Currie, Sir Donald

▪ British shipowner and politician

born , Sept. 17, 1825, Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scot.

died April 13, 1909, Sidmouth, Devonshire, Eng.

      shipowner and politician, founder of the Castle Line of steamers between England and South Africa, and later head of the amalgamated Union–Castle Line.

      After a number of years with the Cunard Steamship Line, Currie established the Castle Line of sailing ships between Liverpool and Calcutta in 1862 and, in 1872, the Castle Line to South Africa. From 1876 the South African mail contract was divided between the Castle and Union lines, until, after intense rivalry, they merged in 1900.

      Because of his intimate knowledge of South African conditions, Currie was entrusted by the British government with boundary negotiations in the Kimberley diamond fields and was also concerned with the restoration of the Transvaal to the Boers. Entering politics, he was returned to Parliament in 1880 as a Liberal member from Perthshire; from 1885 to 1900 he represented West Perthshire as a liberal Unionist. In 1881 he was knighted.

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