Canadian Australian Line

Backmark: Firmin London. 1931-1953.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate (NSW), 5th August 1931 page 8. Even though Huddart’s C-A Royal Mail Line Ltd was liqudated in 1898, the name remained in use by Union.

This shipping line was owned jointly by Canadian Pacific Railway Co. and Union Steam Ship Co. of N.Z. Ltd.  from 1931, with (apart from break during 1941-47 caused by WW2) the service continuing until 1953. The house flag, as seen on this button, harks back to the that of the Canadian Australian Steamship Co/Canadian-Australian Royal Mail Steam Ship Co (1893-1898) which Union had taken over in 1910. The letters ‘S’ and ‘Co’ have been dropped, leaving just the ‘C’ and ‘A’, but the design and colours remained the same.

For more on the earlier line, see

http://www.austbuttonhistory.com/9th-october-2020/

https://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/pdfs/bchf/bchq_1956_1.pdf

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