Early Life and Career
Currie was born in Greenock, Scotland. However, he spent his school days in Belfast at the Belfast Academy and later at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and at a very early age he was employed in the office of a shipowner in that port.
At the age of eighteen he left Scotland for Liverpool, where shipping business offered more scope. By a fortunate chance he attracted the notice of the chief partner in the newly started Cunard steamship line, who found him a post in that company. In 1849 the Cunard Company started a service between Le Havre and Liverpool to connect with their transatlantic service. Currie was appointed Cunard's agent at Havre and Paris, and secured for his firm a large share of the freight traffic between France and the United States. In about 1856 he returned to Liverpool and held an important position at the Cunard Company's headquarters.
In 1862 he determined to strike out for himself and, leaving the Cunard Company, established the Castle Shipping Line of sailing-ships between Liverpool and Calcutta. Business prospered and 1864 Currie found it profitable to substitute Liverpool for London. He not only made the capital the home port for his vessels, but also settled in London. The London ship repair yards of the Castle Shipping Line, under the trading name of Donald Currie & Co., were founded on the banks of the River Lea, on the opposite bank from Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.
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