Holm & Company

SHORT HISTORY OF HOLM & COMPANY

Ferdinand Holm arrived in Wellington in 1868 with a first mates certificate and obtained a position as bosun, then second mate on the Government paddle steamer Stuart. He married 2 years later and became a harbour pilot at Wellington but after a short period returned to sea in command of a number of small coastal sailing vessels. In 1876 he joined Union Company as a deck officer but by 1881 had purchased a half share in the barque Malay and 2 years later in 1882 owned that vessel outright. However it was never a great financial success taking timber to Australia and returning with coal.

In 1886 he acquired a partial interest in the barque Kentish Lass and was appointed master of that vessel but it was in 1889 that he purchased the barque Genevie M Tucker, a vessel that he had long admired. Because of her size this vessel was able to make more extended voyages to such places as Madagascar, Calcutta and Darwin. He took his family frequently on these voyages and they all subsequently became closely associated with the sea.

When he sold the Genevie M Tucker in 1900 he purchased the 728 ton barque Helen Denny. This vessel had made her name as an immigrant ship in the previous 30 years under the ownership of Patrick Henderson and later Shaw Savill. He intended using this ship in much the same way a Genevie M Tucker, with cargo and passengers but he also planned to reserve some accommodation for the training of apprentices. It was largely through the influence of Captain Ferdinand Holm that the government introduced the Amokura as a training ship.

Ferdinand Holm had a close association with the Maoriland Steamship Company which was founded in 1907 by Captains Hull and McArthur. Their first ship was the Ennerdale and followed in 1908 by the Torguaten but which was renamed Holmdale. In the same year Union Company purchased a share in the company and offered the vessel Taieri which was renamed Lauderdale. At this stage Holm sold his shares and in 1911 he purchased the steam ship John and a year later another sailing ship, the four masted barquentine, Titania of 1107 tons. At this time he was usually in command of Titania and his eldest son Sydney in command of Helen Denny and another son John was chief engineer of the John.

By 1917 the company only owned the one steamship John, the Helen Denny had been sold in 1912 and the Titania had been lost at New Caledonia in 1914. The John was a familiar vessel around the coast of NZ for 30 years and with a shallow draft had no trouble negotiating the smaller ports. 

Some of the vessels which Holm owned or had an interest in were registered to different companies, usually one ship companies. These included The John Ltd, Titania Ltd, Helen Denny Ltd and  Putiki Ltd.

Three of Ferdinand Holm's sons went to sea. Captain Sydney Holm passed his master's certificate when 21 years old and commanded all of the Holm ship but mainly the Helen Denny. After the death of Ferdinand in 1917 he managed the ship owning businesses. J. Herman Holm trained as a marine engineer and served on Holm ships and also as branch manager and as an engineer with other shipping companies. Captain Mariner Tucker Holm was master of all the Holm vessels from 1922 until 1937. He was later general secretary of Waterside Employers Association.  

In 1924 another steamer, the Progress, was added to the fleet. She had been built as a dredge at Port Chalmers in 1882 and was used by the Oamaru Harbour Board, in 1919 converted to a schooner for a short period and re-emerged as a steam ship in 1924. In 1931 she broke her tail shaft south of Wellington Harbour.

In the early 1920's, a group of prominent Dunedin businessmen including Charles Speight who owned a large brewery, Richard Hudson who was renown for his biscuits and  confectionery, John Shacklock who manufactured stoves and Robert Kay who ran a large flourmill at Oamaru convinced Keith Ramsay (Holm agent in Dunedin) and Sydney Holm to form the Wanganui Shipping Company to carry their products to the North Island. The steamship Kylebeg was purchased in Glasgow and after arrival in New Zealand renamed Holmdale, manned and managed by Holm & Company. This ship ran a weekly service between Dunedin and Wanganui calling at Oamaru, Timaru, Lyttelton, Wellington and Picton until 1957.

