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EARLY STEAMSHIPS ON THE MERSEY, 1815-1820. By Arthur C. Wardle, M.I.Ex. Read 25 April, 1940. T HERE is a tantalising paucity of evidence con- cerning the first steamers employed on the River Mersey. As early as May, 1800, the Gentleman's Magazine announced that a resident of Liverpool intended con- structing " a ship to sail by force of steam," and elsewhere it is stated that a steam-barge, the Pluto, was in use on the river in 1813, but the first practical employment of steamers in local waters did not occur until 1815 three years after the Comet commenced to ply on the River Clyde. The first Mersey-owned steamers are not recorded in the registers preserved at the Liverpool Custom House, and presumably the Registrar of that day considered a steamship to be such a novelty as to hesitate to enter her in the records. Contemporary local newspapers afford little assistance to the maritime historian, for news of the arrival of the first steamer in the river is so obscured by bulletins regarding the Waterloo campaign that her name is not even mentioned. On May 19, 1815, the Liverpool Mercury contained the following paragraph : STEAM BOAT ON THE MERSEY. We understand an Iron Boat is now constructing for our River, to be navigated by steam ; it is intended to ply between Liverpool and Runcorn. Seven weeks later, the same newspaper announced that " a beautiful Iron pleasure boat has arrived here." It is to be regretted that evidence of the name and size of this steamer is not forthcoming, and in view of the

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Page 1: EARLY STEAMSHIPS ON THE MERSEY, 1815-1820. · Liverpool-Runcorn service, until offered for sale in December, 1818, while lying in Wallasey Pool. In 1821, she is recorded at the Liverpool

EARLY STEAMSHIPS ON THE MERSEY, 1815-1820.

By Arthur C. Wardle, M.I.Ex.

Read 25 April, 1940.

THERE is a tantalising paucity of evidence con­ cerning the first steamers employed on the River

Mersey. As early as May, 1800, the Gentleman's Magazine announced that a resident of Liverpool intended con­ structing " a ship to sail by force of steam," and elsewhere it is stated that a steam-barge, the Pluto, was in use on the river in 1813, but the first practical employment of steamers in local waters did not occur until 1815 three years after the Comet commenced to ply on the River Clyde.

The first Mersey-owned steamers are not recorded in the registers preserved at the Liverpool Custom House, and presumably the Registrar of that day considered a steamship to be such a novelty as to hesitate to enter her in the records. Contemporary local newspapers afford little assistance to the maritime historian, for news of the arrival of the first steamer in the river is so obscured by bulletins regarding the Waterloo campaign that her name is not even mentioned. On May 19, 1815, the Liverpool Mercury contained the following paragraph :

STEAM BOAT ON THE MERSEY.We understand an Iron Boat is now constructing for our

River, to be navigated by steam ; it is intended to ply between Liverpool and Runcorn.

Seven weeks later, the same newspaper announced that " a beautiful Iron pleasure boat has arrived here." It is to be regretted that evidence of the name and size of this steamer is not forthcoming, and in view of the

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86 Early Steamships on the Mersey, 1815-1820.

controversy as to which was the first iron ship built on the Mersey, it would seem desirable that an effort should be made to trace her.

Meanwhile, Liverpolitans had been enabled to witness practical steam navigation, an event recorded by the Courier of July 5th, 1815 :

LIVERPOOL STEAM PACKET.On Wednesday last, about noon, the public curiosity was

considerably excited by the arrival of the first Steam Boat ever seen on our River. She came from the Clyde, and on her passage called at Ramsay, in the Isle of Man, which place she left early on the same morning. We believe she is intended to ply between this port and Runcorn ; or even occasionally as far as Warrington. Her cabin will contain about one hundred passengers.

