Statute Law Repeals - Law Commission - Ministry of Justice

4.5 In 1836 the packet company needed six additional vessels to navigate the now
improved Shannon. The Dublin Steam Packet Act 1836 6 provided authorisation to
vire a portion of the share capital retrospectively for this expansion, but also
specifically precluded the company from becoming land-based carriers.
4.6 By 1860 the company had contracted with two railway companies in England and
Wales to provide a further four steam vessels to carry mail and passengers
across the Irish Sea. 7 This, however, required more capital. The City of Dublin
Steam Packet Company’s Act 1860 8 enabled the company to issue more shares
so that it could repay loans to the London and North Western Railway Company
(LNWR) and to the Dublin and Liverpool Steam Ship Building Company, and
retrospectively incorporated the packet company. 9 The 1860 Act was followed
shortly by the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company’s (Consolidation of Shares)
Act 1861 10 which was designed to consolidate the company’s paid-up shares into
a single capital stock.
4.7 By 1867 the company had accrued a full contingency fund for replacement
vessels, but had not had cause to draw upon it. The City of Dublin Steam Packet
Company’s Act 1868 11 authorised the company to reinvest the fund in the ship
building company’s redeemable shares. That investment base gradually needed
widening, and the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company’s Act 1876 12
empowered the company to invest in debenture stock of any UK railway
company.
4.8 In 1883 the company entered into a second government contract (for 12 years
duration) to carry the mails by sea from Holyhead to Kingstown. The operation
necessitated the extension of the then Railway and Canal Traffic Acts to the
steam vessels and their passengers and parcels. This was achieved by the City
of Dublin Steam Packet Company’s Act 1884, 13 which also authorised the setting
of tariff charges for passenger and luggage carriage. Come 1895 a third contract
was required (for 20 years and serviced by new vessels) which necessitated
continued application of the Traffic Acts. The City of Dublin Steam Packet
Company’s Act 1895 14 effected the continuation, extended the company’s
borrowing power, and provided for the creation of a sinking fund.
6 6 & 7 Will.4 c.c (1836) (“The 1836 Act”).
7 In January 1859 the packet company and the LNWR had entered into a contract with the
Postmaster-General to carry the Anglo-Irish mails.
8 23 & 24 Vict. c.xcviii (1860) (“The 1860 Act”).
9
Incorporation was back-dated to July 1833, in line with the original 1833 Act: the 1860 Act,
s 2.
10 24 & 25 Vict. c.iii (1861).
11 31 & 32 Vict. c.xxx (1868).
12 39 & 40 Vict. c.xi (1876).
13 47 & 48 Vict. c.cxxx (1884).
14 58 & 59 Vict. c.cxxiii (1895).
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