At about the time the Holmdale appeared Sydney Holm purchased the American four masted schooner Forest Home, renamed her Holmwood and used her to carry timber from Wanganui and New Plymouth to Australian ports returning with coal. Holmwood remained in this trade for a number of years.

Caesar Roose convinced Sydney Holm in 1927 of the advantages of using Port Waikato. Roose owned the shallow draft barges that took the cargo up the river to Hamilton. The Port Waikato bar was very treacherous and was always moving through shifting sands. This trade continued until 1947 when the bar became too dangerous to work.

When the Progress was lost the vessel Argus was purchased from German owners. She arrived in Wellington after a long delivery voyage and was renamed Holmglen. Some say she was the ugliest ship ever to be built although a good cargo carrier. She remained in service until 1951.

In 1936 Richardson Company's Parera was purchased and renamed Holmlea and remained in the Company until 1949.

 In 1938 the Port Whangarei chartered and was taken over by the United States Navy from 1942-1944. In 1944 she was purchased outright , renamed Holmburn and used on services to Norfolk, Raoul, Chatham and Campbell  Islands until she was sold in 1954.

A second Holmwood arrived in 1940 when the Tees was purchased although only 3 months later in November 1940 she was sunk by the German raider Komet when on a voyage from the Chatham Islands Lyttelton. All countries the crew and passengers were taken prisoners-of-war and were landed on the island of Emirau in the New Hebrides about one month later.

This Holmwood commenced an association with the Chatham Islands which was to last until the last ship in Holm & Company. After the loss of Holmwood,  the Port Waikato  was charted to continue the service which it did so until 1958.  A second Holmlea was purchased in 1951 and remained in service until 1968.

During the 1950's & 1960's Holm and Company experienced an unprecedented development. In 1952 the first vessel to be built for the Company was completed in Holland and named Holmwood. She was used on the South Island to Raglan trade which she remained for 16 years. In 1955 a second ship, Holmglen was built at the same yard.   A specially built ship to replace the Port Waikato was the Holmburn. She had passenger accommodation for 12 passengers and arrived in New Zealand in 1957 from the same yard and in 1961 the Holmdale. Three more ships were purchased second hand and renamed Holmbank, Holmbrae and Holmpark.

The ships which were formed into the Holm Shipping Company had before 1920 been owned by small companies of one ship each, usually partly owned by Ferdinand Holm. It was not until 1915 that they had shore establishments and employed agents at the various ports at which they called. In 1926 these companies joined with the Wanganui Shipping Company to form Holm Shipping Company. By this time the administration of the Company was in the hands of Captain Sydney Holm which it remained until 1952 when it was taken over by his son Captain John F Holm.

In 1930 the Union Steam Ship Company obtained a controlling interest in Holm and Company and in 1968, when the control of Richardson and Company and the Canterbury Steam Ship Company passed into the control of Holm and Company, it was part of the agreement that Holm Shipping Company would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Union Steam Ship Company. P & O severed its control of Union Company in 1972, when it passed into the hands of Thomas Nationwide Transport of Australia and New Zealand Maritime Holdings on a 50/50 basis. This agreement included Union Company subsidiaries including Holm Shipping Company and John Holm retired one month later. Like the majority of Union Company ships all of the Holm ships were sold within a couple of years.

Mention should be made of a small shipping company that Captain John Holm formed with a number of ex servicemen after the 2 World War. The money to form the Southern Cross Shipping Company came from rehabilitation loans to ex servicemen and they purchased the small motor ship Gael  in 1948 for treading between Wellington and Lyttelton. The company of John Holm Ltd was formed to act as managers, an acquired the agency of two other small New Zealand coastal trading ships, the Wakanui and Marlyn. This small firm was an immediate success and 18 months later amalgamated with larger firm of Holm & Company.

After the loss of the Gael in 1952 the Company purchased the former Richardson ship Koau and renamed Picton.