Captain Alexander William Cameron

on Aug 8, 2015

The worsening economic climate in the early Edwardian years had its impact on the Clyde coast traffic. In 1907, the two south-bank railway companies, the Caledonian and Glasgow and South-western, entered into a pooling arrangement to rationalize some services and avoid costly duplication and in the next few years, a number of steamers were laid up and sold. Among these were the Vulcan and Viceroy of the Glasgow and Southwestern Co. and Marchioness of Bute, Ivanhoe and Madge Wildfire of the Caledonian. Madge Wildfire, surplus to requirements was purchased on 8th April 1911 by Captain A. W. Cameron, a retired ship captain residing in Dumbarton, for £3,500. A week later, he transferred ownership to The Vale of Clyde Steam Packet Co. Ltd, a private company that was registered on 13th April 1911. Captain Cameron was anxious to take advantage of the resurgence in popularity of sailings from...

More Sunday Steamers

on Aug 3, 2015

The pioneering Sunday Steamer, Emperor, began sailing in 1853 amidst strong opposition from the Scottish Sabbatarians. The opposition culminated in the “battle of Garelochhead” and an ensuing court case that raised an interdiction against Sunday sailing. At the end of 1853, the Court refused to grant the interdict and so Sunday sailing could continue. In the new year, 1854, the Emperor began to sail in mid March with a celebratory visit on March 19 to Row and Garelochhead and a week later to Dunoon and Kilmun. With a court judgement in its favour, the future on Sunday sailing seemed assured. On April 12, 1854 the Scotsman reported that two additional Sunday steamers would sail that season but they did not make an appearance. Much of the animosity had died down but there were still crowds of Sabbatarians, admittedly smaller than the previous year, to greet the steamer at the piers she...

The Battle of Garelochhead

on Aug 2, 2015

Broomielaw in 1850 (Sam Bough) The Emperor was advertised to return to Gareloch-head on Sunday, the 21st August 1853. The local landowner and owner of the pier, Sir James Colquhoun was determined to prevent the steamer from landing passengers and the resulting “battle of Gareloch-head” has become one of the most notorious events of the time. Most of the Scottish newspapers covered the event and several accounts are given here to sample the differing points of view. “On Sunday the pier at Garelochhead was barricaded to prevent the landing of the passengers by the Emperor steamer, and in addition a number of the inhabitants armed with sticks assembled with the evident intention of resisting any attempt which might be made. Those on board of the steamer laid hold of a quantity of potatoes and turnips which they plentifully distributed among those on shore, and after effecting a landing,...

The Sunday Steamer

on Aug 2, 2015

The rise in the Evangelical movement that led to the disruption of the Established Church in Scotland in 1843 had a marked influence in the political and social structure of the country for many years afterwards. The lot of the working man in the larger cities, and especially in Glasgow held little relief from endless toil and grim accommodation and well-intentioned efforts to improve these conditions were aimed at curtailing the availability of the great evil of alcohol and preserving the Sabbath, the one day in the week when no work was expected. The culmination of the efforts against alcohol was the Forbes-Mackenzie Act of 1853 that closed public houses at 11:00 p.m. on weekdays and all day on Sundays, though hotels were allowed to serve bona fide travelers on that day. The preservation of Sunday as a day in which no work was expected had a long history in the country. Sir Andrew...

William Sloan & Co., Ltd.

on Jul 25, 2015

The origins of firm of William Sloan and Company go back to 1825 when William Sloan, the nephew of the chemical manufacturer, Charles Tennant, began transporting the company’s products under the title of the St. Rollox Shipping Company. In later years the main routes of the company linked Glasgow with Belfast, Swansea and Bristol. The funnel colour was black with a distinctive white band and for many years was a familiar sight in the Glasgow harbour.  The steamers were named after rivers around the British Isles. The steamers had limited passenger accommodation. Sloan’s steamers sailed from the south side of the river at Windmillcroft Quay. The upper river with a collection of Sloan’s steamers The steamer Medway was built by Charles Connell & Co., Glasgow in 1886, and was sold in 1926 to Turkish owners. Sloan’s Medway at Windmillcroft with Burns’ Alligator at the Broomielaw In...

