Steam Navigation and Its Relation to the Commerce of Canada and the United States

by James Croil

The “Royal William.”

The Savannah and Enterprise were admittedly nothing more than sailing ships with auxiliary steam power. In the archives of the National Museum at Washington there is to be found the full history and log of the Savannah, which proves conclusively that she was not entitled to be called the pioneer of transatlantic steam navigation. That the honour belongs to the Royal William, built at Quebec and engined at Montreal, has been clearly proven. The evidence in support of this claim is embodied in a report of the Secretary of State of Canada for the year ended December 31st, 1894. From this it appears that the Royal William was designed by Mr. James Goudie, Marine Architect of Quebec, and that she was launched from the shipyard of Messrs. Campbell and Black at Cape Cove, Quebec, April 29th, 1831, in presence of Lord Aylmer, the Governor-General, and a vast concourse of people, Lady Aylmer naming the vessel with the usual ceremonies after the reigning monarch, William IV. She was towed to Montreal, where her engines of 200 horse-power were fitted by Messrs. Bennett and Henderson. She steamed back to Quebec in the beginning of August. She was built for the Quebec and Halifax Steam Navigation Company, incorporated by Act of Parliament, March 31st, 1831. This company comprised 235 persons whose names appear in the Act, among them being the three brothers, Samuel, Henry and Joseph Cunard. Samuel, the founder of the Cunard Line, was a frequent visitor at the Quebec shipyard, and carefully noted down all the information he could get from the builders.

MODEL OF STEAMSHIP “ROYAL WILLIAM.”

THIS INTERESTING RELIC HAS AN HONOURED RESTING-PLACE IN THE LIBRARY OF THE LITERARY AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF QUEBEC. IT WAS SENT, AT THE REQUEST OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE ROYAL NAVAL EXHIBITION, TO THAT EXHIBITION, HELD IN LONDON IN 1891, AND NUMBERED 4,736, WHERE IT ATTRACTED CONSIDERABLE ATTENTION, AND THE SOCIETY RECEIVED FROM THE COMMITTEE A HANDSOME DIPLOMA BY WAY OF A SOUVENIR.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS MODEL WAS RECOGNIZED BY THE DOMINION GOVERNMENT. BY ORDERING A FACSIMILE OF IT TO BE MADE, AND SENDING IT TO THE COLUMBIAN EXHIBITION, OR WORLD’S FAIR, AT CHICAGO, IN 1893. IT IS NOW TO BE SEEN IN THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AT OTTAWA.

This historic vessel was registered No. 2 in the port of Quebec. She was rigged as a three-masted schooner, of 363⁶⁰⁄₉₄ tons burthen, with a standing bowsprit and square stern. Her length was 160 feet; breadth, taken above the main wales, 44 feet; depth of hold, 17 feet 9 inches; and width, between the paddle-boxes, 28 feet. She cost about £16,000. The Royal William, commanded by Captain J. Jones, R.N., sailed from Quebec for Halifax, August 24th, 1831, with twenty cabin passengers, seventy steerage, and a good freight. She arrived on the 31st—six and a half days from Quebec. Several voyages were made that year to Halifax and the Gulf ports. Next year, owing to the prevalence of cholera, trade was at a standstill, and there was nothing for the new steamship to do. She was accordingly sold by Sheriff Gugy, at the church door, in the parish of Sorel, for £5,000. In April, 1833, she was placed under the command of Captain John Macdougall, a native of Oban, Scotland. During May she towed vessels from Grosse Isle, and in June sailed for the lower ports, Halifax and Boston, reaching the latter place on the 17th—the first British steamer to enter that port. On her return to Quebec, her owners decided to send her to London to be sold. She sailed August 5th, arrived at Pictou on the 8th, and sailed thence on the 18th, with seven passengers, a box of stuffed birds, one box and one trunk, some household furniture, 254 chaldrons of coal, and a crew of thirty-six men. The voyage to Cowes, Isle of Wight, was made in nineteen and a half days. She was deeply laden with her coal, had very rough weather, and had to run with one engine for ten days. A short time having been spent at Cowes, painting the ship, etc., “she steamed up to Gravesend in fine style—the first vessel to cross the Atlantic propelled by the motive power of steam alone.”

The Royal William was sold in London for £10,000, and was chartered to the Portuguese Government as a transport. In 1834 she was sold to the Spanish Government, and named the Isabel Segunda, and while in this service was the first war-steamer to fire a hostile shot. In 1837 she was sent to Bordeaux, France, for repairs, but, her timbers being badly decayed, her machinery was transferred to a new vessel of the same name, while she herself terminated her brilliant career as a hulk.[8]

Another steamer bearing the name Royal William was despatched from Liverpool to New York, by the Transatlantic Steamship Company, in 1838. This was a vessel of 617 tons, and 276 horse-power—the first to make the westward voyage from Liverpool, and the first passenger steamer to cross the sea. After a few voyages of doubtful success, this steamer was degraded into a coal-hulk, and a much larger and faster vessel took her place. This was the Liverpool—built expressly for the Atlantic trade, with luxurious fittings for seventy or eighty first-class passengers. She was a fine ship, of 1,150 tons burthen, and 468 horse-power. She sailed from Liverpool, October 20th, 1838, but had to put back to Queenstown on the 30th; sailing thence on November 6th, she reached New York on the 23rd. After several voyages, averaging seventeen days out and fifteen days home, she was sold to the Peninsular and Oriental Company, and was finally wrecked off Cape Finisterre in 1846.

In 1839 the late Sir Hugh Allan and several other Canadians made an adventurous voyage in the Liverpool. Sailing from New York, December 4th, they had a succession of gales up to the 28th, when they were scarcely half-way across the Atlantic. The chief engineer then reported that unless things mended they would run short of coal. The chief steward at the same time expressed grave doubts as to his provisions holding out. A consultation having been held, it was resolved to change their course for the Azores. They reached Fayal just as the last shovelful of coal was thrown on the fires. Four days were spent on the Island, during which time the passengers were treated to a round of festivities. On arriving at Liverpool, they learned that the ship had been given up as lost—not having been heard of since she sailed from New York thirty-nine days before.

THE “SIRIUS,” 1838.