Early Steamships in South Australia

EARLY STEAMSHIPS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 

[By A. T. Saunders.] 

31 March 1917

In "The English People Overseas," by A. Wyatt Trilby, 1912, vol. 5, under "Australia," is the following absurd statement on page 102 :— "On July 31, 1852, the first steam vessel made its way up Sydney Harbour." More than 10 years before this steamships had steamed from Port Adelaide, and on May 15, 1831, the steamship Sophia Jane had arrived in Sydney from London, whence she had sailed on December 16, 1830, via Pernambuco, and the Cape of Good Hope. She was commanded by Lieut. Edward Biddulph, R.N., and was built in 1826 by Barnes & Miller, pupils of the celebrated Watt. She was 126 ft. long, 20 ft. broad, 256 tons burden, and her engines were 50 horsepower. She had been built mainly for carrying passengers, and originally cost £8,000. Presumably she was a paddle steamer, as the screw was then practically unknown, and apparently she arrived under her own steam, for on June 12, 1831, she towed the Lady Harwood out of Sydney. Mrs. Biddulph and family were the only passengers by the Sophia Jane when she arrived in Sydney. 

—South Australia's First Steamer.— 

South Australia was not far behind in introducing steamers. Mr. W. S. Whitington was the moving spirit, and unfortunately for him, his steamship ventures were not personally profitable. There arrived in this State on August 19, 1840, the schooner Courier, 120 tons, Capt. Roach, from London ; passengers, Mrs. Roach and child and Mr. and Mrs. Forsyth ; cargo, 1 cow, 3 deer, 2 rams, 2 sows, 12 fowls, and various goods. This schooner was the steamer Courier after she was fitted up in Port Adelaide. Of course, she brought her engines on board with the other cargo. She was, I assume, a paddle boat, and was built of wood. She made a trial trip in the gulf, and was sent after the Ville-de-Bordeaux on Sunday, February, 13, 1841, but did not catch her. As a steamer she was a failure. The Courier's trial trip is recorded on January 8, 1841. On September 8, 1847, George Wyatt, of Adelaide, was to refit the Courier's engines. She was laid up for long periods, and was apparently ultimately broken up, but I cannot ascertain what became of her engines. 

On March 3, 1841, the ship Corsair arrived at Port Adelaide from London, having left there on October 10, 1840, and taken 153 days on the voyage. This vessel was also intended for a steamer, and had her engines on board, and Mr. Whitington was also connected with her. On March 13, 1841, it is mentioned that the Corsair's masts had been taken out, and on May 22, 1841, it is recorded that on Wednesday, May 19, 1841, the Corsair steamer, belong-ing to Port Adelaide, went outside the lightship and towed into port the Dumfries (457 tons) and the Lord Glenelg (368 tons) at the same time. 

In the Register, of August 2, 1877, is a note on towing in Port Adelaide by Mr. Jagoe, who mentions the towing of two vessels at the same time by the tugs in the 'forties, in contrast with what was done in 1877, when the Port River was deeper. The Lord Glenelg arrived on May 14, 1841, and brought Governor Grey, his wife, and child (which was born on board the Lord Glenelg, and died and was buried in Adelaide). The Lord Glenelg sailed for Moulmein on July 5, 1841, in charge of Capt. Pullen, who took command of her in Port Adelaide. 

Governor Gawler and his family sailed in the Dumfries from Port Adelaide. On May 24, 1841, the steamer Corsair (450 tons), Capt. Fox, left Port Adelaide for Melbourne and Launceston, taking Mrs. Fox, Dr. Byers, Mr. Charles Boucher, and 11 unnamed steerage passengers, and was not again in this State. She was a financial failure. 

The first steamship to arrive in this State under her own steam was the wooden paddle steamer Juno (650 tons), Capt. Kersopp. She arrived November 4, 1847, bringing E. L. and J. B. Montefiore and 53 other passengers, also 15 South Sea Islanders. She came via Boyd Town, Melbourne, and Portland, and ran for about 12 months; her voyages were financial failures. She was owned by the Royal Bank of Australia, with which Ben Boyd, of Boyd Town was connected. The Juno was sent to Manila for sale, but returned to Melbourne, and in 1853 was for sale there. She was built in Greenock in 1836, cylinder 57 in., stroke 68 in. paddies revolved 36 times per minute, and the working pressure of her boilers was only 8 lb. The Juno was 362 tons register, and was the largest of the 15 steamers registered in Sydney, according to the list of Sydney registered ships published in The Sydney Morning Herald, September 11, 1849. 

