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Side-Wheeled Paddle Steamers
Australia : Clarence, Richmond and Macleay River Steam Navigation Co. (NSW)Paddle
steamers and, increasingly, screw steamers maintained a service linking
Sydney with communities in northern New South Wales for cargo and
passengers with both vessels for up-river transit and for coastal
running
Grafton Steam Navigation Company (1857) Clarence & Richmond Steam Navigation Company (1860) Clarence, Richmond & Macleay River Steam Navigation Co (1888) North Coast Steam Navigation Co (1891) after merger with John See & Co The company made several acquisitions in the interwar period before going into liquidation in 1954.
Above : City of Grafton,
the last major paddle steamer built for the company was delivered by
Alexander Stephen & Sons of Pointhouse, Govan in 1876 - the
only passenger (and cargo) paddle steamer built by the company at their Clydeside home
despite their being major shipbuilders for other sectors. They had
recently completed four small cargo paddle steamers for South America
but otherwise had no experience of paddlers and produced no more
paddlers in a further ninety-three years of operation.
Grafton (1854-1860) 140.9 ft : 316 GRT built by W & J Laird of Birkenhead
Urara (-1866) 180.5 ft : 382 GRT built by W & J Laird of Birkenhead. Wrecked in 1866
Duncan Hoyle (1858-1860) 139.6 ft : 188 GRT built in 1853 by J Scott & Sons of Greenock for owners in Sydney
Fenella
(1860-1862) 159.4 ft : 261 GRT built in Liverpool in 1846. Latterly on
the Sydney & Hunter River run before purchase. Sold to China in
1862
Agnes Irving (1862-1879) 203.5 ft : 440 GRT built by C Lungley & Co, London
Rainbow (1863-1864) 149.8 ft : 110 GRT built by Corcoran on the Macleay River in 1860. Bought in 1863. Sank in a storm in 1864
Florence Irving
(1864-1867) 206.8 ft : 453 GRT built by C Lungley & Co,
London. Sold to Australasian Steam Navigation Co. Wrecked in 1877
Ballina
(1866-1879) 179.4 ft : 300 GRT built by C Mitchell & Co of Low
Walker, Newcastle. Engine by Stephenson & Co of Newcastle. Wrecked
Fire King
(1870-1873) 148 ft : 221 GRT built locally on Macleay River by J
Stewart and owned by W Marshall. Wrecked in on Manning River in 1873
City of Grafton (1876-1913) 207.4 ft : 825 GRT built by Alexander Stephen & Sons, Govan. Hulked in 1920 and scrapped in 1930
Small river paddle steamers
Nautilus (1864-1891 ) 55.5
ft : 22 GRT built in 1854 by Randolph, Elder & Co at Govan for
owners at Sydney NSW. Used on Macleay River Ulmarra (-1862) 85.3 ft : 50 GRT built at Balmain, Sydney. Wrecked Uloom (-1909) 102 ft : 115 GRT built by ASN in Sydney. Ramornie (1869-1893) 92.9 ft : 86 GRT built by ASN in Sydney. Irvington (1887-1892) 70.4 ft built by J Piper of Balmain, Sydney. Used on the Richmond river
The northern New South Wales rivers area became a major producer of sugar and the Colonial Sugar Refining Company
(still extant as a diversified industrial corporation, CSR) transported
its output to its sugar refining mills in Sydney and Melbourne. The
area under plantation expanded into Queensland in the 1880s and the
company gradually took over the plantations from individual farmers Paddle
steamer Terranora was built in 1878 by D&W Henderson of Glasgow
(141.5 ft : 349 GRT : 2 cylinder diagonal engine 30 and 30 x 54 in) and
operated on the coast to and from Brisbane between 1878 and 1890 when
it was sold for use in New Zealand. In the same year the company took delivery of the paddle tug Iluka, which towed barges down the Clarence River, from the same Glasgow shipyard. It served the company until 1911
Above
: Terranora carrying passengers in New Zealand. Image : Auckland Libraries Sir George Grey collection