A similar reference is contained in other Liverpool newspapers of that week, but each omits to name the vessel. She was the steamship Elizabeth, built by John Wood, at Port Glasgow, in 1812, and engined by John Thompson. 1 She is said to be the first steamer ever fitted with marine engines, those of the Comet not having been made expressly for that vessel. The Elizabeth measured 58 feet 9 inches length, 12 feet breadth, 7 feet 9 inches depth, and had a draft of 3 feet 9 inches. She had plied for a time on the Clyde, until purchased by Lieutenant Colin Watson, a young officer of the East Yorkshire Militia, stationed at Liverpool, who had witnessed steam­ ship operation in Scotland and determined to introduce it to the Mersey. Aided by his cousin, a young naval officer named Hargrave, and a boy, Watson brought the Elizabeth to Liverpool, a voyage best described in the words of his diary :

Fridav, June 2nd. Left Clyde and bro' up in Lamlash, Isle ofArran. Dreadful storm all night.

Saturday, 3rd. Still in Lamlash.

1 This was a wooden vessel, therefore presumably not the " iron boat" previously mentioned.

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Early Steamships on the Mersey, 1815-1820. 87

Sunday, 4th. Left at about i o'clock, and after undergoing great peril reach'd Port Patrick the same night 12 o'clock. Detained here by accident but principally the want of money till

Saturday, 241/1, when we left Port Patrick and were oblig'd to bring up in Ramsey Bay, Isle of Man, an accident throwing off one of our paddles. We were detain'd there till (here f drew on Mr. W. Kipack in the name of Coy by £6-6-0.)

Tuesday, 2jth. Left the Isle of Man with fine breeze, day lovely ; but after working hard all of it and the night, we found on the morning of

Wednesday, 2.8th, we had been deceived by our compass and were off the coast of Wales. Again unshipp'd our paddles and drifted nearly to Dublin ere we could again get them to work but luckily did effect that and anchor'd off George's Dock Pier, Liverpool, and at twelve o'clock the same night I left for Eyam (his home in Derbyshire).

Colin Watson purchased the Elizabeth for £1,200, and formed a little company to operate the vessel between Liverpool and Runcorn, but the venture presumably proved unremunerative, for the ship was sold in the spring of 1816 and the company dissolved. Purchased by a Liverpool owner, the Eli'zabeth was converted into a horse- driven vessel, in which capacity she conducted the Liverpool-Runcorn service, until offered for sale in December, 1818, while lying in Wallasey Pool. In 1821, she is recorded at the Liverpool Customs Registry as a schooner of 269! tons, 59.5 feet long and 13.2 breadth, owned by Robert Welburn, blockmaker. There is a human touch in this story of Liverpool's first steamer. Both Colin Watson and his cousin, Hargrave, had not reached their twenties in 1816. Hargrave died of drink before he was twenty, and Watson entered the service of the Customs at Liverpool on ist March, 1817, and six months later was married at Eyam. In 1818, he is shewn as living at 14 Greek Street, Liverpool, and in 1829 occu­ pied the office of general goods warehousekeeper, domiciled at 2, Mary Anne Street, Everton. He died on 4th June,

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88 Early Steamships on the Mersey, 1815-1820.

1830, at the early age of 33 years, and was buried at Walton Church.

During 1816, several steamers appeared on the Mersey. On 7th May, great curiosity prevailed at Douglas, Isle of Man, owing to the arrival of the steam packet Greenock, " on passage to Liverpool ". After making a pleasure trip to Laxey, during which " she moved by apparent enchantment ", this vessel proceeded to the Mersey, as recorded in the Liverpool Mercury of loth May, 1816 :

STEAM BOATSArrived here last night the Greenock Steam Packet from

Greenock, which place she left for Campbeltown, from thence for Belfast, and came here via Douglas, Isle of Man, having made her passage from the latter place in 14 hours. As she is a very large commodious and safe vessel in every respect, we have to congratulate the inhabitants of this town on receiving such an improved convenience for carrying passengers between here and Runcorn.

THE GREENOCK STEAM PACKETNow lying at George's Dock Pier head. Sailed this morning

at half past Seven o'clock and will sail to-morrow at Half past Eight o'clock for Runcorn.

The Greenock remained less than a month on the Runcorn service and on 3ist May, 1816, was advertised in Billinge's Liverpool Advertiser, as under :

NEW AND ELEGANT STEAM PACKETFROM LIVERPOOL AND CHESTER.