—The S.S. Adelaide.— 

The South Australian Government, in 1848, tried their hand at steamship owning and made a mess of it. They ordered a wooden steamtug to be built in England and to be sent here under sail. Accordingly, on March 7, 1849, the Adelaide arrived under sail, after a passage of 159 days, in charge of Capt. Forbes. The Adelaide was 75 tons, had double oscillating engines of 54 horse power, cylinders 30-in. diameter and 36-in. stroke, with an auxiliary engine, and a bunker capacity of 10 tons. A tubular boiler was put in her in 1854. On Monday, April 23, 1849, the Adelaide made her maiden tow, when she towed into Port Adelaide, the ship John Mitchell, of 650 tons. By 1856 the Government had enough of the Adelaide, and on September 1856, J. B. Neales sold her at auction to Joe Coleman, for £3,150, or less than half what she originally cost, viz., £6,491. In 1856 the competition of the Young Australian and Melbourne was too keen for a Government tug to live. The Adelaide was laid up for a long time, her engines were taken out, and for some years, she sailed as a schooner, George Coleman being master: but he became insane, and the Adelaide was wrecked about August 24, 1874 on the Coorong Beach. 

After the Juno ceased running in 1848, no steamship arrived at Port Adelaide until August 29, 1852, when the Royal Mail Company's Australian, 735 tons, arrived from Plymouth via the Cape of Good Hope. She was the first ocean steamship which arrived in South Australia, and she did not enter the Port Adelaide River. Her engines were 300 horse-power, cylinders 66-in. diameter, and 54-in. stroke. She was built, by Denny, of Dumbarton, was 240 ft. long, steamed 8½ knots, but could do 14 under sail and steam, and her engines were beam engines on the multiplied system. Presumably she was a screw steamer. 

On September 11, 1852, the next steamer arrived, viz., the P. & O. Chusan, screw boat, 750 tons, 100 horse-power, from Melbourne. Ben Germein piloted her to anchor at the North Arm. She was 214 ft. long, had direct-acting engines. 70 revolutions a minute, the screw was 9½ ft. in diameter, and the screw shaft 12 in. thick. She was armed with a movable 32 pounder, a long 18 on the poop, 12-pounders on the main deck, six swivel guns, and small arms. Until February, 1855, the P. & O. boats Chusan, which in December 1852, went up to Port Adelaide, Formosa, Shanghai, Madras, and Morna ran from Singapore to Sydney via Port Adelaide and Melbourne, but the service did not pay, and for some years Adelaide had to get her mails by sailing ships and via Melbourne. 

—The Lure of Gold.— 

Australian gold attracted many steamships to Australia from 1852 to1855, and in proportion to our population we were better served with steamers then than we were 30 years after. A large amount of money must have been lost by steamship owners in Australia from 1852 to 1858. The Royal Mail Steamship Company did not send another steamer after the Australian in 1854 for five years. Another company was formed, the Australian Royal Mail Company, and on November 3, 1852, the Sydney, of this line, arrived at the Semaphore from Plymouth. She was 1,500 tons, and was followed by the Melbourne, Adelaide, and Victoria, but apparently money was lost, and the steamers ceased to call at Adelaide. They were fine steamers for that time, and the Illustrated London News, July 31, 1853, had a picture of the Sydney. 

On December 9, 1852, the Cleopatra, 1,800 tons, 300 horsepower, full frigate rigged, arrived from London. She was taken to the North Arm anchorage by Pilot Germein, and brought £200,000 in specie, £40,000 of which was for Adelaide. The Illustrated London News of September 4, 1852, had a picture of her. Capt. Cadell took charge of her in Australia, and she ran from Adelaide to Melbourne for three or four trips, and then returned to England. A tragedy occurred in Port Adelaide on her first trip. The water boat Spec, loaded up with passengers and luggage from the Cleopatra at the North Arm, capsized, drowning three of the passengers— two men and a boy. 

