After 55 days sailing around the world, the Fifeshire reached Queen-street Wharf, Auckland at 6.30pm.
After 1000 tons of general cargo had been unloaded, it was a few more days on board for James and James to reach Wellington on 3 June 1907.
Amongst the 2400 tons of cargo unloaded at Wellington was:
“about fifty tones of material for the Taranaki Oil and Freehold Company…[completing] the company’s equipment. Boring was begun at the property on Carrington Road this week. We are informed that the machinery is running smoothly and satisfactorily.”
Taranaki Herald, 8 June 1907
The following year the rest of the Charteris family would join ‘Mr Charteris and the Boy Preacher’ in Auckland.
The SS Fifeshire would become part of the Scottish Shire Line, and in 1911 was abandoned south of Cape Guardafui, Somalia, after stranding in bad weather, with the loss of 24 people from one of the lifeboats.
References
Auckland Star. (1907, May 25). Shipping. The Fifeshire. p. 4. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19070525.2.13
Auckland Star. (1907, May 25). Arrival of immigrants. p. 5. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19070525.2.37
British and Commonwealth Shipping Company Register. (n.d.). Fifeshire (3) QLJW. bandcstaffregister.com/page4511.html
Britten, Kenneth. (n.d.). SS ‘Fifeshire’ built in 1887 by Swan & Hunter, Newcastle. Scale 1:260 [Cased ship model]. rafaelosonaauction.com/antiques/2023-auctions/august-6-2023/contemporary-cased-ship-model-of-the-s-s-fifeshire/
Colonist. (1898, October 25). Launch of steamer. p. 3. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TC18981025.2.18.7
Daily Commercial News and Shipping List. (1907, April 2). Shipping Review. Federal-Houlder-Shire and Bucknall Lines. p. 4. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/158819949
Daily Commercial News and Shipping List. (1907, May 27). Telegraphic and cable news. New Zealand shipping. p. 4. trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/158815862
Evening Post. (1898, October 20). Another big Shire Line steamer. Launch of the new Fifeshire. p. 5. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP18981020.2.40
Fielding Star. (1907, May 27). Arrived. Auckland, Saturday. p. 3. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/FS19070527.2.21.2
Fielding Star. (1907, June 4). Port of Wellington. June. Arrived. Monday, June 3. Fifeshire, s.s. p. 3. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/FS19070604.2.21.1
Herald. (1907, April 3). Victoria products in London. p. 3. trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/242562948
Marlborough Express. (1898, October 22). Launch of the new Fifeshire. p. 2. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MEX18981022.2.13.1
Nelson Evening Mail. (1907, May 27). An abandoned yacht. p. 4. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NEM19070527.2.51
New Zealand Herald. (1907, May 21). Port of Auckland. Expected arrivals. Liverpool. p. 4. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19070521.2.13.1
New Zealand Herald. (1907, May 21). Port of Auckland. Arrivals May 25. Fifeshire. p. 4. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19070527.2.15.1
New Zealand Herald. (1907, May 27). An ocean mystery. A steam yacht adrift. Picked up by the Fifeshire. p. 5. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19070527.2.27
New Zealand Herald. (1907, May 28). Shipping. Port of Auckland. Vessels in Harbour. p. 4. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19070528.2.14
New Zealand Herald. (1907, May 29). Commercial. p. 5. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19070529.2.12
Passenger list for Fifeshire arriving Wellington. 1907, May 27. CHARTERIS, James and CHARTERIS, James. Passenger Lists, 1839-1974. Archives New Zealand, Wellington. familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q245-H45F.
Passenger list for Fifeshire departing Liverpool for New Zealand. 1907 Mar 30. CHARTERIS, Jas and Jas. Collection: UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960. Image 509. ancestry.com/search/collections/2997/records/48405268
Press. (1907, May 25). Telegraph notice board. p. 11). paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19070525.2.82
Southland Times. (1907, May 20). Shipping. Shire line. p. 1. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST19070520.2.2.2
Sydney Morning Herald. (1907, April 4). The Fifeshire leaves Liverpool. p. 8. trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14865403
Sydney Morning Herald. (1907, April 9). Federal-Houlder-Shire Bucknall Lines. p. 6. trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14855315
Sydney Morning Herald. (1907, April 23). Federal-Houlder-Shire Bucknall Lines. p. 8. trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14839770
Sydney Morning Herald. (1907, April 30). The Fifeshire leaves Capetown. p. 8. trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14832923
Sydney Morning Herald. (1907, May 27). Steamer derelict. p. 8. trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14860337
Sydney Morning Herald. (1907, May 28). Federal-Houlder-Shire Bucknall Lines. p. 8. trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14839998
Sydney Morning Herald. (1907, June 4). Federal-Houlder-Shire Bucknall Lines. p. 6. trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14851352
Taranaki Herald. (1907, June 8). Petroleum. p. 4. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TH19070608.2.22
Telegraph. (1907, May 27). Yacht Galinette. p. 8. trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/175945790
Thames Advertiser. (1898, October 21). Cablegrams. p. 2. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THA18981021.2.18
Watson, Brian. (2025). Federal Steam Navigation Co. Benjidog Historical Research Resources: TheShipsList. benjidog.co.uk/TheShipsList/Federal.php
Other resources
De Lacy, Charles John. (1906). F-H-S Lines Australia and New Zealand [Poster]. Eph-E-SHIP-1906-01. https://natlib.govt.nz/records/43067115
Examiner. (1907, April 6). Shipping. Arrivals and departures. p. 7. trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/45807937
Otago Daily Times. (1907, June 20). The S.S. Fifeshire. p. 10. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19070620.2.101.2
Sydney Morning Herald. (1907, June 11). Federal-Houlder-Shire Bucknall Lines. p. 8. trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14835910
Sydney Morning Herald. (1907, June 25). Federal-Houlder-Shire Bucknall Lines. p. 8. trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14844359
Wairarapa Daily Times. (1907, June 3). Tools for all trades [Advertisement]. p. 3. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WDT19070603.2.12.3
Wanganui Herald. (1907, May 28). Sailing vessels. p. 4. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WH19070528.2.20.5
Williams, William. (1890s). The SS Fifeshire and other ships berthed at Port Chalmers [Negative]. Reference: 1/1-025516-G. Alexander Turnbull Library. natlib.govt.nz/records/22433460
