CHAPTER 2/ 9

FULL STEAM AHEAD

By the 1830s *Sophia Jane* (above) was running between Sydney and Wollongong, and in 1839, the Illawarra Steam Packet Company was established. After just three months, it merged with the Brisbane Water Steam Packet Company, forming the General Steam Navigation Company with a fleet of two wooden paddle steamers, the *Maitland* and *William IV*. The *Illawarra* came soon after.
PS Sophia Jane, watercolour, by Charles Dickson Gregory.
Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria Collection.

Shipping was key to European settlement on the NSW South Coast and adjoining tablelands. The eastern seaboard routes served as the highways in and out of, as well as around the district. In a region boasting such a rich supply of produce and natural resources, there was little delay before steam navigation began serving the area.

By the 1830s Australia’s economy was dominated by land-based industries. But moving produce and resources across vast distances, before railways delivered affordable and reliable transport, proved a challenge. Routes along Australia’s coastline and rivers provided the answer. A rich custom of maritime navigation resulted, linking people and places, and fostering new patterns of industry and trade. As settlement spread and demand for goods grew, shipping and the associated ports became integral to Australia’s economic and social story.

Sail initially ruled the waves, but with the introduction of steam power, colonial sea communications were revolutionised. New South Wales’ first steamship, the 256-ton paddle steamer Sophia Jane arrived in Sydney in 1831, the same year that the first locally-built steamer, William IV, was constructed on the Hunter River. Steampowered vessels soon dominated colonial coastal trade, providing greater manoeuvrability to cross the notoriously dangerous sandbars at the mouths of many eastern seaboard rivers and inlets.

The Hunter River Steam Navigation Company, founded in 1839, was the first New South Wales steamship line to survive for any length of time. In 1842, Scottish businessman Benjamin Boyd sent three steamers from England to establish his shipping line at Twofold Bay. By the early 1850s, two companies were operating in Tasmania and in 1857 the Grafton Steam Navigation Company was established.

To link ports further south from Wollongong, the Kiama and the Shoalhaven Steam Navigation Companies were both founded in 1854, the former running the Kiama and the latter the Nora Creina. However, when it became obvious that three competing concerns could not survive, they amalgamated in 1858 to form the ISN Co. The fleet was made up of Nora Creina, Kiama, Illawarra, and William IV, along with the river steamer Nowra. The Mimosa was purchased soon after.

A South Coast lifeline had been born.