On January 14, 1853, the first intercolonial steamer arrived, after the Juno in 1848, Phoenix, of 240 tons, from Melbourne. She ran a few trips and then dropped out of the trade. On January 31, 1853, the before-mentioned steamer Melbourne, 1,800 tons, arrived from London. Her crew mutinied on the voyage, one was killed, and she put into Lisbon. She brought 150,000 sovereigns, which seemed like taking coals to Newcastle. 

On April 2, 1853, the Queen of the Netherlands, 508 tons, arrived from King George's Sound after an extraordinary voyage, as recounted in The Register of April 3, 1853. This ship called in again on June 13, 1853, on her homeward voyage, bought some English coal from our Government, and steamed away, but soon came back, as the coal was no good. 

The Adelaide arrived from London on May 4, 1853. She was 2,200 tons. On July 23, 1853, the West Wind, 440 tons, 250 horse-power, arrived from Melbourne as an intercolonial trader. She ran until she was burnt in Melbourne in March, 1853. The Lady Augusta, built in Sydney for the Murray River trade, arrived at Port Elliot on August 10, 1853, in charge of Capt. Davidson, and a few days after was taken through the Murray Mouth. Capt. Davidson's eldest daughter, then a child, was on board the Lady Augusta; and was the first white female to enter the Murray from the sea in a steamboat. 

—More Disappointing Ventures.— 

Still other shipowners tried their luck on the Adelaide-Sydney line. On August 11, 1853, the screw steamer Antelope, 1,000 tons, arrived from Liverpool, and on December 21, 1854, from Sydney, and it was announced she and the Sir John Harvey were to run in conjunction; as they did for a few trips, and that finished them. 

On August 18, 1853, the Victoria, previously mentioned, arrived on her first trip. She was 1,130 tons, and 450 horsepower, and did the trip from England in 60 days, thus winning for the first time the £500 bonus which this State then paid to any vessel delivering the English mail under 68 days. 

Still another steamer had a try at the intercolonial trade. On August 30, 1853, the Osmanli arrived from Melbourne and ran till she knocked her brains out on Kangaroo Island in January, 1854. 

The first success in the intercolonial trade was the Havilah, 338 tons, 140 horsepower, rigged as a three-masted schooner. Capt MacMeikan. She arrived from Melbourne, October, 1853, and ran for many years in face of fierce opposition. She was built for the Adelaide-Melbourne trade. 

On December 27, 1853, the Royal Mail Company's Australian arrived for the second and last time from London. 

On January 7, 1854, and July 29, 1854, Sir John Harvey, a 500-ton steamer, built in Boston, America, arrived to run with the Antelope, but their owners soon had enough. 

On March 29, 1854, the Queen, of 200 tons, and 80 horsepower, arrived from Melbourne, ran a couple of trips, and dropped out. 

A wooden screw steamer the City of Norfolk, 572 tons, arrived from Melbourne on April 3, 1854, and one or two trips finished her. 

On April 24, 1854, the General Steam Navigation Company's steamer Bosphorus 500 tons, 150 horsepower, Bloomfield Douglas, commander, arrived from Southampton, and took up the run to Melbourne. She was an auxiliary and had been mentioned and her picture given in The Illustrated London News, September, 1840, and March 1851. The Bosphorus ran till November, 1854, when the Sydney and Melbourne Steam Navigation Company's Hellespont, which had arrived here on October 8, 1854, ran in opposition. They both arrived here on November 5, 1854, and November 18, 1854, when the Hellespont disappeared. In December, 1854, Capt. Bloomfield Douglas was made President of the Marine Department in Port Adelaide, and was in that position for about 15 years. The Bosphorus, under another captain, ran till June, 1855, and then gave it up. 

On September, 1854, the Manchester, of 300 tons, arrived from Melbourne, ran a couple of trips, and decided it was not good enough. 

—Dawn of Brighter Days.— 

In October, 1854, the ship Annie Forster arrived from England with the materials, engines, &c., of two iron paddle steamers for the Murray River trade. The vessels were put together in Port Adelaide, and named the Sturt and Leichhardt respectively. They ran for a few years, and in 1859 Capt. McCoy took the Leichhardt to Java, via Torres Straits, and sold her to the Dutch Government, and the Sturt was taken to New Zealand. 

On December 2, 1854, the screw steamer Champion, 170 tons, Lieut. Helpman master and owner, arrived from Plymouth. Capt. Helpman had sailed the Western Australian Government schooner Champion for some years previously. The Champion sailed for Melbourne December 20, 1854, collided with the steamer Melbourne in the gulf, and towed her to the Semaphore. The Melbourne ran for some years through the Murray Mouth and to Port Elliot. 

