The first record of a ferry across the Humber dates from 1315 when the Warden and Burgesses of Hull were granted a charter by King Edward II to run a ferry between Hull and Barton in Lincolnshire.[1] Pedestrians were halfpenny each, horses one penny and a cart with two horses twopence.
The Corporation of Hull purchased the leases for £3,000 in 1796 (£266,020 in 2015)[2] and both were relet in 1815.
In 1826 a new service started by the New Holland Proprietors between Hull and New Holland. In 1832 they launched a paddle steamer called Magna Charta.[3] In his A Picturesque Tour to Thornton Monastery, John Greenwood writing in 1835 records that the steam packet leaves Hull at seven, a quarter past eleven and four o’clock, and leaves New Holland at nine, two and seven o’clock in the evening.[4]
The railway company built a new pier at New Holland some 1,500 feet (460m) in length with the railway station, allowing direct connection with the ferry service. New Holland Pier railway station opened on 1 March 1848.[5]
The Hull to New Holland ferry service finished on 24 June 1981 with the opening of the Humber Bridge.[6]
Ships
This list is not complete. There was an additional ship introduced in the 1970s which was diesel powered, DEPV Farringford. She was previously used as a ferry between the mainland and the Isle of Wight.
The vessels operated by the Humber Ferry service – all paddle steamers to cope with the shallow shifting sands of the Humber – were:
Two ships have been named the Magna Charta. The first was launched in 1832 and disposed of in 1873[7] and the second ordered in 1873 and in use until 1920.[8]
Built by Ditchburn and Mare in 1842. Purchased from the Greenwich Steam Packet Company in 1848. Sold in 1855.[7]
PSQueen
1842
78
Built by Ditchburn and Mare in 1842. Purchased from the Greenwich Steam Packet Company in 1848. Sold in 1857.[7]
PSManchester
1849
291
Built in 1849 by Robinson and Russell, Millwall. Entered service in 1849. Superseded by another ship of the same name in 1855. Renamed Old Manchester in 1855. Sailed between Garston and Liverpool in 1858-1859. Sold 1864.[7]
PSSheffield
1849
244
Built in 1849 by H.E. Smith, Gainsborough. Entered service in 1849. Superseded by another ship of the same name in 1855. Renamed Old Sheffield in 1855. Sold 1863.[7]
PSManchester
unknown
174
Former Clyde Steamer. Purchased in August 1854. Entered service in 1855 on the Humber Ferry. Scrapped in 1874.[7]
PSSheffield
1855
149
Built by Martin Samuelson and Company in 1855.[9] Entered service in 1855 on the Humber Ferry. Laid up in 1864. Sold in 1865.[7]
PSRoyal Albion
1855
Built in 1855 as a tug, occasionally used on ferry services. Out of service by 1888.[7]
PSLiverpool
1855
220
Built in 1855 by M.Samuelson and Company, Hull. Passed to the Great Central Railway. Sold for scrap in 1905.[7]
PSDoncaster
1856
216
Built in 1856 by M.Samuelson and Company, Hull. Passed to the Great Central Railway. Sold for scrap in 1913.[7]
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Humber_Ferry, and is written by contributors.
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