The first three steamers employed by the St. George Co. in trading to and from Cork, were the Lee and Severn, both built in Liverpool in 1825 (the former for the Liverpool trade and the latter for the Bristol trade), and the Superb, built by Mr. William Evans, London.
The St. George Co. extended its operations with marvellous rapidity, until its steamers were to be found in almost every port in the United Kingdom, and in the chief ports of Holland, Denmark, and Russia. It owned several famous steamers, one of which, on the authority of Jeffry in “A Century of our Sea Story,” made the first steam voyage between Great Britain and Australia. This was the Sophia Jane, a vessel of 256 tons and 50 h.p., built by William Evans, London, and first employed between London Bridge and Gravesend. When first placed on this station, her owners were involved in an action at law to prove their right to navigate the river. They won their action from the Watermen’s Company, and soon the first Gravesend Steam Ferry was started. The Sophia Jane plied on the Thames until 1828, when she began to make longer voyages, running for some months between Portsmouth and Plymouth, afterwards under the St. George flag, between Liverpool and Douglas (Isle of Man), later between London and Calais, and finally made her great voyage from England to Australia. She arrived at Port Jackson Heads in May, 1831, three months after leaving the Thames, thus making the first steam voyage between Great Britain and Australia, and the longest voyage under steam down almost to the fifties.
Unfortunately the management of the St. George Co. was not all that could be desired, and the late Mr. Ebenezer Pike, of Bessborough, Blackrock, County Cork, convened a meeting of the shareholders which was held at Cork on the 17th February, 1843. Prior to the meeting, Mr. Pike had forwarded to each shareholder a copy of a circular in which he proposed (a) to form a Company with a capital of £50,000 in 1,000 shares of £50 each; and (b) to build a new steamer of 500 to 600 tons burthen and 300 h.p.
The circular was discussed at the meeting, but no definite decision was arrived at. Mr. Pike, however, did not allow the matter to rest. In October following, so far as Cork was concerned, the title “St. George” was dropped, and the title “City of Cork Steamship Co.” (afterwards shortened to “Cork Steamship Co.”) was adopted in its stead. Mr. William Wilson, the founder of the firm of Wilson, Son & Co., was the first general manager at Cork, and Mr. McTear the Liverpool agent. Nor did Mr. Pike abandon the idea of the new steamer, for on the 26th September, 1843, Messrs. Thomas Vernon & Son built to his order the steamship Nimrod.
The following year the Company was virtually re-constructed, and the Cork Steamship Co. was formed with a capital of £170,000, in 1,700 shares of £100 each. The first Directors were, Messrs. Ebenezer Pike, John Gould, James Connell, Joseph Hayes, and William Lane, all merchants belonging to Cork.
At the date of the re-construction of the Company, the St. George Steam Packet Co. owned about 20 steamers. Most of them were disposed of to various buyers, the new management retaining seven, viz., the Lee, Severn, Tiger, Jupiter, Victory, Ocean, and Sirius.
The Lee and Severn have already been referred to. The Tiger was a steamer of 389 tons, built at Hull in 1838. She was 156 feet long, by 26 feet beam, and 18 feet deep. She was rigged as a two-masted schooner and had a tiger figurehead. Originally she was intended for the St. George Hull and Hamburg service; was taken over by the Cork Steamship Co. in 1844, and sold by them in 1851 to London buyers.
The Jupiter was a vessel of 360 tons, built at Greenock in 1835. Transferred to the Cork Steamship Co. in 1844, and sold by them to London buyers in 1847.
The Victory was a Liverpool built steamer of 256 tons, built in 1832. The Cork Steamship Co. did not retain possession of her long, but sold her in 1846 to the Malcomsons of Waterford, who employed her in their Limerick and London service.
