On June 27, 1816, there was a notice in the Glasgow papers:—

“We understand the Prince of Orange steamboat arrived at the quay of Paisley upon the evening of Tuesday last, and sailed next morning with passengers for Greenock and Gourock. This having been the first steamboat that had sailed up the Cart, a vast crowd assembled to witness her arrival at Paisley.”

Steamboat sailings from Paisley are occasionally documented through the following years but it was in the 1830s that a regular service was introduced, leading to the first serious attempt to improve the Cart for navigation.

David Napier brought out the little wooden paddle steamer Cupid in 1828. Her hull was constructed by John Wood’s yard and the 10 h.p. engine was built by Napier himself. Initially Cupid was placed on the Glasgow to Greenock and Kilmun station. However, at that time, railways were beginning to compete with the canals and methods for improved traction for canal traffic were sought. The Forth and Clyde Canal had locks 20 feet wide, well suited for small steam vessels, and Mr. Murray, inspector of works carried out a series of trials with Cupid under the direction of Mr. J. Watt, son of the famous improver of the steam engine. The trials revealed that the steamer made no more wash than a horse-drawn vessel at the same speed. Indeed, up to speeds of four or five miles an hour, the wash did not damage the canal while the cost of working was about one-half that for horse-drawn traction. There is a report of a passenger steamboat service using Thomas Grahame’s steamboat Cupid for some time afterwards.

Small steamboat of the 1830s on the Clyde at Blythswood

Following her success on the canal, Cupid was the first steamboat tried on the River Cart. In Fowler’s Directory for Renfrewshire for 1830-31, there is an entry referring to steamboats from Paisley: “The Cupid and Kilmun steamers, start from the Quay daily; Boards announcing the destination and hours of departure, may be seen at Thomas Orr’s, (old post office) 86 Moss Street.” There had always been interest in extending steamboat service to Paisley but the difficulties in navigating the Cart provided a significant challenge. The following year Cupid was sailing from Glasgow to Greenock and Kilmun, now sold and renamed Gleniffer, was the Paisley steamer.

Around 1832, Cupid was transferred to Loch Fyne to replace Thalia on Napier’s route to Inveraray by Loch Eck. She remained there until the latter part of 1835 when Napier sold his steamboats. In April of the following year she is registered with T. Parry at Liverpool where she served as a Mersey Ferry.

The small wooden paddle steamer, Kilmun, was constructed in 1829, possibly indicating the usefulness of the Cupid and an improved version of the little steamer. Like Cupid she was first placed on the Kilmun service from Glasgow and then in 1831, joined Cupid in providing a service from Paisley to Greenock and Kilmun. Although her name was changed to Gleniffer, she became known locally as “Wur ain boat Seestu,” beloved by the people of Paisley. Early in 1835, she suffered serious mechanical problems and then ongoing work to improve the Cart closed the waterway and meant that she could no longer sail from Paisley. When she reappeared, Gleniffer had been purchased by Messrs Thomson & M‘Dougal, to be employed by them as a tug to tow coal barges from the coal wharf at the foot of Wellington Street to Tennent’s Works at Dalmuir. She was sold to a company at Dartmouth in 1836, and in her voyage south, was wrecked near Penzance. All on board were saved.

The Paisley area came through the cholera epidemic of 1832 and a severe trade down-turn in the early years of the decade, to experience considerable expansion and prosperity. In 1834 the Paisley and Renfrew Railway Company issued their prospectus, for the construction a railway between Paisley and Renfrew Ferry and making a wharf at Renfrew to connect with the river traffic. Although it would provide direct access to the river steamers on the Clyde, it was a venture doomed from the start and was not connected to the main railway network till the 1860s. The capital stock of the company was proposed at £15,000, divided into 1500 shares, power being reserved to increase the amount if found necessary. The survey of the line was completed by the beginning of November, and by the 10th of that month £11,000 in capital had been subscribed. On the 25th of September there was a ceremony to begin construction at the Stane Acre Renfrew. “There Provost Hutchison lifted a spadeful of earth, and expressed a hope that the undertaking would be successful. The day being unfavourable, after a deal of cheering the Company returned to the inn and sat down to dinner.”

