Early Clyde Steamboats II

on Apr 27, 2015

In September 1812, hard on the heels of Comet, her first rival Elizabeth was announced. The following intimation was published in the Glasgow Herald of 25th September. “We are glad to have it in our power to inform the public that a gentleman of this city is at present erecting a flat-bottomed Steam-Boat at Port Glasgow, of 12 horse-power, under the superintendence of an able engineer, upon a much improved principle, both with respect to the quickness of sailing and the accommodation of passengers. It is to be so constructed so that neither wind nor tide will prevent its sailing at a certain hour–a circumstance which will be most beneficial to the public. The boat, we understand, will be ready to start in about three or four weeks.” The Elizabeth, was launched in November, 1812, and she began sailing on the Greenock station on 9th March 1813, again from the yard of John...

Dumbarton Steamboats

on Dec 9, 2014

The Dumbarton Steamboat Company was one of the earliest steamboat companies in the world and in its different reincarnations lasted for almost a century. It served the traffic between the town of Dumbarton and the city of Glasgow, was intimately involved in the lucrative tourist trade to Loch Lomond, and in doing so, took advantage of the oft disputed charters that allowed shipping registered at Dumbarton free access to the Glasgow harbour. This article is heavily based on a summary of the sederunt book of the company that is presented in Thomson’s “Affairs of an Early Steamboat Company” (1932). Further details come from Hume and Moss’ “A Bed of Nails,” and several of Donald MacLeod’s books; “God’s Acres of Dumbarton,” (1888), “Castle and Town of Dumbarton,” (1877), “Dunbarton Ancient and Modern,” (1892), and “Loch Lomond Steamboat Companies,” (1888). Additional information comes from...