Chapter VI.
Early Clyde Steam-packets.—Season Tickets issued, 1816.—First steamer to cross the English Channel.—Dumbarton Castle steams round North of Scotland, 1819.—First serious Accident to a Steam-packet.—Clyde Passenger Fares, 1818.
Many circumstances combined to make the Clyde the birthplace and the home of the Marine Steam Engine. Coal and iron mines were in close proximity, and skilled labour for the construction of engines and of ships was abundant. The beautiful Firth, with its numerous lochs and islands, constituted an ideal locality for the employment of steamboats while yet the art of steamship building was in its infancy. And on the shores of the River, or within easy distance of it, dwelt a large industrial population, eager to take advantage of the facilities for travel which steamboats afforded.
Under these circumstances it is not surprising that steam-packets on the Clyde increased with marvellous rapidity. In 1812 the Comet first began to ply between Glasgow, Greenock and Helensburgh, and she was, in fact, the only steamboat then sailing on British waters. Three years later (in 1815) a fleet of seven steamers, viz., the Glasgow, Britannia, Dumbarton Castle, Caledonia, Argyle, Prince of Orange, and Princess Charlotte, sailed regularly from Glasgow to Largs, Ardrossan, Troon and Ayr, southwards; and Rothesay, Tarbert, Lochgilphead and Inverary, westwards. No agents’ names are given in any of the press advertisements of this or previous years, but the sailings were advertised on boards placed outside the agent’s counting houses, and exhibited in taverns and other places of public resort. In 1816 and subsequent years the owners’ or agents’ names are appended to the press notices of the various steam-packets.
Early type of African Coasting Steamer.
In May of the year named, the steamboats Britannia and (new) Waterloo were advertised to sail between Glasgow and all the watering places on both sides of the Clyde.
“Families wishing to agree for the season may know particulars by applying to Mr. Lewis MacLellan, Gallowgate, Mr. Wm. Smith, Bromielaw, and the Masters on board.”
These small steamers were the pioneers of the magnificent fleet of Channel steamships, sailing from Glasgow, and known as the “Laird Line.” A grandson of the Mr. Lewis MacLellan here referred to, and a nephew, are still (1903) connected with the Company as directors. The steamer Albion was advertised in the same paper in similar terms, and on the 9th July following the agents of nine steam-packets sailing from Glasgow, gave notice that the issue of season tickets was discontinued for the remainder of the season.
Hence it appears that the issue of season contract tickets, popularly supposed to be a modern institution of the railway companies, is found to be a common practice amongst the steamship owners of Glasgow more than three-quarters of a century ago.
Mr. W. S. Lindsay, in his admirable book “The History of Merchant Shipping from 1816 to 1874,” quotes Mr. Muirhead’s “Life of Watt,” as stating that “In April, 1817, Mr. James Watt, Jun., purchased the Caledonia, and having re-fitted her, took her in October to Holland and up the Rhine to Coblentz; having thus been the first to cross the English Channel in a steamboat. The average speed he obtained was seven and a half knots an hour.”
Either Mr. Muirhead was in error in the dates given, or he was wrong in assuming that the Caledonia was the first steamer to cross the English Channel. A correspondent of the “Glasgow Chronicle,” in a letter to that Journal, dated Cologne, 16th June, 1816 (i.e., sixteen months prior to the date mentioned by Mr. Muirhead as the date on which the Caledonia crossed the Channel), says:—
“To-day, about noon, we enjoyed a sight equally novel and entertaining, a pretty large vessel without a mast ascending the Rhine, and proceeding with astonishing rapidity, arrive before this city. All the vessels stationed on the Rhine in this neighbourhood were in a moment covered with spectators, to see the arrival of this vessel, which is a steamboat coming from London, and bound for Frankfort. Everybody was eager to view the progress, the motion, the organisation of this masterpiece of art. The vessel left Rotterdam on the 6th inst. The passengers affirm that it can go 25 leagues in a day.”