The Railway was opened in April 1837 with two locomotives, The Paisley and The Renfrew constructed by Messrs Murdock, Aikin & Co. of Glasgow. A third locomotive was purchased from the Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway. However, the initial excitement was limited with competition from traffic on the Cart where work had also been progressing to make the river navigable. The Railway Company built a wharf at Renfrew and provided strong encouragement for steamboats to call at the wharf when passing up and down the river. Although there was never to be any charge for calling at the wharf the inconvenience of calling and the consequent loss of a few minutes meant that there was some reluctance from the steamboat proprietors. However, once the regular call was established the Railway Company suggested that the cost of the personnel should be the responsibility of the steamboat owners, amounting to one shilling each week. Soon the charge evolved into three-pence a call and within a year or so had risen to four-pence ha’penny. When the Railway Company refused to give assurances on the rising costs of wharf-age, the steamboat proprietors revolted. A notice in the Glasgow Herald in June 1840 intimated that the steamboat proprietors would no longer call at the wharf as of July 1st 1840, but would pick up passengers from ferry-boats as previously. Passenger numbers further declined with the opening of the Glasgow, Paisley, and Greenock Railway in 1840 and a following a severe trade downturn of the early 1840s cost cutting resulted in the line reverting to horse haulage in 1842.

Simultaneous with the construction of the Renfrew Railway, work on deepening the Cart was pursued. Indeed, many people considered the river the proper means of communication with the Clyde. In 1836 there were about 70 or 80 men employed on the project and the main obstacle was a large rock at Nethercommon. A coffer-dam was constructed and the bed of the river exposed to allow work on the rock. A dredging machine was also built. The engine and boiler were made by the local firm of Barr & M‘Nab, but they refused to start the machinery as the hull was not strong enough. The Town Council brought in John Wood of Port Glasgow to give an opinion and he recommended the insertion of iron diagonals to strengthen the hull. Mr. Todd, of Glasgow was brought in to get the machinery started but his engineer found that Barr & McNab had removed the slide valve. Eventually the Town Council paid for the machinery on the 14th November, 1836, and the dredger was in operation a week later. However, the dredging plant drew too much water to be of use.

Paisley Habour in 1907 with Puffer Isa

As the Cart navigation was closed in 1835 for the improvements, passenger service was suspended and the good folk of Sneddon had to make their way to the “water neb” to catch a steamer to the coast. When the Cart was opened for traffic, after the improvements, by the beginning of June, 1837, the first steamer that came up was the Caledonia. As there was no room to turn in the river, she was backed up, and attracted many spectators as she lay at Paisley quay. A large number of passengers and an accompanying band embarked for Largs. The Caledonia continued to ply on the Cart for some time and is mentioned as the Paisley steamer in 1840. However, Caledonia was not really suitable for the Paisley station. There remained a hard sill of rock on the river bottom that presented a problem for the steamboats and a smaller vessel was required.

The improvements to the Cart allowed shipbuilding to begin on the river. On the 1st of March, 1838, the first steamer ever built on the Cart, Royal Victoria, was launched. She was built of iron by Messrs Barr & M‘Nab of the Abercorn Foundry, and was 125 feet in length by 14 feet broad. At 45 tons, she drew 14 inches of water without her machinery and was pulled on rollers by block and tackle to a field opposite Carlisle’s Mill, where she was put into the water broadside. She was powered by an engine of 70 hp, and on the 13th of April, 1838, went down the river. “She ran from the mouth of the Cart to Greenock in one hour and a quarter. She drew 2ft. 9ins. of water. Her cabin was 12ft broad and seated to the length of 25ft. The figurehead represented the Queen with a sceptre in her hand and crowned, although the coronation ceremony had not then been performed. The stern windows had a portrait of the Queen, above which was the Regalia and the Paisley Arms below.”

On the 28th of April, 1838, the following advertisement appeared:—

“Messrs Barr & M‘Nab beg most respectfully to Announce to the Inhabitants of Paisley and Vicinity that their Splendid and Powerful Steam Packet, the Royal Victoria, will make her first public trip from the Sneddon Wharf, on Tuesday the 1st of May, at Seven o’Clock Morning, to Greenock, Gourock, Dunoon, Largs and round the Cumbraes, returning by Largs, where she will remain One Hour, and again proceed homewards, calling at the above mentioned Ports.”

