CAPTAIN R. W. SHEPHERD.
Captain Robert Ward Shepherd retired from active service in 1853, when he was appointed General Manager of the line. In 1864 the Steamers Company was incorporated by Act of Parliament under the name it now bears, the Ottawa River Navigation Company, of which Mr. Shepherd was President as long as he lived. Mr. Shepherd was born at Sherringham, County Norfolk, England, in 1819. He died at his country seat at Como, Quebec, August 29th, 1895, having been for fifty-five years closely identified with the progress of steam navigation on the Ottawa, and having earned for himself a high reputation. His brother, Captain H. W. Shepherd, who succeeded him in the command of the Lady Simpson in 1853, is now the commodore of the fleet—the oldest and most experienced captain on the Ottawa, who in all these years has not been chargeable for any accident to life or limb of the many thousands who have been committed to his care. The head office of the company is in Montreal, Mr. R. W. Shepherd, a son of the founder, being the Managing Director.
In the Province of Ontario.[62]
As already mentioned in the previous chapter, the Frontenac and the Queen Charlotte were the first two steamers in Upper Canada, launched respectively in 1816 and 1818. In 1824 another steamer was built for Hon. Robert Hamilton—the Queenston, of 350 tons—which was at first commanded by Captain Joseph Whitney and plied between Prescott, York and Niagara. The Canada, Captain Hugh Richardson, came out in 1826 and used to run from York to Niagara (36 miles) in four hours. The famous Alciope, of 450 tons, Captain Mackenzie, appeared in 1828, and plied with great éclat between Niagara, York, and Kingston, under the Hamilton flag.
The late Hon. John Hamilton, who for many years may almost be said to have controlled the passenger traffic on the Upper Canada route, commenced his connection with the steamboat business about the year 1830, when he built the Great Britain, of 700 tons, the largest vessel then on the lake. After this there was a rapid succession of steamers, and some very fine ones. The Cobourg, of 500 tons, Captain Macintosh, came out in 1833; the Commodore Barrie, 275 tons, Captain Patterson, in 1834. The Sir Robert Peel, 350 tons, one of the finest boats then on the lake, was seized and burned on the night of May 29th, 1838, by a gang of rebels headed by the notorious Bill Johnson. The Queen Victoria, Thomas Dick, commander, launched in 1837, was advertised to sail daily between Lewiston, Niagara and Toronto, connecting at Toronto with the William IV. for Kingston and Prescott. “This splendid fast sailing steamer is fitted up in elegant style, and is offered to the public as a speedy and safe conveyance.” The Sovereign, 500 tons, Captain Elmsley, R.N., Captain Dick’s City of Toronto, and the famous Highlander, Captain Stearns, began to run about 1840. The Chief Justice Robinson, Captain Wilder, the Princess Royal, Captain Twohey, and Captain Sutherland’s Eclipse were all noted steamers in their day. The Traveller and the William IV., Captain Paynter, both powerful steamers, famous also for many years, ended their careers as tow-boats, the latter being conspicuous by her four funnels.
“These steamers, and others that could be named,” says one of my informants, “bring to mind good seaworthy ships, fit for any weather and commanded by able seamen. Nor was the steward’s department unworthy of the vessels. As good a breakfast and dinner was served on board as could be desired.” Such were some of the early steamboats in Upper Canada more than fifty years ago, for which the public are indebted to the Hon. John Hamilton, Mr. Alpheus Jones, of Prescott, Mr. Donald Bethune, of Cobourg, and Mr. Heron, of Niagara, as well as to Captains Dick, Sutherland and Richardson.