Thomas Crimes respectfully informs the Public that the Steam Packet Countess of Bridgewater, late the Greenock, has been purchased by the proprietors of the Ellesmere and Chester Canal, and will sail daily from the Parade Slip for the conveyance of Passengers to and from Liverpool and Chester.

The expedition and superior accommodation of this vessel are so well known that it is superfluous to attempt a description, and as arrangements are made upon the Canal which will ensure the regular conveyance of Passengers from Liverpool to Chester under three hours it is presumed that the vessel will be found

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TEarly Steamships on the Mersey, 1815-1820. 89

the cheapest, safest and most expeditious, as well as the most comfortable of any hitherto offered to the notice of the Public.

N.B. To accommodate the Inhabitants of Liverpool, the above Vessel will sail for Ellesmere Port on Sunday one hour before high water, where she will wait two hours and return.

Tower Wharf, Chester, 3ist May, 1816.

Built at Dumbarton in 1815, this vessel was registered at the Liverpool Custom House on 27th October, 1816, in the name of Thomas Stanton, Secretary of the United Company of Proprietors of the Ellesmere and Chester Canals. She registered 67-9-4 tons, was 85.3 feet in length, and 16.9 feet breadth, with square stern, and a woman figure-head. As the Countess of Bridgewater, she continued on the Liverpool-Ellesmere Port service until the end of the 1818 season, and on i8th March, 1819, was advertised for sale (Gore's Advertiser of that date) as under :

STEAM PACKETS

To be Sold by Private Treaty

The Countess of Bridgewater Steam Packet now lying at Wallasey Pool in the River Mersey. The above vessel is of 80 feet Keel and 17 feet Beam worked by an Engine of 52 horse power of the best construction and draws four feet of water. She was fitted up with a new wrought Iron Boiler made by Messrs. Rigby and Company, of Hawarden, during the last summer, when the whole of her main timbers were planked all round. She has not worked since, and is in every respect in the most perfect state of repair. For particulars and to view, apply to Mr. Fairhurst, Chester Canal Wharf, North Parade, Liverpool ; to Mr. Cross, Tower Wharf, Chester ; or to Mr. Stanton, Canal Office, Ellesmere, Salop.

That there were other steamships plying on the Mersey in the early summer of 1816, is confirmed by the following excerpt from the Liverpool Courier of 3rd July :

" The perfection at which the navigation of Steam Boats has arrived and the great celerity with which they sail will be evinced by a history of the voyage of one of the Runcorn Steam

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go Early Steamships on the Mersey, 1815-1820.

Packets on Sunday last. The Duke of Wellington departed from Runcorn at 5 o'clock in the morning and arrived at this port at seven. She sailed hence with passengers about eleven, and landed them at Runcorn. She departed from Runcorn to Warrington, where she arrived at two o'clock. She again left at half past two for Runcorn, where she landed her passengers and having taken in a fresh cargo sailed for Liverpool and arrived here at half-past seven in the evening. The whole distance which she sailed in the course of the day was upwards of eighty miles, a distance we imagine which no vessel ever performed in the same time on this river."

The Duke of Wellington was a counter-sterned vessel, with a figure-head representing the national military hero. Registering 59/4 tons, and measuring 68.9 feet length and 13.9 feet beam, she was built at Runcorn in 1816 by William Wright, and registered at Liverpool in the names of John .Davies of Runcorn, victualler, James Radley of Liverpool, John Askey of Halton, victualler, William Wright of Runcorn, shipbuilder, and Richard Edwards. This was apparently the first steamship to be built on Merseyside.

On loth July, 1816, the following announcement appeared in the Liverpool Courier:

THE PRINCE REGENT RUNCORN STEAM PACKET The New and commodious Steam Packet called the Prince

Regent, built upon the most improved principle, fitted up in an elegant style, and conducted by a careful and experienced Crew ; starts daily from the New Slip on the West Side of George's Dock, and after remaining there for two hours, which affords a sufficient time for viewing Runcorn, returns to Liverpool.

