He would like to know if anyone has any idea what sort of boat it was.
In the following census returns he was living in Forrester Street, Engine Street and Victoria Street.
Pat says: "We couldn't find Victoria Street named on the Map but knew from the census that it was close to Engine Street.
If anyone has information of help, please contact Pat at the Centre or post a reply on the Brigg Heritage Centre's Facebook page.
Read more Brigg news at http://www.scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk/brigg
6 comments:
I think perhaps that Victoria Street was a c19th street that ran off south from Engine Street, parallel and to the west of St James' Street (not St James Road).
In fact the street remains in moribund.....from Engine Street, behind a wire fence/gate, the footprint of Victoria Street - squint a bit and ignore the vegetation and the width - kerb to kerb - becomes quite clear.
There was a Paddle-Steamer - PS Yorkshireman that was built in Thorn in 1822 - it was built for the Hull to London route.
It was only 200 tons - about the same displacement of the Humber/Yorkshire keels that came to Brigg - but being a PS. it would have been too wide to pass the sluice at South Ferriby......but as a cargo vessel it would have picked up/dropped off cargo on the South Bank.
.......about the same time, there was a small packet paddle steamer - about 70 tons - 'PS Elizabeth' that offered daily return trips from Brigg to Hull....it was still operating circa 1840.
Just a thought - coastal trade was vital in the first part of the c19th...but by about 1850, the railway network linked most towns and villages.....and consequently, coastal shipping declined rapidly.
Was the PS Yorkshireman and the Yorkshireman, mentioned in the article the same boat. Surmising, was PS Yorkshireman scrapped and the paddles removed to become a live-aboard boat on the Ancholme.
Unlike most coastal cargo vessels of the time. the Yorkshireman did have a number of posh passenger cabins for its sailings from Hull to the Tower wharf on the Thames.
B4 I get too boring .....I mentioned St James' St, so I'll carry on.....
'St James' is an historic name in Brigg....
a. The Charter for Brigg Fair indicated that it was held on The Feast of St James' - 25th July....
b. B4 St John's Church was built, there were previously 2 x Chapel of Ease in the Market Place (which was until quite recently, Bridge St.) dedicated to St James. The last one was built in the c18th....and a model, of which, is kept in St John's.
But why was the parish church dedicated to St John....and not to St James?
One may think that a paddle boat as old fashioned, but they had a special purpose, particuarly in shallow rivers, or rivers with underwater sand-banks (shoals).
Unlike most hulls - 'V' shaped, paddle-steamers were flat-bottomed and the paddles were just above the bottom (draught) of the boat.
Boats powered by propellors (screws) had their props revving below the boat, which exposed them to damage if the vessel grounded, or encountered an under-water obstruction.
Similarly, the flat bottom of a paddle-steamer allowed the boat to sit on a shoal without tipping sideways - and just wait for a rising tide to re-float the boat.
The Lincoln Castle at al were paddle-steamers with flat-bottoms - ideally suited to the Humber (and Thames).....
Now we have hovercraft and multi-hulled jet-boats - like the Thames' river buses that serve the same, but modern purpose.....
......and some sailing yachts are bilge-keeled - that is that they have 2 keels.....not very good for racing yachts, but ideal for yachtsmen who sail in shallow water - ie the Humber, the Thames.
Underwater shoals move and it is very likely that any sailor could be grounded on a sandbank - the bilge keel allows the hull to remain upright while waiting for the tide to change for a re-float....
Indeed, many bilge-keelers purposely ground themselves on such famous shoals as the Goodwin Sands - where there is an annual cricket match event just of the Thames estuary...
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