Builders: Barclay, Curle & Co 1863
Propulsion type: Paddle, steeple engine
Owners: Capt D Stewart, Wemyss Bay Steamboat Co Ltd, Gillies & Campbell, Duncan Dewar, Hill & Co
Service dates: 1863- 1892
Tonnage: Gross
Comments:
This successful little iron built steamer (shown here on the right, on a busy Glasgow Fair weekend, with PS Benmore far left and PS Carrick Castle centre), was originally named Victory and was built for Capt Duncan Stewart, who made money by selling steamers on at a profit. At a time when her contemporaries were being sold as blockade runners to the Confederate States, she sailed from Glasgow to Rothesay on alternate summer days to PS Eagle. During 1864 her owner was fined for racing and "placing her passengers in danger" with PS Vivid between Greenock and Kilmun, a practice frowned upon, but surprisingly common. She was sold for £5000 in 1865 to expand the over ambitious services of the Wemyss Bay Steamboat Co and her lack of punctuality to the advertsied services caused many complaints. Later that year, a more sensible timetable had to be drawn up, as the initial one just could not be met. In 1869 she was sold again and then in 1870, when she was renamed Marquis of Lorne by Donald Dewar, who used her for his Sunday trade, a service which was not seen as entirely respectable by many. After 12 years she was sold again to Hill & Co and renamed Cumbrae for the crossing to Millport from Fairlie Pier. In 1892 she was withdrawn when the Glasgow and South Western Railway introduced their own steamers (having previously sub contracted to Hills). She then languished for some years in disuse, before ending her days as a coal hulk at Newry.