The distance from Liverpool to Runcorn is 21 miles, which the Prince Regent Steam Packet performs with perfect safety and certainty in under two hours. The Passengers with all their Luggage, and for the carriage of which no additonal charge is made, are safely and conveniently landed at a new and highly com­ modious landing place lately made at considerable expense exclusively for the use of the Prince Regent Steam Packet at the entrance to the Canal belonging to the Company of the Proprietors of the Mersey and Irwell Navigation ; from whence

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Early Steamships on the Mersey, 1815-1820. 91

there is a short and excellent road to Wilson's Hotel in the higher and most beautiful part of the romantic village of Runcorn, by which road the Passengers will avoid all the personal incon­ venience and expense which have been so long and generally experienced and complained of in landing at the Stone Wharf at the lower part of Runcorn.

Such of the Passengers as are proceeding to Warrington or Manchester or any of the intermediate places are commodiously forwarded with their luggage in the Company's Packet Boat on the Canal, which sails every morning in the Summer Months at 10 o'clock, and the Winter Months at 8 o'clock, from a part of the Canal which lies opposite to and within about ten yards of the above new landing place.

The advantages which the Steam Packet has over the Sailing Packet are that the Prince Regent Steam Packet is always in an upright position ; as there is little motion, is unencumbered with sails, rigging, and oars which often alarm the Passengers and obstruct their view of the beautiful scenery of the River ; at all times proceeds and arrives with the greatest punctuality, and is in many other respects preferable to any other public conveyance for the removal of families, aged and infirm persons, and invalids.

For particulars, apply at the Prince Regent Steam Packet at the Slip ; to T. Parr, No. 4 George's Dock Passage ; or to J. Bolton, Man's Island, in Liverpool ; and at Wilson's Hotel, in Runcorn.

The Prince Regent was built at Runcorn, in 1816, by William Rigby, and owned jointly by Job Wilson inn­ keeper, Thomas Parr mariner, John Prescott butcher, John Bott waiter all of Runcorn and John Hayes gentleman, and Thomas Barker Smith, schoolmaster, of Chester. She measured 69.1 feet in length, and 13.7 feet breadth, and had a registered tonnage of 57^ tons.

It is now necessary to note what may be regarded as the first Liverpool-built steamer. " The launch of the Princess Charlotte Steam Packet " wrote the Courier of 24th July, 1816, " will take place from Mottershead's yard to-morrow, Thursday, at eleven o'clock. The packet is intended to sail twice every day between this port and Eastham,

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92 Early Steamships on the Mersey, 1815-1820.

from which a coach will convey passengers to Chester." In the same issue, she was advertised as under :

NEW STEAM PACKET TO EASTHAM. The Princess Charlotte Steam Packet will sail from this port

on Friday Morning next at Eleven o'Clock and return the same evening ; on Saturday Morning she will sail at Eight o'Clock and depart from Eastham at Nine o'Clock. She will sail again from the port at half past Three o'Clock in the Afternoon and return in the Evening. The Packet will sail from Liverpool twice every day at Eight o'Clock in the Morning and at Half Past Three o'Clock in the Afternoon, and will meet the Chester Coach. Places to be taken at Mr. Thomas Dod's, James Street, Liverpool, or at the White Lion, Chester.

Fares to Chester, 35. Inside. 2s. Outside.

This steamer continued on the Liverpool-Eastham service for several years, but details of her dimensions and engines are not available. She is mentioned by Lindsay as demonstrating the first application of steam towing on the Mersey, when she took the ship Harlequin out to sea in October, 1816. Another reference to early steam towage is contained in a paragraph in the Liverpool Mercury of 30th May, 1817 :

The Hannah from the East Indies, not being able to get round the Rock, John Gladstone and Co., to whom she was consigned, sent down the Duke of Wellington steam packet on Saturday evening for purposes of bringing troops ashore ; and on Sunday morning the whole were on board the packet and landed in safety at 8 o'clock. The Hannah was towed round the Rock on Tuesday evening by one of the Runcorn steam packets. In coming up the river, on account of one of the tow ropes breaking, she got on to the wall now building to southward of the Fort. Another steam-boat was brought to her assistance, when she was rescued without material damage. The Harlequin, which was also the first vessel towed out of the port, was towed in on Tuesday by the same means.

