Talk:List of Murray–Darling steamboats

Enterprise

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)

Despatch & Dispatch

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)

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)

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)

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)