The firm of T P Niven was founded in 1926. Below is a brief history of the firm up to the present day.

After returning from WW1, Thomas Paisley Niven worked at Dalbeattie quarry as a sett maker making granite setts (cobbles) that were used to pave the streets of many local towns and also those of major towns and cities, such as Liverpool, Manchester and London.
During the hardship of the general strike of 1926, he used his life savings to purchase a ‘ton Ford’ petrol lorry and the firm of T P Niven was born.

His first main contract was for the haulage of raw materials used in the manufacture of fertilizer from Palnackie harbour to Biggar’s mill in Dalbeattie. However, he was nothing if not versatile - one of his more macabre loads was the body of a man who had drowned at a local beach!

In 1927 the firm won a contract with Dalbeattie district farmers to collect milk from farms and deliver it to Dalbeattie creamery. At this point he purchased his second vehicle pictured below:

Following the creation of the Milk Marketing Board in 1933, which gave farmers a guaranteed price for milk, Tom continued to build the firm up specialising in the haulage of milk while also diversifying into timber and livestock.

Between 1920 and 1930 Tom and his wife had four children: eldest son Tom, followed by son James, daughter Doreen and youngest son John. Jim in particular took a keen interest in the business and started driving for his father at the age of 16 with only a motorbike licence – regulations were taken a little less seriously in those days!

The outbreak of WW2 presented many difficulties for the firm. Son Tom went to serve with the RASC in France, while Jim started service on a navy minesweeper in 1942.  During the war the MOT confiscated one of the firm’s vehicles but T P Niven fared a little better than many firms due to the nature of the work the firm carried out. The war years were very challenging however with a lack of spare parts and other resources.

After son Jim returned from WW2 service in 1946, Tom Snr went into partnership with son Jim, daughter Doreen and son John. Tom Jnr decided to pursue a career in farming, although he did return to become a partner in the family business in later life.

Tom Niven Snr died in 1948 and the business partnership continued with Jim at the helm and sister Doreen in charge of the administration. John, pictured below with the firm’s first modern milk tanker also played a significant role particularly in the milk haulage side of the business.

The firm expanded further in the 1960’s when they gained a large contract hauling panels for welding from Southall to the local Stelrad factory at Edingham near Dalbeattie.