WILLIAM HEATH (1795-1840)

An early paddle steamer, thought to be the 'Eclipse', circa 1825

Watercolour

11¼ x 17½in. (28.5 x 44.5cm.)

Although this intriguing little watercolour is both undated and untitled, extensive research suggests the steamer is most likely the Eclipse, a very early paddler dating to 1821. Built by Robert Steele & Co. in their Rue End yard at Greenock, on the Clyde, she was constructed of wood throughout and measured 104 feet in length with a 16 foot 9 inch beam. Registered at 110 tons gross (88 burthen), her 2-cylinder 60 hp. engine was manufactured by David Napier of Glasgow and seemingly built for that company as a speculation. Launched in July 1821, no details of her career have been located until she was purchased by the General Steam Navigation Company (GSN) in 1825. GSN had been founded in 1824 with two small steamers and rapidly expanded to the extent that it was operating twenty-two vessels by the end of 1825. In June that year, Eclipse was purchased to inaugurate the company’s new Newhaven–Dieppe service which it continued to operate until the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway Company began its own services to Dieppe in the 1840s. When the L.B. & S.C. railway reached Newhaven in 1847, Eclipse found herself superseded by the far more convenient railway steamers and, given her age, she was reportedly broken up in 1849.

Unfortunately, it has not been possible to identify the incident depicted in the work offered here.

Condition Report

Overall good condition.

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