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South Coast of England - Sussex Coast
Hastings & St. Leonards / Hastings, St Leonards and Eastbourne Steamship Co
Formed by Mr A Payne, who had bought PS Carrick Castle in 1885 and reconstituted as the Hastings, St Leonards's and Eastbourne Steampship Co in 1888 with involvement from messrs Wood and Buckett. The latter was a local wine merchant who had operated PS Nelson on charter in 1887. Carrick castle was replaced by a screw steamer, Lady Brassey, but she was in turn quickly replaced by Seagull, a tug with a passenger certificate, similar to PS Conqueror which had been used on charter in 1889. In 1892, the paddler PS Glen Rosa was chartered.

Two older paddlers were purchased to run a cross-channel service in 1895 and 1896. These were the former Channel Islands steamer Aquila, then named Alexandra, and now renamed Ruby. Bonnie Princess was brought from North Wales and used during the 1896 season. A new steamer was purchased for the 1897 season and named Britannia.

The Hastings Company suffered immediately from the presence of the Campbell fleet at Brighton. Early in 1904, Britannia was sold and after the 1904 season Alexandra was sold for scrapping, thus ending the interests of the company in the steamer trade.
Carrick Castle

Lady Brassey

Conqueror

 Seagull  (1891-1896)
Built in 1877 by J Softley and Sons of South Shields
121 ft : 107 GRT  Engine 35.5 x 54 in by Hepple & Co, S Shields
Built for for Steel & McCaskill, later Steel & Bennie service on Lough Foyle
Former tug : Converted for passenger use in 1890

Alexandra (1895-1904)


Ruby (1896-1897)
Built in 1854 by J Henderson & Son at Renfrew
180.4 ft : 264 GRT
Engine : Oscillating by MacNab & Clark of Greenock
Built for the North of Europe Steam Navigation Co for North Sea service (Harwich-Antwerp) as Aquila
For the 1858 season she was at Weymouth for the Weymouth & Channel Islands Steam Packet Company
From 1889 she sailed out of Plymouth to Brittany and the Channel Islands
Renamed Alexandra in 1895 when bought for service between Swansea and Ilfracombe by James Jones - the Swansea & Ilfracombe Steamship (Alexandra) Ltd
In 1896, as Ruby, she briefly offered cruises from Hastings to Boulogne for the Hastings, St Leonards on Sea and Eastbourne Steamboat Co
Scrapped in Calais in 1899


Bonnie Princess (1896-1899)

Britannia

Cynthia (1904-1906)


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