The Eastham Ferry service was conducted by Samuel

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Early Steamships on the Mersey, 1815-1820. 93

Smith, who kept the Ferry Hotel. In Gore's Directory for 1810, he was described as " master of the Eastham Packet " which, of course, was a sailing vessel. Smith died at Eastham on igth September, 1827, at the age of 78.

The next steamer to be noted in this chronological survey may be regarded as the pioneer of the Birkenhead ferry system. In February, 1817, William Batman, on behalf of himself and other part-owners of a " steam­ boat ", applied to the Liverpool Corporation for accom­ modation of steps and landing places on the Liverpool side of the Mersey, and the Finance Committee was thereupon instructed to provide suitable facilities. In support of the application, the following certificate was submitted : " We, the undersigned, having seen double Steam Boats for crossing Rivers, beg to certify that in our opinion they are perfectly safe for passengers, carriages and cattle, and that in point of accommodation they are much superior to Sail Boats." The document is signed by " Alex. McGregor, Jno. Richardson, Thos. Davidson, Jas. Butler Clough, and Thos. Thornely." The Corpor­ ation granted to Batman and Company the tenancy of 2000 yards of land on the " south side of the intended Basin " in front of the ship-building yards which were situated to the west of Graving Docks Nos. 4 and 5. This was let to them for three years at £60 per annum, Batman and Company having to make their own " slip " or dock, and on 7th March, 1817, there was launched by Dawson and Company, of Liverpool, a double-hulled vessel, the Aetna, of 68 tons. Her engines of twenty-two horse­ power were supplied by Fawcett and Littledale. The two hulls, each about 63 feet long, were planked over, making a total width of 28 feet, and the whole was propelled by a single paddle-wheel between the hulls. According to several writers, she was designed by " George La French," considered to be a Dane. He is shewn in Gore's Liverpool Directory for 1823 as a boarding-house keeper at Birken-

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94 Early Steamships on the Mersey, 1815-1820.

head, and in that of 1829 as George Lawrence French, Waterloo Hotel, Birkenhead, a hostelry which stood on the site now occupied by the offices of Messrs. Cammell, Laird & Co. The name does not appear to be Danish, and it is probable that William Batman, whose name cannot be traced reliably in contemporary directories, was the Dane. The Aetna was first employed between Liverpool and Tranmere, the slip or basin excavated for her at Liverpool being known as the Aetna Slip, and the adjoining Aetna Street named accordingly. Etna Street, at Birkenhead, no doubt also derives its name from this early ferry-boat. She continued in the service for some fifteen years, and it is worth noting that her passage across the river occupied no more than five minutes.

In 1817, another steamer, the Regulator, was introduced as a competitor. The Liverpool Mercury of 3oth June,1817. advertised her to sail in connection with the steam packet Ancient Briton, which operated between Parkgate and Bagillt, announcing that every accommodation would be afforded " in forwarding passengers to Tran­ mere Ferry, where they will meet with Mr. Ball's new Steam Boat, called the Regulator." Little is known of the Regulator's dimensions or engines, but her fate is recorded in the following excerpt from the Liverpool Mercury of 23rd January, 1818 : " On Monday night week, during a gale of wind, the Regulator Steam Packet employed between the Cheshire Shore and Liverpool was sunk, and we are sorry to say has sustained great injury. Happily no one was on board at the time."

