Tag Archives: legislation

In the UK, the Statute Law Repeals Bill is working its way through the House of Lords. You can download a PDF list of the bills being repealed. In amongst the turnpikes, Indian railways, benevolent institutions and lotteries, we find Part 4: Ireland (Dublin City). Within that, Group 1 sees the repeal of these statutes:

• 3 & 4 Will.4 c.cxv (1833) (City of Dublin Steam Packet Company Act)
• 6 & 7 Will.4 c.c (1836) (Dublin Steam Packet Act)
• City of Dublin Steam Packet Company’s Act 1860 (23 & 24 Vict. c.xcviii)
• City of Dublin Steam Packet Company’s (Consolidation of Shares) Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c.iii)
• City of Dublin Steam Packet Company’s Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c.xxx)
• City of Dublin Steam Packet Company’s Act 1876 (39 & 40 Vict. c.xi)
• City of Dublin Steam Packet Company’s Act 1884 (47 & 48 Vict. c.cxxx)
• City of Dublin Steam Packet Company’s Act 1895 (58 & 59 Vict. c.cxxiii)
• City of Dublin Steam Packet Company’s Act 1910 (10 Edw.7 & 1 Geo.5 c.vii)
• City of Dublin Steam Packet Company’s Act 1916 (6 & 7 Geo.5 c.viii)
• City of Dublin Steam Packet Company’s Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo.5 c.i).

In a Consultation Paper published in 2008, the Law Commission explained:

The City of Dublin Steam Packet Company was founded by Charles Wye Williams in 1822. From 24 January 1839, the Post Office contracted the company to run the mail service from Dublin to Holyhead. This service was later extended such that the company ran both the day and night service.

During the First World War the company suffered heavy losses, including the sinking of its ship the R.M.S. Leinster by a German submarine on 10 October 1918, resulting in a loss of over 500 lives. A further two ships were sunk during this period. The company never fully recovered from its wartime losses and, in 1924, an order for the winding-up of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company
was petitioned for and granted by the High Court at Dublin Castle.

In Ireland, the Statute Law Revision Act 2009 repealed the 1833 and 1836 Acts and the Statute Law Revision Act 2012 repealed all the rest — except the 1895 Act. I don’t know where to get a copy of that Act, so I don’t know why it was specifically retained. But, with that exception, it seems that the ghost of the CoDSPCo has been laid to rest.