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1861, so too were the traditional freight trades, with one experienced observer exclaiming that `Kingston was never so full of shipping and produce... even in the great for warding days of John Macpherson.'1 0 P RO M O T I O N Within a week of Hamilton's assignment the following advertisement was placed in several major newspapers calling for the sale or charter of the Passport, Kingston, and C ham pion: The Steamers are thoroughly found in all respects, and are now receiv ing their Customary Spring out-fit, and the Purchaser or Charterer would be charged with the cost thereof.... Tenders will be received up to the ninth of April next. 1 1 W ith the opening of navigation expected in less than six weeks the assignees had to begin the necessary prepara tions if they hoped to dispose of the vessels quickly. Their optimism was vindicated. The surviving American interest, the Ontario Steamboat Company, made an offer to charter the steamers,1 2 While the assignees' reactions are not recorded it is probable that they would have preferred to sell the vessels and wind up the estate im mediately. Of greater consequence may have been the fact that Clarke Hamilton was associated with a group of Cana dians who were promoting a new company to take over the Mail Line.1 3 Foremost among the promoters was Alexander Milloy, a native Scot who had been part of John Hamilton's Mon treal agency for twenty-one years. Although he had pur chased a small share of the Banshee, his first major en trepreneurial step was the acquisition of the M agnet in 1859. He had then run her between Quebec and the resorts on the lower St. Lawrence and Saguenay rivers. Now at age thirty-nine he was busy peddling stock subscriptions to capitalists along the Mail Line's route. 1 4 Discernible in the shadows behind Milloy, even at this stage, was one of the major figures in the Montreal business community, Hugh Allan. Although his first responsibility was to the Montreal Ocean Steamship Com pany (popularly known as the Allan Line), Allan was an active participant in a wide range of Montreal-based cor porations. In 1861 this would include the promotion of the M erchant's Bank, of which he would serve as president. Later moves would see him associated with an everwidening range of transportation, financial, communica tions and manufacturing firms. To Milloy's promotion Allan brought the prestige of a wealthy, successful ship ping magnate and critical contacts in the investment community.1 5 Also within Allan's grasp was something else the pro moters prized highly, an act of incorporation. Not for them ALEXANDER MILLOY (1822-C1899) At the age of 18 Milloy began work ing for John Hamilton's Montreal agent. He later took over the office, becoming secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Navigation Company and later traffic manager of the Richelieu and Ontario Navigation Com pany. He finally retired at age 76. (Metropolitan Toronto Library) would there be the insecurity of unlimited liability; they wanted to be incorporated. But in the few weeks left in which to tender for the purchase of Hamilton's steamers there was no time to secure an act from the Legislature. Allan, however, was a provisional director of the Canadian Inland Steam Navigation Company, which even though incorporated four years earlier had never run a vessel.1 6 If there were problems with that act, these could be cor rected when next Parliament met. In the interim the charter remained a godsend, allowing a regular board of directors to be elected by late April.1 7 Hamilton's assignees, prompted perhaps by the one of their number who would be elected to the new board, delayed their decision until it was legally possible to sell to the new firm. The Canadian Inland Steam Navigation Company represented an alliance between two principal groups. The first was composed of the steamboat captains and agents. Of the five captains in 1863, four were stockholders while the fifth, Thomas Harbottle, had helped to promote the company and served on the first board of directors. Be tween them the officers had purchased one quarter of the stock. The holdings of Alexander Milloy, the Montreal 5