Tod & Macgregor Shiplist

Notes:

             This steamer was about the same size as the Prince of Wales. She worked between Belfast and Fleetwood from November 1843 until 1845, being run by the Fleetwood and Ardrossan Steam Packet Co. She then moved to the North Lancashire Steam Navigation Co. In 1850-51 Royal Consort, with Princess Alice and Fenella, were placed on the Glasgow (London)derry route, meeting the Train from Glasgow at Troon. Runs were also made to (London)derry and Portrush.

          Railway passenger services from Troon Harbour ceased at the end of October 1850. In February 1851 Royal Consort, Princess Alice and Fenella returned to the Fleetwood station.

          In 1861 Princess Alice was employed for a short time on the Belfast-Silloth and Dublin-Silloth crossings. She also made a few trips between (London)derry and Fleetwood when attempts were made to reopen the route in 1849 and 1856.

[Irish Passenger Steamship Services, D.B. McNeill]

[West Coast Steamers, Duckworth & Legmuir]

            Owned by Frederick K Kemp from 1855 and sold to James Holmes 1859.

[Railway & other Steamers, Duckworth & Legmuir]

          "The Bywell Castle was in collision with the Princess Alice, in the Thames, on September 3rd, 1878. The Princess Alice, licensed to carry 936 persons, was supposed to have been carrying almost 700 when struck. She was literally cut in half and sank almost instantly.

          The Captain of the Princess Alice lost his life. His 1st Mate, Long, said the Bywell Castle was seen when 150 yards off and shouts were raised and the steam-whistle sounded to warn her off. Conversely, the Captain of the Bywell Castle blamed the Princess Alice for starboarding her helm when she ought to have continued on the port helm. It was said in the press that Thames navigation seemed happy-go-lucky with each pilot doing what seemed right in his own eyes, accommodating the movements of his vessel to the exigencies of the tide and the circumstances of the moment.

          Lord Sandon proposed that a Committee should be appointed consisting of one member from Trinity House, one from the Admiralty, one from the Steamship Owners' Association of London and three from the Board of Trade to consider the Rule of the Road, lights, signals, speed, number of passengers carried, appliances for saving life and the hours during which passengers could be carried by river steamers. It was said that the London Steamboat Company laid a claim in the Admiralty Court against the owners of the Bywell Castle for £20,000 as compensation for the loss of the Princess Alice.

            Visitors to the scene of the wreck visited in large numbers and became so unruly, taking away souvenirs, that the police had to restore order. It was also rumoured that valuable items were removed from dead bodies."

(From the Illustrated London News, 1878)