''Water Witch'' (or ''Waterwitch'') was an early British wood-hulled

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses we ...

, built in 1835 at Harwich, England for steam packet services from Dover to London and to Boulogne. A successful fast ship, she was later operated on services on the South Coast of England and in the Bristol Channel

Description

''Water Witch'' was launched on 6 August 1835 by George Graham in the former Royal Naval Dockyard at Harwich,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

,''Water Witch'' was sometimes referred to as "government-built", presumably on the basis of being built in a former naval dockyard. completed her final outfitting on the River Thames, and arrived at Dover on 24 September 1835. She initially measured 89

tons burthen Builder's Old Measurement (BOM, bm, OM, and o.m.) is the method used in England from approximately 1650 to 1849 for calculating the cargo capacity of a ship. It is a volumetric measurement of cubic capacity. It estimated the tonnage of a ship bas ...

and the hull was long, in beam and deep.As a consequence of changes in regulations she was later measured as 130 GRT, 74 NRT, with dimensions x x She was engined with a 2-cylinder beam engine, made by

Maudslay, Sons and Field Maudslay, Sons and Field was an engineering company based in Lambeth, London. History The company was founded by Henry Maudslay as Henry Maudslay and Company in 1798 and was later reorganised into Maudslay, Sons and Field in 1833 after his sons ...

at Lambeth, of 80

horse power Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

and driving two side paddle wheels.

Service from Kent ports

The steamer was owned by John Hayward of Dover and others, including her builder George Graham, and captained by William Hayward. The Haywards were the first private operator of steam vessels from Dover, beginning with ''Sovereign'' in 1822. Built specifically for the steam packet services from Dover to London and to Boulogne, ''Water Witch'' proved to be a fast vessel, beating both British Post Office packet steamers and French state vessels in speed trials. Initially she was partnered on the London service by the steamer ''Dover Castle'' under Capt. Luckhurst, and on sailings to Boulogne by ''Royal George'' under Capt. Swaffer, but by 1837 was fully dedicated to the Boulogne route. On 24 June 1843, with the South Eastern Railway Company's line from London having reached Folkestone, ''Water Witch'' was specially chartered from Capt. Hayward for a trial trip by its directors and engineer, together with their guests, of a steam ferry service from

Folkestone Harbour Folkestone Harbour is the main harbour of the town of Folkestone in Kent, England. History In 1541, King Henry VIII of England was about to wage a war against the French. A plan was made to use Folkestone as a port of embarkation to supplies an ...

(which the company had purchased) to Boulogne. The voyage was successful, and demonstrated that a

day trip A day trip is a visit to a tourist destination or visitor attraction from a person's home, hotel, or hostel in the morning, returning to the same lodging in the evening. The day trip is a form of recreational travel and leisure to a location tha ...

to France from London was possible. Although the subsequent public services were run by ships of the New Commercial Steam Packet Company, when that company withdrew its ships in February 1844, Haywards' ''Water Witch'' and ''Royal George'' were chartered to fill the gap for ten months.

Poole-Portsmouth steam packet

In early 1845 Haywards sold ''Water Witch'' to the short-lived Poole, Isle of Purbeck, Isle of Wight and Portsmouth Steam Packet Company, and she was re-registered at Poole on 31 May 1845. She was put on a twice-weekly service between Poole and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, with calls at

Brownsea Island Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour in the county of Dorset, England. The island is owned by the National Trust with the northern half managed by the Dorset Wildlife Trust. Much of the island is open to the public and ...

, South Haven, Yarmouth and Cowes. In addition to the packet service, she was used as a tug to assist larger vessels entering and leaving Poole. The opening of the

Southampton and Dorchester Railway The Southampton and Dorchester Railway was an English railway company formed to join Southampton in Hampshire with Dorchester in Dorset, with hopes of forming part of a route from London to Exeter. It received Parliamentary authority in 1845 and ...

in 1847 had an adverse effect on demand from passengers and for freight and they consequently looked for alternative trades for ''Water Witch'', their only vessel; one possibility was a service between Poole and the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

. By mid-1848 other possibilities had not materialised and ''Water Witch'' was offered for sale, though a buyer was not found until the end of the year.

Bristol Channel services

''Water Witch'' began a new service for the

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

-based North Devon Steam Packet Company in February 1849, connecting Bideford and Barnstaple with

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

through separate weekly services to each

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

port; calls were also made at

Ilfracombe Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs. The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and along t ...

and

Lynmouth Lynmouth is a village in Devon, England, on the northern edge of Exmoor. The village straddles the confluence of the West Lyn and East Lyn rivers, in a gorge below Lynton, which was the only place to expand to once Lynmouth became as bu ...

, and the sailings were timed to connect with the

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

steamers at Bristol. In September 1851, after a period offering free return passages to customers making their way to the Great Exhibition in London, the ship was advertised for sale by auction, and then again in December when her North Devon sailings had ended. She was next offered for sale in early 1853, still at Bideford, but with no indication that she had been active in 1852. On 12 January 1857 ''Water Witch'', after extensive repairs and with new boilers, commenced a freight service between

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

and Bideford, via Swansea as well as offering towage services to Bristol Channel ports.

Notes

References

{{Reflist Ships built in Harwich 1835 ships Packet (sea transport) Dover, Kent Victorian-era passenger ships of the United Kingdom