Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History piece on the Great Eastern (Ship) on Coast

Just read this thread about Great Eastern, thanks for reviving it Kiwi and Gibbo for putting up coast on you tube. Found it fascinating, always on that beach and Rockferry beach metal detecting. I went to Kirklands too Kiwi, remember us girls had to run the gauntlet of passing the boys part of the school before we got to ours, lol. And the times I had my beret pinched and thrown up a tree. Good times tho......

Not knowing much about the Great Eastern, I have read a bit about her on Wikipedia and other sites.

it states :

1861 government charter

Upon Great Eastern's return to England, the ship was chartered by the British Government to transport troops to Quebec. 2,144 officers and men, 473 women and children, and 200 horses were embarked at Liverpool along with 40 paying passengers. The ship sailed on 25 June 1861 and went at full speed throughout most of the trip arriving at her destination 8 days and 6 hours after leaving Liverpool. Great Eastern stayed for a month and returned to Britain at the beginning of July with 357 paying passengers.[12]

Can anyone expand on this, surely she didn't take all those troops and horses in one sailing ? a) how many voyages she did do, with dates if possible b) was it always from Liverpool, c) why were these troops going to Quebec, d) when was she broken up ? Also, does anyone know if there was a crew list for this vessel ?

No doubt I could find more, but I'm being lazy today.

Thanks Bert .

I'm still a bit sceptical about that metal belonging to the Great Eastern as I believe it is on the North side of where the pier was. The proximity of the rivets over an area (not even a single or twin line) would also be unusual for a ship, I'd be more inclined to think it was a plate off the pier itself.

The only detailed description of the position of the Great Eastern was that it was south of the Pier. To this day you can see the remains of the roadway that was built down to the river where the Great Eastern was. This roadway is immediately south of New Ferry Terrace, it has had a house built in the middle now.

In answer to another post, the Great Eastern was massive, it was over one eighth of a mile long and would easily hold that number of people and horses.

DD, My G-Grandfather was one of many who broke-up the GE.

Great Eastern ended its days as a floating advertising hoarding for Lewis's - picture below.
To answer one of the previous questions, the ship was broken up between 1889-1890, and it took about 18 months to do so. The other picture shows it on the shore awaiting breaking.

2yrs ago i found two very old rusted rivets down that area of the old shore and wondered if they could be from the ship

Not wishing to impugn the accuracy of the great god Wikipedia – Heaven forbid! – according to contemporary records the Great Eastern started from the Mersey on her voyage to Quebec at noon on 27th June 1861, not the 25th. She had been chartered by the Government on 11th June to convey troop reinforcements to Canada, and was rapidly fitted out by Laird’s with the necessary berths for the men and stalls on deck for the horses. She was due to carry 7 officers, 220 men, 20 women, 25 children and 110 horses belonging to the 4th Field Battery, Royal Artillery, 39 officers, 868 men, 80 women, 120 children and 6 horses of the 30th Regiment of Foot, 39 officers, 868 men, 80 women, 120 children and 6 horses of the 4th Battalion 60th Rifles, and 4 officers, 102 men, 9 women and 19 children from units of the 16th, 17th, and 100th Foot and the Canadian Rifles. The ship had been due to sail on the 26th, but was delayed by the late arrival of some of the men of the 60th Rifles and 17th Foot, who had to come by steamer from Ireland, much to the disappointment of the thousands of spectators who had lined the banks of the Mersey to watch her departure on the 26th.

The Great Eastern reportedly arrived at Father Point at Rimouski on the St Lawrence, where she picked up her Canadian pilot, at noon on 6th July, after exactly 8 days, and berthed at Quebec on Sunday the 7th. She started on her return voyage to Liverpool at 4am on 6th August, arriving back in the Mersey at 8.30pm on the 15th, carrying 241 cabin passengers and 125 steerage.

The reason for sending some 4,000 extra troops to Canada at this time was officially stated to be to restore the garrison strength in the British territories to the levels they had been at before the Crimean War. But of course the real reason was to protect the material interests of the British in North America by augmenting the policing of the frontier in case of any trouble caused by the confusion and uncertainty that followed the outbreak of the American Civil War.

A couple of snippets from 2 Newspapers, Hampshire Advertiser & The York Herald, June 15, 1861,

A question asked in Parliament and a report titled, The American Civil War, crisis at hand.

All this is really interesting. Thank you all for answering some more of my questions.

If anyone ever gets the chance to listen to a talk on the GE by Peter Bingham, please do so. A very interesting man.

It seems that it's 150 ago this week thet the SS Great Eastern laid the second cable (or the first sucessful one).
BT have put up a news page at Transatlantic Cable 150 years old
I've not read it yet, but their reporters are not the best...

After many years of trying to find the exact position the Great Eastern was broken up, I finally have some proof that it was indeed a distance south of New Ferry Pier, perhaps even a bit further south than I believed.