P & A Campbell

In 1854 he became master of the Gareloch steamboat Duchess of Argyle bought by two of his uncles, and developed a good public reputation as captain of successive ships as their fleet took on sailings from Kilmun on the Holy Loch.

In 1864 one was sold as a Confederate blockade runner; its replacement, Vivid, was built to run "in connection with the express trains on the Greenock Railway".

In 1888 the Campbells agreed to sell them two of their steamers as the nucleus of the Caledonian Steam Packet Company, along with the goodwill of the Kilmun business.

After Captain Bob died, Peter and Alexander Campbell moved their business to Bristol,[3] and set up the White Funnel fleet for coastal cruising.

[4] The company had a brief fling with high speed craft in the summer of 1963, using the experimental SR.N2 hovercraft as a ferry between Penarth and Weston-super-Mare.