Casgliadau Arlein

Starboard broadside view of S.S. PEARL, c. 1948.

One of the best-known of all British coasting shipowners was William Robertson of Glasgow, whose company was known as the 'Gem Line' as a result of his naming his vessels after precious and semi-precious stones. His first steam coaster was the Agate of 1878; only eighteen years later the 678 gross ton Pearl (shown here) was built to his order at Glasgow. Robertsons remained in business as independent shipowners until 1970 when they were taken over by the Powell Duffryn subsidiary Stephenson Clarke of London.

Source: Shipping at Cardiff: Photographs from the Hansen Collection 1920-1975 by David Jenkins, 1993.

ss. PEARL (678gt) : Coaster, built 1896 by J. Shearer & Son, Glasgow (triple-expansion engine by Muir & Houston Ltd., Glasgow), for William Robertson’s "Gem Line" of Glasgow, for the general coasting trade around the British Isles and to the continent. She was broken up in 1950, after 54 years of service under one owner. (plimsollshipdata.org)