Union Company

This article is about a New Zealand company. For similarly named companies in other countries, see Union Steamship Company.

Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Limited
IndustryShipping, freight and passenger services
Founded1875
FounderJames Mills
Defunct2000
Headquarters
Dunedin (1875–1921)
Wellington
,
New Zealand
Head office, Water Street, Dunedin designed 1883
Five directors (back) of the Union Steam Ship Company in 1881, including John Richard Jones, John Cargill, and George McLean; David and James Mills in the foreground
Hawea run ashore at the entrance to the Grey River, 1908
Logo and monogram of the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand.
Logo and monogram of the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand

Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Limited was once the biggest shipping line in the southern hemisphere and New Zealand's largest private-sector employer. It was incorporated by James Mills in Dunedin in 1875 with the backing of a Scottish shipbuilder, Peter Denny.[1] Bought by shipping giant P&O around the time of World War I it was sold in 1972 to an Australasian consortium and closed at the end of the twentieth century.

  1. ^ McLean, Gavin (20 November 2013). "Mills, James". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.