The Illawarra Steam Navigation Company was a shipping company that serviced the south coast of New South Wales, Australia from 1858 to the early 1950s. It was formed through the amalgamation of the General Steam Navigation Company, the Kiama Steam Navigation Company and the Shoalhaven Steam Navigation Company, each of whom serviced parts of the south coast with their respective vessels. After merging, the new company held a near monopoly in regard to shipping on the south coast, and their fleet visited every significant port between Sydney and the border of Victoria. The company transported both passengers and a range of produce, including livestock, and hence it became known as the 'Pig and Whistle Line': it was said that ships would wait an hour for a pig but not a minute for a passenger.
Sophia Jane was the first paddle steamer to operate in the coastal waters of New South Wales (NSW). She was launched on the Thames in 1826 and arrived in Sydney in May 1831.
HMCS Integrity was a cutter built by the Colonial Government of New South Wales in 1804. She was the first vessel ever launched from a New South Wales dockyard and carried goods between the colony's coastal settlements of Norfolk Island, Newcastle, New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land and Port Jackson. In 1804 she took part in a series of voyages to Van Diemen's Land with the aim of founding a colony at Port Dalrymple, the site of the modern settlement of George Town, Tasmania.
Britannia was a 301 burthen ton full-rigged whaler built in 1783 in Bridport, England, and owned by the whaling firm Samuel Enderby & Sons. She also performed two voyages transporting convicts to Port Jackson. She was wrecked in 1806 off the coast of New South Wales.
Estramina, originally called Extremeña, a two-masted schooner of 102 tons, was built at Guayaquil, in the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, now in modern-day Ecuador, and launched on 13 October 1803. A Spanish Naval vessel, it was pierced for 12 guns but was armed with only four 4-pounders and carried a crew of 18. It was commanded by Lieutenant Mariano Isasbiribil, and engaged in hydrographical surveys.
HMS Hindostan was a 50-gun two-decker fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She was originally a teak-built East Indiaman named Admiral Rainier launched at Calcutta in 1799 that the Royal Navy brought into service in May 1804. Before the Royal Navy purchased her, Admiral Rainier made two trips to England for the British East India Company (EIC), as an "extra ship", i.e., under charter. Perhaps her best known voyage was her trip to Australia in 1809 when she and Dromedary brought Governor Lachlan Macquarie to replace Governor William Bligh after the Rum Rebellion. In later years she became a store ship, and in 1819 was renamed Dolphin. She was hulked in 1824 to serve as a prison ship, and renamed Justitia in 1831. She was finally sold in 1855.
The Eleanor Lancaster was a 3-masted barque built at Maryport in 1839. Launched in 1840, and initially registered in Liverpool, it was operated by David Laidman (named after his wife, Eleanor Ann Hannah née Lancaster, with Captain P.Cowley as captain. In 1845, the ship was re-registered in London and was operated by Soutter & Co, with Captain Francis Lodge in command.
Francis was a 41 tons (bm) colonial schooner that was partially constructed at the Deptford Dockyard, England, and sent in frame aboard the Pitt to Australia to be put together for the purposes of exploration. The vessel had originally been designed for George Vancouver’s discovery voyage of the west coast of North America.
Albion was a full-rigged whaler built at Deptford, England, and launched in 1798. She made five whaling voyages to the seas around New South Wales and New Zealand. The government chartered her in 1803 to transport stores and cattle, to Risdon Cove on the River Derwent, Tasmania.
Queen Charlotte was a merchant ship built at Sydney, New South Wales in 1813. She made two voyages transporting convicts from Bengal and Mauritius to Australia. She disappeared c.1832 while on a whaling voyage.
Eliza was a merchant ship built in British India, probably in 1804. Between 1819 and 1831 she made five voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. In between, she also made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). Her crew abandoned her at sea in 1836 as she was leaking uncontrollably.
Isabella was a merchant ship built on the Thames, England, and launched in 1818. She made six voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. In between, she made one round trip to China for the British East India Company (EIC). From her launch to 1834 she traded with India and the Far East under a license from the EIC. From 1848 on served in the North America trade. She is last listed in 1850.
Hooghly was a full-rigged merchant ship built on the Thames, England, and launched in 1819. She made two voyages under charter to the British East India Company (EIC), four voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia, as well as voyages transporting emigrants to South Australia between 1839 and 1856. Around 1858 she was re-rigged as a barque. She sank off Algiers in 1863.
The New Zealand Company was a 19th-century English company that played a key role in the colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principles of systematic colonisation devised by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of a new-model English society in the southern hemisphere. Under Wakefield's model, the colony would attract capitalists who would then have a ready supply of labour—migrant labourers who could not initially afford to be property owners, but who would have the expectation of one day buying land with their savings.
Queen Cristina was a steam cargo ship built in 1896 by Bartram & Sons of Sunderland for Thomas Dunlop & Sons of Glasgow. The ship was designed and built for general cargo trade and spent her career doing tramp trade. She was named after Queen Cristina of Spain, and was the first ship named Queen Cristina in service with the Queen Line.
The Queen Bee was a wooden carvel Twin-screw steamer built in 1907 at the Rock Davis shipyard at Blackwall, New South Wales, that was wrecked when she sprang a leak whilst carrying coal between Newcastle and Sydney. She was lost off Barrenjoey Head, Broken Bay, New South Wales on 2 September 1922.
Kanimbla was a "K-class" ferry on Sydney Harbour. Launched in 1910, the timber-hulled steamer was built for Sydney Ferries Limited during the boom in cross-harbour ferry travel prior to the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Kanimbla was renamed "Kurra-Ba" in 1935. She was laid up in the 1940s and broken up in the 1950s.
Kookooburra was a "K-class" ferry on Sydney Harbour. Commissioned in 1907, the timber-hulled steamer was built for Sydney Ferries Limited during the boom in cross-harbour ferry travel prior to the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. She was retired from Sydney Harbour service in 1947 after which she was sent to Newcastle. She is thought to have been broken up in 1959.
Denmark Hill was launched at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1809, under another name. She was taken in prize and in 1814 her new owners renamed her. She then spent another 25 years as a merchant ship. She transferred her registry to New South Wales and was lost there in 1839. During this time she also made some voyages as a whaler in the waters off New Zealand.
Dryade was launched at Bristol in 1825. She traded between England and Peru, the Indian Ocean, and then spent most of her career trading between England and New South Wales. Her crew and passengers abandoned her circa March 1841 when she developed a leak while sailing from Mauritius to London.
Australia 