The paddle ferry Old Glory on the River Tees at Stockton. The boat used to ply between Stockton and Newport. c1900. Craig Taylor and Co. Ltd. shipyard can also be seen. c1890s.
The paddle steamer Old Glory on the Tees
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
Can anyone let me know please, My ancestor, John Duncan captained a ship in 1855. Pottery from that ship is with my family, but we are unable to identify the initials H C on it, and assume it is the name of the ship. Is anyone able to confirm the name of it ?
The Lloyds Shipping Register for 1855 contains 6 ships withe names matching the initials HC. But none of those ships was carried a John Duncan as Master.
The same Register lists several ships with a J Duncan as Master. These ships sailed from home ports around the country. Do you know which port he sailed out of?
Thanks for your reply Cliff. The ship would probably have been in the river Tees or Tyne, around the Stockton, Middlesbrough area.
Duncan Bros. owned another passenger steamer called the ‘River Queen’. In December 1878 ‘The Royal Charlie’ & the ‘River Queen’ were making their journeys along the Tees in a dense fog when they collided with one another near Pearse’s shipyard. Fortunately there was no long term damage or casualties. 29/03/2012 20:31:04
Martin Dunnill
Another company which operated passenger steamboats in Stockton was Dixons. The 1879 post office directory for Durham lists; George Dixon, 2 Cleveland Row & John Thomas Dixon, One and a Half Cleveland Row, as steamboat & ship owners. Their steamboats bore names such as Forget-Me-Not, Prince Of Wales and Citizen Q.21/03/2012 12:29:33
The Royal Charlie was owned by Messrs Duncan Bros. Their paddle steamers used to transport people from Stockton to Newport and back. In May 1889 she was in collision with a tugboat from South Shields named The Victoria. The Royal Charlie had just left Newport laden with passengers, she was following her usual course when the tugboat appeared on the wrong side of the river and crashed into her destroying the paddlebox, bending the engine shaft and rendering her useless. The Victoria towed The Royal Charlie to Stockton where she was beached on the carrs at the south side of the river.14/03/2012 15:35:10
We have been advised by a visitor to the site that this vessel was not the Old Glory at all but a vessel called The Royal Charlie that was owned by his family. As far as the family are aware there was never a boat registered on the river using the name The Old Glory. (Team comment – could this have been a nickname given to the Royal Charlie by the locals – does anyone know?)