The Princess Alice Disaster

on Jul 7, 2015

While not strictly a Clyde matter, the wreck of the Princess Alice on the Thames involved a steamer that was built on the Clyde and served on the Clyde before she was sold to owners on the Thames. The steamers Kyles and Bute were built for the Wemyss Bay Railway and Steamboat Co., by Caird & Co., in 1865. A third sister, the first to leave the ways in 1864, had been purchased by the Confederate States to run the blockade, named Hattie. The Kyles and Bute were almost 220 ft long and over 20 ft in breadth and had narrow deck saloons with alleyways around them. They were a great improvement on the other ship, the Largs, of the Wemyss Bay Company and indeed, with the exception of the new Iona and the Chancellor, there were few other saloon steamers on the Firth. Bute (McQueen) The Wemyss Bay Company provided service to Rothesay and Millport from Wemyss Bay in connection with their...

Smaller craft around the resorts

on Jul 5, 2015

A number of small steamers and later, motor boats provided cruises from Rothesay to such destinations as the Kyles of Bute, Loch Striven and Ormidale. They were very popular. Comet in Rothesay Bay (Adamson) The little wooden paddle steamer Comet operated cruises in the early 1890s for Mr. H. McIntyre. She was built in 1892 at Port Glasgow by Robert Rodger and was destroyed by fire in 1894. Unidentified paddle yacht in Rothesay Bay There were other small paddle steamers at Rothesay at this time. Above is an unidentified vessel about to experience the wake of the new Lord of the Isles. Francis Dewar’s Lady Bute With the introduction of the motor boat and motor launch, there was a considerable expansion of these short cruises. Francis Dewar carried on a business as Carpenter and boatbuilder at 14 Watergate Rothesay in the years before the first-world war. He offered cruises with the...

William Findlay Johnstone

on Jul 1, 2015

When Messrs. Burns withdrew from ownership of their Clyde and West Highland Steamers in January 1851, the steamers on the West Highland line went to Messrs. Hutcheson while the Clyde steamers were purchased by a company headed by the shipbuilders, William Denny & Brothers. Of the ships sold to the Denny concern, the Rothesay Castle of 1837, and Inveraray Castle of 1839 were immediately transferred to the ownership of Messrs. Roxburgh for the Glasgow and Lochfyne service. It is reported that the Rothesay Castle was subsequently sold in April 1851 to southern England but she certainly returned to the Clyde and made her way eventually to the Island of St Thomas in the West Indies where she had mechanical problems on her way to Australia. She survived there until May 1855 at least, as she was sold around that month for £420. “The Culloden and the Rothesay Castle, the last of the...

Sailing Out of Oban with Pioneer and Mountaineer

on Jun 10, 2015

The naturally sheltered waters of Oban Bay, enclosed by the Island of Kerrera to the south and west and farther off, the Islands of Mull and Lismore to the north attracted the earliest steamboats on the West of Scotland trade. The quay at Oban was a low stone built affair and by the middle of the nineteenth century was proving inadequate for the traffic and the expansion of the tourist trade. Around 1848, a ship, the B.C. Bailey, foundered off Lismore at Kilcheran, and the wreck was brought into Oban Bay and lay at the quay for a time until it was built over to form the North Pier. In the first of the old photographs, the outline of the hull can be seen below the pier construction. Oban in the 1850s In the second photograph, the pier is a little more advanced and there are some buildings upon it. The third photograph is from a different angle and shows the corner of the bay. Oban...

Linnet

on Jun 5, 2015

When Iona entered service in 1864, the connection with the Crinan steamer was accomplished by the horse drawn track-boats Maid of Perth and Sunbeam. The improvements made by the addition of the Chevalier in 1866 were enhanced by a small screw steamer, Linnet, that was built by J. & G. Thomson at Govan for Messrs. Hutcheson.  The Linnet provided the link through the Crinan Canal between Ardrishaig and Crinan. Track-boat Sunbeam on the west bank at Ardrishaig. The Linnet had two screws and at 34 tons and she was launched in a fairly complete condition.  Just 86 ft long and 16 ft broad with a shallow draft, she could fit into the locks of the canal.  Her blunt canoe-shaped bow was designed to allow her to push into the opening canal lock gates. Linnet at Crinan with Chevalier in the background Linnet at Crinan with Countess of Kellie in 1888 Linnet at Crinan Linnet heading for...