Talk:List of Murray–Darling steamboats

Latest comment: 2 years ago by Doug butler in topic Despatch & Dispatch

Enterprise

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I suspect that Enterprise is actually two separate boats, and so the row should be split in two accordingly. PS Enterprise describes the boat that was built 1876-1878 and is now owned by the National Museum of Australia. Mitch Ames (talk) 09:10, 8 April 2018 (UTC)Reply

Despatch & Dispatch

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Need clarification on this paddle boat:

Name Description Murray Service Owners Captains Barges Fate/Notes
Dispatch (often Despatch) 117 tons 111' long 1877– A. H. Landseer 1877 J. Tait 1877
J. Wallace
T. C. Goode 1908
G. Grundy 1910
W. R. F. Hanckel 1911
Built as mail steamer on the Lower Lakes.
Snagging duties 1910

Turns out that they are 2 separate boats:

  • Despatch built 1900 at Echuca (ex Tassy) by Charles Earnshaw - 65.5 ft x 13 ft x 4 ft - Most likely to be the one for 'Snagging duties 1910'
  • Dispatch built 1877 at Milang (official number 74781) by Thomas Smith and Frank Potts - 111.5 ft x 18.5 ft x 6.3 ft, 117.13 tons - Most likely to be the one 'Built as mail steamer on the Lower Lakes'. Dispatch left the rivers in 1899 (sold to Melbourne interests and renamed Bellarine)

Doug butler, are you able to help sort out the captains listed? -- ThylacineHunter (talk) 14:34, 5 September 2022 (UTC)Reply

Alas!! That was ten years ago! But clearly I assumed one vessel with two spellings and standardized on the more common, on the assumption that typesetters would have been agnostic. I still have Mudie somewhere (also not immune to slipups), and a couple of other books, and will see what I can find. In the meantime here is a table of those names, ripped from Murray-Darling steamboat people: Doug butler (talk) 23:07, 5 September 2022 (UTC)Reply
Name Born Died Owned Captained Notes
John Tait c. 1844 23 September 1915 Corowa 1892– Jupiter 1871, 1875, 1876
Princess Royal 1874, 1875
Dispatch 1877
Freetrader 1881
Albury 1881–1883
Ellen 1889
Pearl 1890, 1891
Corowa 1890–1895
Waradgery 1894
"Jack" Tait lived in Goolwa, later married to Agnes, and lived at Birkenhead, South Australia.
Jeffrey Wallace c. 1844 23 October 1906 Blanche (part)
Gertrude (part)
Bogan 1864
Blanche 1869–1875
Prince Alfred
Dispatch 1883
Bourke 1889
Victoria 1903
Partner Swannell & Wallace, owners of mail steamers Blanche and Gertrude operating in the Lower Lakes and Lower Murray; lived at Milang.
(Thomas) Charles Goode c. 1874 22 June 1947 Florence Annie
Milang 1909–
Murrabit
Renmark (part)
Pioneer 1906
Dispatch 1908
Florence Annie
Milang 1909
Ruby 1911
Mannum 1926
Murrabit 1939
Charles Goode was a son of Tom Goode, traded on Lower Murray and Lower Lakes.
George Grundy jun. c. 1861 18 April 1940 Brewarrina 1893
Decoy 1900
Murrumbidgee 1902–1904
Industry 1905, 1909, 1912,
1916, 1919, 1920, 1922
Dispatch 1910
Son of George Grundy, he lived at Goolwa. He became, in 1922, South Australia's first lockmaster, at Blanchetown. He was married to Florence Ellen (c. 1864 – 3 July 1922)
(Wilhelm Robert) Frederick Hanckel c. 1876 13 November 1947 Ventura 1909
Barwon 1910
Dispatch 1911
Wilcannia 1911
"Fred" Hanckel married Daisy Mazzarol (c. 1882 – 28 May 1911) of Mannum in 1909; they lived at Waikerie.

I am working on updating the list and adding missing info. I have a copy of "Paddle Boats of the Murray-Darling River System" by Brian Marshall, which has most of the missing info (dimensions, weight & hp). I've also amassed a very comprehensive list of boat names. I'm also working on making a list (from this one) of the Barges on the river. -- ThylacineHunter (talk) 03:08, 6 September 2022 (UTC)Reply

Have split row as suggested, added more info on Tait and Wallace from Trove and a few nice refs. Will do the same for the other three. Doug butler (talk) 07:38, 6 September 2022 (UTC)Reply