Images(2)

Paddle steamer BENELON

Date1880 -1899

Object number00056606

NamePhotograph

MediumPhotographic print on paper

DimensionsOverall: 120 x 162 x 1 mm,

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection

Terms

DescriptionThe ferry BENELON was a side-wheeled paddle steamer launched in 1885, alongside sister ferry BANGAROO. These North Shore Ferry Company vessels operated a punt service across Sydney Harbour from Milsons Point to Fort Macquarie in Sydney Harbour. BENELON sank in Berrys Bay in May 1923 after a collision with SS BURRINGBAR and was later salvaged. This photograph depicts BENELON during its heyday in connecting both sides of Sydney Harbour, including the diverse passengers and cargoes shuttled by small punt ferries.HistoryThis image depicts the ferry BENELON, a side-wheeled paddle steamer launched in 1885, alongside sister ferry BANGAROO. These North Shore Ferry Company vessels operated a punt service across Sydney Harbour from Milsons Point to Fort Macquarie, later connecting with the tram services at that terminus (Graeme Andrews, Ferries of Sydney, Sydney University Press in association with Oxford University Press, 1994, pp.34–58). This service would certainly align with the caption ‘Kirribilli Point North Shore’ on the reverse of the image. BENELON sank in Berrys Bay in May 1923 after a collision with SS BURRINGBAR and was later salvaged. The service operated by this vessel and its ilk was rendered largely redundant by the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932. SignificanceThis high-quality image depicts the busy nature of Sydney Harbour as a commercial port, anchorage for British and foreign warships, and a thoroughfare for local commuters and freight. Likely taken in the 1880s, this is rare in capturing a vessel not commonly photographed. The side-wheeled paddle steamer BENELON was a workaday ferry with little picturesque value.