TSS URALLA

Artist George Frederick Gregory [Jnr] (1857 - 1913)

Datec 1909

Object number00000045

NamePainting

MediumGouache and watercolour

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

New South Wales

DescriptionThis watercolour, attributed to George Frederick Gregory junior (1857-1913), shows a profile view of the coastal steamer TSS URALLA., built by Coopernook boatbuilder Dennis Sullivan for timber company AllenTaylor & Co.HistoryTSS URALLA was a wooden screw steamer of 200 tons built in 1908 at Coopernook, north of Forster New South Wales, by Dennis Sullivan for Allen Taylor & Co for their passenger and cargo trade. Launched on 30 May URALLA was towed to Syndey to have its Scottish-built engines fitted by Wildridge and Sinclair. Allen Taylor & Co. was established on the NSW north coast in 1893 by Allen Taylor (later Sir Allen) as a timber business. Taylor subsequently established mills and acquired ships - all allegedly built by Sullivan - to transport the timber to ports along the coast. URALLA operated mainly along the Bellinger and Nambucca Rivers and between Camden Haven and Sydney. URALLA was sold to the Illawarra & South Coast Steam Navigation Co. and renamed TILBA in 1911. In November 1912 TILBA was lost ashore at Wreck Bay on the south coast of NSW whilst on a passage from Narooma to Wollongong with a cargo of timber. The engine and boilers were salvaged and later installed in the BELMORE in 1914. This painting shows the URALLA passing a headland with lighthouse and flagstaff, most probably South Head in Sydney Harbour. A trading ketch is shown in the background. The ships flies the navy blue and white house flag of Allen Taylor & Co. - with the initials 'A' and 'T'. Note that there were two coastal steamers named URALLA - the later vessel was built in Scotland for the North Coast Steam Navigation Co. and steamed here in 1926. It was wrecked in 1928.SignificanceThis painting attributed to the important Australian marine painter George Frederick Gregory junior shows a typical Australian coastal steamer from the early 1900s. These ships were the backbone of Australian coastal shipping and cargo movement in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.