PS Sophia Jane
c.1828 There is conflicting evidence regarding the date and builder of the SOPHIA JANE. Sandham and Ravenhill give the year as 1828 and the builders as Barnes and Miller, Steam Engine Manufacturers, off Glass House Fields, Ratcliffe. The Waterman’s History gives the same year, but built by Evans, Rotherhithe. In “Pacific Steamers” by W. Lawson, reference is made to the SOPHIA JANE, and that writer gives the year as 1826, and the builders as Barnes & Miller. These last particulars have been accepted as correct.
The SOPHIA JANE was built to run between London, Gravesend and Margate and did so for a time. In dimensions she was 126 feet by 20 feet and of 256 tons burthen with engines of 50 n.p.h. She ran later between London and Calais and was subsequently sold to the St. George Steam Packet Co, Liverpool and ran between Liverpool and Douglas.
Her greatest achievement was when she steamed out to Australia, after being purchased by a Sydney firm. She arrived at Sydney on i6th May, 1831, calling at Pernambuco and the Cape on the way out. She ran on the Australian coastal traffic until 1845, when she was broken up and her engines put into the PHOENIX, a vessel which had been built for them. The SOPHIA JANE Australia’s first steamship.
See Also
Sources of Information
- 'Steamers of the Thames and Medway' by Frank Burtt