The patronage given to the Royal Victoria was insufficient to maintain her on the Cart. She was soon, therefore withdrawn from the river, and ran for a time between Glasgow, Largs, and intervening ports. In the month of June, 1838, she was advertised for sale. The sale was not forthcoming and Mr. Barr continued in ownership although Royal Victoria was managed by Hamilton, Brothers, & Co. in 1839, sailing from Dunoon at 5:00 every morning and 1:30 in the afternoon, returning from the Broomielaw at 9:45 in the morning and 5:30 in the afternoon. She was advertised for sale again on March 18th 1840 and was sold to A. McConnell and D. Chapman of Glasgow who later in the year advertised her for charter to private parties who did not find the regular steamboat schedules convenient. There appears to have been a glut of relatively new iron steamships that had trouble finding employment at the time.

The Royal Victoria was advertised as the new fast-sailing iron steamer of “58 tons register, exclusive of engine rooms. &c., handsomely and substantially fitted up as a passage boat, with a light draught of water; built in Paisley in 1838 and run but a few months. Her engine is a 43 5/8th inches cylinder, of the most approved construction, and highly finished, was made by Messrs. Barr & M‘Nab, cost £3,000 but in order to effect a sale, will be put up at the low upset price of £1,000.”

“For Hire or Charter on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays (Anywhere within six hour sail of the Broomielaw). The fast and powerful steamer, Royal Victoria, at a moderate rate. Respectable pleasure parties will find this much more agreeable and convenient way of visiting any of the beautiful Lochs, Islands, or Scenery on the Banks of the Clyde, than by travelling with mixed company, and at fixed hours.—Apply to Thomson & Macconnell, 15 Jamaica Street. Glasgow 22nd July, 1840.”

The following year, 1841, Robert Napier acquired her for the Gareloch service where she was gainfully employed until she was sold to the Railway Steam Packet Co. of Greenock in 1842 to run in connection with their trains. When they withdrew from steamboat owning and sold their interests to G. & J. Burns three years later, she returned to her Paisley builders who then sold her on to the Tay.

As a replacement for the Royal Victoria, a second-hand steamer was purchased. She had been built by John Wood in 1832 as the Castle Finn, sailing out of Londonderry where she was to have sailed on the upper reaches of the Foyle. However, the upper-reaches proved difficult to navigate and she then sailed on Loch Foyle so that her name was changed to Moville. She returned to the Clyde in 1834 and was offered for sale on October 18th, being described as having spent two years on Loch Foyle, built in the Spring of 1832 by John Wood with machinery by Robert Napier, 30 h.p., 70 ft long, 12 ft in breadth and drawing 2 ft 6 in when light. At that time she was purchased for service on Loch Lomond and renamed Balloch. The service on Loch Lomond did not last long and Balloch was offered for sale in March 1838 with dimensions of 75ft by 12ft with a 3ft draft, and a 25hp engine. Bought for service on the Cart, she was renamed Paisley, generally pronounced by the Buddies as “Pacela,” and sailed on the river for two more years. Every male shareholder was under the impression that he had as much right to give orders as the skipper himself with chaotic results.

James Wotherspoon relates that his grandfather, a patron though not a shareholder, embarked with his wife to sail to his favourite summer resort of “Lairgs” that was a regular call for the Paisley. “The steamer had to start at varying hours to suit the tide and on the day the tide was an early one that required an untimely hour for the departure of the Paisley from the Sneddon Quay. Promptness and punctuality were not features of the management of the Paisley so that the tide had been on the ebb for some time before the vessel forged ahead into mid-stream. It had only gone a short distance when it “smelt” the ground and remained fast! However, that was nothing unusual. The couple’s son, crossing the bridge about midday was astonished to see the Paisley almost high and dry, while his father and mother were sitting quite contentedly partaking of the refreshments which they had brought with them as the steamer provided little in that way, and calmly waiting until the evening tide would float the steamer off!! “Your no awa’ yit John” remarked a passer by from the bridge to a passeneger “No yit but wu’ll be awa’ belyve!!” answered his friend. The sun would have long set behind the Cumbraes and twilight would have deepened into night ere the Paisley landed its passengers on Largs pier during that trip.”

At each pier where the Paisley touched, the little steamer was the popular subject for a joke. Particularly at Greenock, that was the case. There, the boys, if the tide happened to be low, when the Paisley called, had great fun throwing stones and any other missiles down the funnel which was not much higher than the level of the quay at low water.