The Ancient Briton above-mentioned was taken from the Parkgate-Bagillt service and advertised for sale in1818. and on 25th May, 1819, one Cornelius Baynes announced the opening of the " Weaver and Weston Point Hotel, one mile from Runcorn, for Families and Company. A new Steam Boat Ancient Briton or Union Steam Packet will sail daily from Liverpool to Weston Point and Run-

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Early Steamships on the Mersey, 1815-1820. 95

corn and return the same day ; also a daily packet from Weston Point to Northwich." The notice mentions a new road having been made " over the hill from Runcorn." The Ancient Briton, whose engines were of 14 horse-power only, is described in a subsequent advertisement in Gore's Advertiser as " the swiftest packet on the River Mersey, and her Engine is so constructed that it cannot possibly be forced past its usual speed. The only com­ munication with the safety valve is a chain instead of a rod of iron ; therefore no weight can be placed upon it as to prevent the overplus of steam escaping." This precaution or assurance had been rendered necessary owing to frequent boiler explosions occurring on the early steamships. The agent at Liverpool for the Ancient Briton was James Wright, of Powell and Browne, merchants, 64, Sparling Street. A later newspaper stated that shares were available in this vessel at ten pounds each.

During 1819, the steamer Mersey was added to the Tranmere Ferry service. She was built at Liverpool and registered 80 tons, her engines of 24 horse-power being supplied by Fawcett and Littledale. A Liverpool Mercury notice of I2th May, 1820, announced :

BIRKENHEAD HOTEL, TRANMERE.The Public are respectfully informed that the Mersey Steam

Packet leaves the Pier Head every Morning at eight o'clock to convey passengers to the above Hotel to meet the coach from thence to Chester. Passengers and Parcels booked at the Talbot Office and Union Office, 160, Dale Street, corner of Princess Street, and at Mrs. Cooksons, Mail Boat House, Nova Scotia.

The year 1819 is noteworthy as marking the introduction of coastal steamship services to Liverpool. On 23rd July, 1819, the Liverpool Mercury announced :

" New Belfast Packet. Yesterday a beautiful Steam Packet arrived at this port from Belfast after a passage of only 24 hours. She is called the Waterloo, and is a fine well-built vessel, burthen

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96 Early Steamships on the Mersey, 1815-1820.

201 tons, length 98 feet, breadth on deck 37 feet, and has two highly finished engines of 30 horse-power each, which work without noise or vibration, and are on the low-pressure construction perfectly safe from accident. They are attended by two experienced engineers. The vessel is also provided with two masts with sails and rigging. Her interior accommodations are as complete and elegant as skill and experience can make them. She has a handsome dining-room, capable of accommodat­ ing all the cabin passengers ; a separate and neatly-decorated cabin for ladies ; twenty-two well-furnished beds well accom­ modated with light and air ; and a comfortable place for steerage passengers. She cost near ^10,000. She will sail for Belfast at tide time this day and will return on Monday. She will sail again the same day and regularly every Monday and Friday. Fares, Cabin £i us. 6d. Steerage, los. 6d. The Cabin Passengers, are not under the necessity of taking provisions as they are well accommodated on board with everything at the most moderate tavern prices. Passengers attended to by Captain Townley on board, or Mr. John Crowther, 23 East Side, Salthouse Dock."

In evidence given before the Select Committee inquiring into the state of the Holyhead Road, in 1822, there is reference to a Mr. Oldham, of the Bank of Ireland, having invented a revolving paddle by which " the violent action of comon wheels, in striking water in rough sea, is entirely removed." The Waterloo was fitted with this type of paddle. Nevertheless, she was described by Charles Wye Williams (founder of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company) before the same Committee as " very clumsily built, bluff in the bows, and very heavy behind." Constructed by John Scott, of Greenock, the Waterloo had two engines of 30 horse-power each, made by James Cook, of Tradestown, Glasgow. A week after her first sailing from Liverpool, another new steamer arrived in the Mersey. This was the Robert Bruce, 155 tons, also built by Scott, and fitted with engines of 60 horse-power by Napier. She was placed on service between Liverpool,. Isle of Man and Greenock, but during the summer of 1821 she took fire off the coast of Anglesea and was beached.