On February 10, 1855, the White Swan, Capt. McEwen, a new boat, 332 tons, arrived from Melbourne, and for some years ran to the Adelaide-Melbourne trade. She had direct acting engines. 

The London-built steamtug Young Australian, arrived from Melbourne June 19, 1854. She was stranded about Cape Northumberland few months after, was bought and re-floated by Coleman & Wells, Port Adelaide, towed in Port Adelaide for about 15 years, and ended her career in the Northern Territory. 

Capt. Cadell introduced the Iron Prince on August 12, 1854. She ran to Port Elliot, and was wrecked in February, 1855. 

On February 19, 1855, the Les-Trois-Amis, 28 tons, arrived from Melbourne, en route for Swan River. She was an iron screw vessel, was built in England, sailed to Melbourne, had iron wire rigging, high pressure engines, and steamed five knots. For some years she ran between Perth and Fremantle. In the Australian Shipping Register for 1878 appears the Les-Trois-Amis, wooden schooner, 43 tons, built in Kent in 1854, registered in Fremantle 1858, and in 1876 owned by Francis Cadell. This is apparently the ex-steamer, but the record says she was built of wood and not of iron, as the Adelaide papers said. 

On July 12, 1856, the Neptune, 84 tons, under sail from Melbourne to Dundee, put into Port Adelaide in distress. This vessel's career will show how Australia was over-steamered from 1852 to 1856. The Neptune arrived in Melbourne, lay there 18 months, and was sent back to her home port. She was built of iron, with direct acting 35-horsepower engine. She sailed from Adelaide for Dundee on August 23, 1856. 

On April 25, 1855, the Burra Burra, steamer, under sail, arrived in Adelaide from Liverpool. She was 400 tons and brig rigged, and was the first Adelaide-Melbourne steamer registered in Port Adelaide. After running for about four years she was sent to Java and sold to the Dutch Government for £6,500. George Hall; of Port Adelaide, and John Gladstone, of Stockwell Lodge, England, were her Adelaide registered owners. 

On July 24, 1885, the Australian Steam Navigation Company's Wonga Wonga, 730 tons, arrived from Guichen Bay, to which port she had brought 300 Chinese from Sydney at £4 per head. 

—Some Familiar Names.— 

On September 22, 1856, the Lady Bird, screw steamer (205 tons), Capt. F. Helpman, arrived from Melbourne. She was built by Denny, of Dumbarton, in 1851, was 75-horsepower, and was a frequent visitor afterwards. 

On July 23, 1857, the Corio, Capt. Ben Germein, arrived from the Goolwa. She was iron, 140 tons, and sister ship to the Ant. She was afterwards stranded near the Murray Mouth, sold to Coleman & Wells, who floated her, and ran her till 1859, when she sailed for Two-fold Bay and did not return. The Corio and Young Australian ran to Kangaroo Island to meet the English mail steamers in Nepean Bay for some time. 

On October 11, 1857, the Marion, Hansford Ward master, arrived from Melbourne. She was 124 tons, and was the first gulf steamer trading from Port Adelaide. She ran till she was wrecked near Cape Spencer, Friday, July 11, 1852. Dr. Jefferis was a passenger. 

On December 4, 1857, the Ant, Capt. Snewin, arrived from Melbourne, and ran to Guichen Bay for some years, until the Penola arrived, when Capt. Snewin took charge and left the Ant. 

On March 17, 1858, the Adelaide and Melbourne Steamship Company's steamer Admella (430 tons), Capt. H. McEwen, arrived under sail from Glasgow. She was fitted up in Port Adelaide, and ran to Melbourne till she was wrecked on August 6, 1859, near Cape Northumberland. In The Register of March 30, 1858, is a long description of her. She first cleared from Adelaide April 9, 1858. 

On March 17,1859, the Royal Mail liner Columbian (2,200 tons) arrived at the Semaphore from Suez with the English mail, and it was not till January 31, 1874, when the P. & O. Pera arrived at Glenelg, that we received the mails direct again by steamer. 

On September 11, 1859, the A.S.N. Company's Boomerang arrived from Sydney and ran a few trips. 