“During one of the runs to Largs, the Paisley met with heavy weather after rounding the Cloch. The strong head wind and rough seas tried the machinery of the steamer so much that it arrived at Largs with too little fuel to allow it to continue its trip to Millport against the grey waves which were rolling up the Firth. After having made the Paisley fast to Largs pier the skipper and the engineer went ashore to arrange for “coaling” the steamer. “Whaur will ah pit thay coals” asked the coal agent, when the skipper had arranged with him for a supply. “You’ll see a hole in the deck jist pit them doon there” replied that worthy who along with the engineer then went off to see the town. After the coals had been taken to the steamer, the agent went on board, but as the crew had also gone ashore there was no one to give directions. He went aft and seeing a “hole” gave orders for the coals to be put into it. Imaging the feelings and “words” of the skipper when he found, on his return, that the “hole” into which the coals had been thrown was the entrance to the cabin!!”

“The owners of the Paisley had once only the enterprise and daring to arrange a trip from Paisley to Ayr! The occasion being the Burns birthday celebrations, and the date the 25th of January, that time of year when Robert’s character gets its “spring cleaning” and annual whitewashing. Like the poet’s natal day its anniversary on this particular year was stormy. Notwithstanding, the Paisley duly started, the tide being suitable for an early sailing. Although the keeper of the bridge at Inchinnan, which requires to be raised to allow vessels to pass, knew that the Paisley was to sail, he, hearing the wild blasts of the storm surging round his house, decided that the skipper would never start in such weather therefore he did not think of raising the bridge. Meantime the Paisley proceeded down stream in the long darkness of the winter’s morning, the skipper fully expecting the bridge would be open as usual. Too late, he saw his mistake, the Paisley smashed against the closed bridge, the mast going overboard, and as the funnel crashed to the deck the skipper jumped on to the bank exclaiming as he did so “Am ashore, iverry man for himsel”! I do not think that anyone was injured. Thus ended the Paisley’s intended trip to “the land of Burns”.”

The early 1840s saw a severe depression hit the West of Scotland and Paisley in paticular. About 150 of the leading business men in town failed. By the time the economy began to improve, a Parliamentary Commission was able to report that pawnbrokers were complaining that the population had nothing left to pawn. Needless to say, the steamer service from Paisley was an early casualty and the Paisley was sold in April, 1840. She appears to have undergone and extensive overhaul and likely reappeared as “the new swift steamer” Dumbuck in 1842.

“To be sold on Wednesday 1st April, 1840.

“The steamer Paisley of the burthen per register of 37 tons. She was built by Mr. Wood of Port-Glasgow in 1832, and the engine and machinery, which are of the best construction, were made by Mr. Napier, Glasgow; measures in length 79 ft., breadth 11 ft, and has an engine of 30 hp. Last summer she was completely overhauled, and had a new boiler put into her, which was not used two months. At present she is well found in every department, and could commence to ply without incurring any expense. From her light draft of water and accommodation, she is well adapted for a river passenger boat, or plying on a ferry. For farther information and particulars of sale, application may be made to Mr. Brown, County Buildings, Paisley, where the vessel may be seen. Paisley 13th March, 1840.”

On 15th August, 1842, The Swift new steamer Dumbuck, Captain Lang, was advertised. “To Dumbarton, the new steamer Dumbuck, Capt Lang, sails every morning from the foot of the quay at 7; every forenoon at 1/2 past 11, and every Afternoon at 4 o’clock. Fares—Cabin Fourpence—Steerage, twopence. Glasgow 29th August 1842.”

The notation that the steamer was new is somewhat of a misnomer. In the naval returns of 1845, Dumbuck is listed as built in 1832 at Port Glasgow of 39 tons, 28 hp and of dimensions 99 ft 6 inches, breadth 11 ft 2 inches and depth 4 ft 0 inches. She was not considered capable of carrying armament. This was either an attempt to portray an older worn steamer as new, something unlikely to be successful, or a new name, or possibly to distinguish the steamer as a new Dumbuck as opposed to an older one. In both David Napier’s biography and in McLeod’s “History of the Lochlomond Steamboat Co.” it is reported that the Euphrosyne was sold to a Paisley Co. and renamed Dumbuck or Dunbuck. There is no other information on the steamer but she would have been operating in the mid 1830s and there is no record of a steamer of that name during that decade. It seems most probable that the Dumbuck was the improved Paisley. Incidentally, the steamer Robert Napier, often confused with the Castle Finn as the steamer that became the Balloch and subsequently the Dumbuck, is listed in the 1845 return as registered under her original name at Londonderry.

Regular steamboat service from Paisley never did recover although there were excursions and sailings throughout the following years.

Wotherspoon Collection, Mitchell Library, Glasgow

The Town of Paisley, J. W. C., Daily Express, Paisley, 1878