No web site would be complete without at least a summary of the history of the company which was founded by contract of co-partnery in 1826. Trading links by sea from Tayside have always been a vital part of the region's economy and DP&L has been a part of these links for 175 years.

DP&L is a direct descendant of an amalgamation of The Dundee & Perth Shipping Company and The Dundee & Perth Union Shipping Company who were fierce rivals on the important Dundee to London route.
The new company had a total of 23 vessels, 13 of which were principally employed on the London sailings whilst the others traded to Glasgow via Grangemouth, and the Forth & Clyde Canal, to Leith and to Liverpool.

The company's earliest venture into steamship ownership came in 1830 when delivery was taken of the wooden paddle tug "Sir William Wallace" and in 1833 orders were placed for two wooden paddle steamers from the famous Clydeside engineer, Robert Napier.
These were to be named "Dundee" and "Perth" and a shipbuilder's model of the paddle steamer "Perth," completed in 1834, remains in the company's offices to this day. These were the most luxurious and fastest steamers on the east coast and their Masters took great pleasure in outpacing their Leith and Aberdeen rivals.

Gradually the era of paddle steamers gave way to that of screw steamers and the company took delivery of its first, another "London," iron built and engineered by Napier in 1854.
Its successor, a larger "London," built in the Dundee yard of Gourlay Brothers proved to be one of the most successful vessels to fly the company flag, remaining with the fleet for 53 years and serving not only on the London run but also to St. Petersburg. In 1857 she sailed there loaded mainly with machinery and cured fish, returning with a memorable cargo of flax, tallow, caviar, cranberries and hams!
These early voyages demonstrated the possibilities of using a fast steamer on longer distance runs.

This was a period of expansion for the company and the old established Dundee & Hull Shipping Company was acquired in 1857. (This was the company who owned the "Forfarshire" which was wrecked off the Farne Islands giving rise to the heroic story of Grace Darling.)

The last two paddle steamers were replaced in 1861. Their replacements were often employed in the Mediterranean currant and fruit trades.
Also during this period a regular service to Hull from Dundee was undertaken.

The latter years of the 19th century proved to be a period of consolidation for the company with modernisation of the fleet continually taking place. During this time cabin ships with first and second class overnight accommodation were introduced and, as an example, the "Dundee" built in 1886 had berths for 65 first class and 60 second class passengers as well as 75 deck passengers! A triple expansion engine gave her a speed of 15 knots. Increased competition meant that passenger comfort was becoming more and more important. The company opened its own terminal at Dundee Wharf, Limehouse in 1901.

Up until the first war the company's four principal vessels maintained the London and Hull sailings more or less uneventfully carrying an increasing tonnage of jute products, although as bunkering requirements became greater a coal tender was ordered to bring coal from Tayport across to the ships' berth in Dundee. This arrangement was upset in 1912 when there was a miners' strike in the Fife coalfields.

DP&L was incorporated under the Companies Act in 1914 with a total capital of £280,000.

During the war years of 1914 – 1918 many of the company's ships were requisitioned, primarily as armed boarding steamers and convoy escort vessels. Undoubtedly the most distinguished action was seen by the "Dundee" (the fifth of the name) in March 1917 when, as an armed boarding steamer attached to the 10th Cruiser Squadron, she spotted a strange steamer off the Norwegian coast. This turned out to be the armed German raider "Leopard" masquerading as a neutral Norwegian vessel. Despite being heavily outgunned, the "Dundee" kept the imposter at bay for nearly four hours before the latter was sunk by HMS "Achilles".
When the war finished in November 1918 the company found itself with no vessels to maintain its sailings although with war loss compensation they were eventually able to obtain the release of four vessels from the Ministry of Shipping.

A further period of acquisition followed the first war with the purchase of the Dundee & Newcastle Steam Shipping Company and the Kirkcaldy Steamship Company Limited. Furthermore, the goodwill of Thomas Cowan's sailings from Leith and Dundee to Southampton and Treport was acquired. An attempt the by company to acquire the Aberdeen Steam Navigation Company failed in early 1920 after negotiations had been underway for 18 months. This would have given DP&L a virtual monopoly of the sailings between north east Scotland and London.

The scramble to find ships after the war had been successful; not only were the Dundee to London sailings being satisfactorily maintained but expansion saw routes to Lisbon, Seville, Antwerp and Barcelona being opened. A regular sailing between Aberdeen and Antwerp was also instituted.