The Dumbarton Castle (Captain Thomson) was advertised to take passengers for a trip from Glasgow round Ailsa Craig on the 7th August, 1816. She was the first British steamboat (the Thames excepted) to take passengers on a deep sea trip, and she was also the first steamer to sail round the North of Scotland, which she did in 1819, in consequence of being sold for employment between Leith and Grangemouth.
The first serious accident to a Clyde steamboat of which there is any record, occurred in the early part of the year 1816. The new steam-packet Rothesay Castle, while entering the harbour of Tarbert on her return voyage from Inverary, struck on a reef of sunken rocks. All her passengers were rescued by fishing boats, which also landed the luggage. One of the fishing boats was also despatched to request the Master of the Argyle (which was to leave Inverary four hours later than the Rothesay Castle) to call at Tarbert. This was accordingly done and the shipwrecked passengers were taken on to Rothesay and Greenock the same evening. The steamer was subsequently got off the rocks and taken to Port Glasgow for repairs.
It may interest citizens of Glasgow and dwellers on the coast to compare, by means of the following table, the steamship Passenger Fares of 1818 with those of the present day.
| Port | ||||||||||||
| To Renfrew. | Dunglass. | Glasgow or | Gonrock. | Largs. | Millport. | |||||||
| Greenock. | ||||||||||||
| From. | [C] | [S] | [C] | [S] | [C] | [S] | [C] | [S] | [C] | [S] | [C] | [S] |
| s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | |
| Glasgow | 1 0 | 1 0 | 2 0 | 1 6 | 4 0 | 2 6 | 4 0 | 3 0 | 7 6 | 5 0 | 8 6 | 6 0 |
| Greenock | 3 0 | 2 0 | 2 0 | 1 6 | 1 0 | 0 6 | 3 6 | 2 6 | 4 6 | 3 6 | ||
| Largs | 6 6 | 4 0 | 5 6 | 3 6 | 3 6 | 2 6 | 3 0 | 2 0 | 1 0 | 1 0 | ||
| Ardrossan | 9 0 | 6 6 | 8 0 | 6 0 | 6 0 | 5 0 | 5 6 | 4 6 | 2 6 | 2 0 | 1 6 | 1 0 |
| Rothesay | ||||||||||||
[C] = Cabin
[S] = Steerage
| Campbelton | ||||||||||||
| To Rothesay. | Ardrossan. | Troon. | Ayr. | Helensburg. | or | |||||||
| Inverary. | ||||||||||||
| From. | [C] | [S] | [C] | [S] | [C] | [S] | [C] | [S] | [C] | [S] | [C] | [S] |
| s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | |
| Glasgow | 7 6 | 5 0 | 10 0 | 7 6 | 11 0 | 8 0 | 12 0 | 9 6 | 4 6 | 3 0 | 12 0 | 8 6 |
| Greenock | 3 6 | 2 6 | 6 0 | 5 0 | 7 0 | 6 0 | 8 0 | 6 6 | 1 0 | 1 0 | 9 0 | 6 6 |
| Largs | 1 6 | 1 0 | 2 6 | 2 0 | 3 6 | 2 6 | 4 6 | 3 6 | ||||
| Ardrossan | 1 6 | 1 0 | 2 6 | 2 0 | ||||||||
| Rothesay | 7 6 | 5 0 | ||||||||||
Young persons 8 to 14 years of age—half-price. Below eight years of age at
the discretion of the Master.
These rates were fixed by a Conference consisting of the proprietors of the following steamboats:—Albion, Argyle, Britannia, Clyde, Defiance, Duke of Wellington, Dumbarton Castle, Glasgow, Margaret, Marquis of Bute, Neptune, Prince of Orange, Rothesay Castle, and Waterloo, who agreed that the Fares taken from passengers travelling by any of the boats named should be according to the above table, and that no engagements should be entered into with families or individuals at rates below these fares. Passengers were allowed 28 lbs. of luggage free, excess luggage was charged at the rate of 10d. per cwt. from Glasgow to Greenock, and proportionately for any further distance.