In 1820, still larger steamers were introduced for the

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Early Steamships on the Mersey, 1815-1820. 97

coastal services. The Belfast, 190 tons, built by Ritchie of Belfast, and engined by Napier, entered the Liverpool- Belfast service ; and the Superb, built by John Scott and engined by Napier, was added to the Liverpool-Greenock line. Joshua Field, in his Diary, mentions having seen the Belfast during his visit to Liverpool in 1821, when she sailed " with 60 or 80 passengers to Dublin." The Superb is said to have been the first steamer to be fitted with copper boilers. She was sold in 1824 for service between Naples and Palermo.

In September, 1820, there was launched from the yard of Mottershead and Hayes, at Liverpool, a steamer of 88 tons. This was the Conde de Palmella, fitted with engines of 20 horse-power made by Fawcett and Little- dale. She was the first steamer built in the United Kingdom to foreign order, and sailed on 5th October, 1820, for Lisbon, for service on the river Tagus, where she arrived after a remarkable passage, for those times, of four days. At Liverpool, she was entered outwards by A. J. da Costa and Company, merchants, of 9 Goree Piazzas, whose principal, Antonio Julia da Costa, resided at 18, Rodney Street, and was Portuguese Consul.

Such, in brief, is the record of early steamers using thewaters of the Mersey, soon to become a rendezvous formuch larger steam vessels. At that period, however,they were regarded much in the same manner as were thepioneer automobiles and aircraft of our own day ; andthe levity exhibited by Liverpolitans towards this newinvention is best comprehended by noting the followingextract from Billinge's Advertiser of 7th November, 1820 :

NEW COMIC SONG, just published byHime and Son, Castle Street and

Church Street, Liverpool.THE ADVENTURES OF A STEAM PACKET, as

sung by Mr. Tayleure at the Theatre on his Benefit Night.

Price is. 6d. G

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98 Early Steamships on the Afersey, 1815-1820.

In connection with the early ferry steamers, it is interesting to note the part played by licensed victuallers in the promotion of these ventures. James Radley, one of the registered owners of the steam packet Duke of Wellington, on the Runcorn service, in addition to being master of the steamer, was at that period also a licensed victualler at 2, Strand Street, Liverpool, and may have been the James Radley who later established the Adelphi Hotel. Samuel Smith, as already noted, was the licensee at the Eastham Ferry hotel, while George La (or Lawrence) French, who died in June, 1845, for many years conducted the Waterloo Hotel at Birkenhead. Israel Irlam, master of the Runcorn Packet Prince Regent, in 1818, afterwards became owner of one of the Runcorn ferry steamers and established himself as a victualler at the " Runcorn Packet House," i, Irwell Street, Liverpool. For several years, the Tranmere Ferry was conducted by James Ball (owner of the steam packet Regulator in 1817) and his son, from the Birkenhead Ferry Hotel. Similarly, the later ferries at Woodside, Seacombe and New Brighton, which do not come within the scope of this period, were associated with hostelries or hotels at the respective termini.

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Page 16: EARLY STEAMSHIPS ON THE MERSEY, 1815-1820. · Liverpool-Runcorn service, until offered for sale in December, 1818, while lying in Wallasey Pool. In 1821, she is recorded at the Liverpool

loo Early Steamships on the Mersey, 1815-1820.

SOURCES.

Stranger in Liverpool, various issues, 1815 1825.Sulley's History of Birkenhead, 1907.Cleland's Rise dy Progress of the City of Glasgow, 1820.Doubly in the Crown Service, K. Y. Watson, 1902.Down to the Sea, George Blake, 1937.David Napier, Engineer, 1790-1869.Early British Steamships, Nigel W. Kennedy, 1933.Registers of Shipping, by permission of the Honourable The

Commissioners of Customs, and the Collector of Customs atLiverpool.

Transactions of the Newcomen Society. Gore's Liverpool Directories, 1813-1820. W. S. Lindsay's History of Merchant Shipping and Ancient

Commerce, 1874.

PERIODICALS

Gore's General Advertiser, 1815-1820. Billinge's Liverpool Advertiser, 1815-1820. Liverpool Courier, 1815-1820. Liverpool Mercury, 1815-1820. Gentleman's Magazine,