On October 19, 1859, the Shandon (115 tons) arrived from Melbourne for coal, she being bound round Cape Leeuwin. 

Purely Murray River boats I am not writing of, though some of them made trips to Port Adelaide. 

On October 31, 1859, the Omeo, John McLean master, arrived from Melbourne and took up the running, and the Havilah dropped out. The old Omeo had a long career. She opened up the Roper River under Capt. Calder, and after knocking over a light house or ship, had her engines taken out, was made a four-master, and ended, I fancy, as a Fremantle hulk. 

November 10, 1859, saw the arrival of the Maid of the Yarra, 96 tons, for the Port Elliot trade, and Capt. McCoy commanded her for some time, as did also Fletcher Ashton. 

The Lady Bird commenced to run to Melbourne in February, 1860, and ran for some time, and the Queen turned up on February 22, 1860. 

Joshua Brothers, of Melbourne, who were originally in Adelaide, put the Oscar, 459 tons, on the trade, and she ran for a couple of years or so from her first arrival—June 1, 1860. 

About 1860 the steamers ceased to call at Kangaroo Island for and with our mails; therefore the Balclutha arrived on September 24, 1860, and took our mails to King George's Sound; and this was continued for many years by the A.S.N. Company with the Wonga Wonga, City of Sydney, Rangatira, and Alexandra. 

—Precarious Trade.— 

On October 28, 1860, the Aldinga, 262 tons, arrived from Melbourne, and the Omeo went elsewhere. Not long afterwards the New Zealand diggings attracted the Aldinga; and the Havilah and White Swan again ran. 

On June 21, 1861, the Lubra arrived from Glasgow and took up the gulf trade, in which she continued for about 20 years, and was wrecked in Western Australia. 

The small screw steamer Murray arrived from Glasgow, July 30,1861, and ran in the coast trade, but she did not pay, and was sold to New Zealand, I think. 

Joe Coleman introduced the Prince Alfred, of 149 tons, but she was not a success, and disappeared. 

The Coorong, 304 tons, arrived on January 9, 1863. She was the first of our steamers to have a straight stem with-out a bowsprit. Intended for the gulf trade, she fell into the hands of McMeikan, Blackwood & Co., of Melbourne, and, with the Aldinga, made regular trips to Melbourne, and now and again the Omco, Gothenburg, Claud Hamilton, and Tararua of the same line visited Port Adelaide. 

The Penola, 262 tons, Capt. Snewin, arrived on February 10, 1864, and the Ant disappeared, and was lost off Barwon Heads in 1866. After running for about 20 years the Penola was made into the Perth, and was wrecked. 

In 1864, the Kangaroo arrived, and in 1895 the Royal Shepherd, and with the Lubra were the original fleet of the Spencer's Gulf Steamship Company. 

On November 14, 1863, the enterprising Joe Coleman imported from Melbourne the schooner Letty, and made her a paddle tug, and on February 8, 1864, she did her first tow, taking the Contest down the river. Like many of Joe's ventures, she was a failure as a tug, and on July 22, 1865, she was a sailing schooner again. 

The steamer Goolwa arrived on July 7, 1864, under sail, and the Eleanor arrived on September 12, 1864, also under sail. The former was a failure and was sold to Newcastle. The Eleanor was a success, and is at present in Port Adelaide. I have now dealt with all the old steamers. 

The Francis Cadell, Moolgewanke, Gundagai, and Settler were Murray River boats, but the Settler was sent to Brisbane, and the Francis Cadell also, I think. The Moolgewanke ran to Port Gawler, commanded by S. R. Wilson, who was afterwards captain of Block 14, Broken Hill. 

In The Register, October 17, 1871, and October 19, 1871, are articles on our old steamers. Portonians have thrice attempted to build and engine steamers, and failed. Michael Boquey in 1871 built the Young Galatea, Capt. Dale in 1873 built the Broughton, and Mr. C. A. Brown in 1876 built the Eliza, but the engines were taken out of the whole three, and they became sailers. 

From the experience of this State from 1840 with steamers it can be seen that only at great cost and through many failures steam navigation succeeded.

"Steam in the Southern Pacific," by Will Lawson, 1909, is good reading, but there are many errors and omissions. "Early Australian Steamers," by A. B. Portus, 1905, is good, but there are some errors and omissions even in it.