CENTENARY OF THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY STEAMER SERVICE

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aukepalmhof
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CENTENARY OF THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY STEAMER SERVICE

Post by aukepalmhof » Thu Jun 04, 2020 3:02 am

Guernsey and Jersey both issued a series of stamps in September 1989 commemorating the centenary of the Great Western Railway.
All ferries on the stamps are ships from the time of the rivalry between the GWR and the L & SWR.

The development of railways in England has had a profound influence on the shipping connections between the South Coast of England and the Channel Islands and France.
By 1840 the English railways had extended the line from London to Southampton. It followed that the English PTT allowed the mail to be transported from Jersey via Southampton. This shortened the delivery of the mail by two days, otherwise the mail would have to be shipped via Weymouth. Five years later, the postal contract for which the British Admiralty was responsible from 1836 was awarded to the South Western Steam Packet Company operating from Southampton. This company was controlled by the London and South Western Railway (L and SWR). British Railways were not allowed by the Railway Act to manage ships themselves.
A Year later after a merger with a competing carrier, the L and SWR became better known under the name of the New South Western Steam Navigation Company. This company was again leased to the L and SWR, which had obtained permission in 1848 to maintain a steamboat connection to the Channel Islands. This condition persisted until 1862 when the L and SWR was absorbed to the railways.
Over a period of several years, the Channel Islands had already campaigned for a passenger service between the islands and Weymouth because this route was much shorter by sea than that of Southampton, and the route was also much less affected by the fog that often the Southampton ships slowed down. One disadvantage for the Weymouth service was that it had no rail link with London, but in January 1857 this rail link with London was completed and it opened the way for a competitive steamer connection operating from Weymouth. The islanders had never liked that the railways operated a steamboat service on the islands on which they depended, and they remembered the earlier years when steamships operated by the islanders operated the service. But when it turned out that the L and SWR had no intention of opening a service at Weymouth, this gave the islanders the opportunity to set up a ferry service themselves.
The Weymouth and Channel Island Steam Packet Company was founded funded by Jersey, Guernsey and Weymouth. After establishing this line, the L and SWR became active and they also opened a service from Weymouth to the Channel Islands.
Until the 1870s, there was little competition for the L and SWR to get her into trouble, this company kept pace with all the new developments of the steam engines, while the Weymouth and Channel Island Steam Packet Company still used the old fashioned paddle boats. The latter company received a small amount of financial support from the Great Western Railway (GWR), but because of this railway company there was no control or lease as there was between the L and SWR and the South Western Steam Packet Company. This position changed in 1889 when the GWR ceased to provide financial support to the Weymouth and Channel Island Steam Packet Company. They now wanted to open a service on the islands themselves, three twin screws were ordered from Lairds in Birkenhead, and commissioning was scheduled for 1 July 1889.

The vessels depict on Guernsey:
12p IBEX: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7280&p=7276&hilit=ibex#p7276

18p GREAT WESTERN: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13481&p=20557#p20557

29p ST JULIEN: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7949&p=7945&hilit=st+julien#p7945

34p ROEBUCK: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5880&p=5876&hilit=roebuck#p5876

37p ANTELOPE: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10918&p=20397&hilit=antelope#p20397

On Jersey,

13p ST HELIER: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12825&p=13977&hilit=st+julien#p13977

17p CAESAREA: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9376&p=14816&hilit=caesarea#p14816

27p REINDEER: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10321&p=10805&hilit=roebuck#p10805

32p FREDERICA: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11624&p=12436&hilit=frederica#p12436
32p IBEX: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7280&p=7276&hilit=ibex#p7276

35p LYNX: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10909

Guernsey 1989 and Jersey 1989 sg463/67 and sgMS468, Jersey 507/11.
Source: Jersey stamp bulletin No 69 and Guernsey Post Office philatelic bulletin, September 1989
Attachments
Image (48).jpg
1989 ST HELIER jpg.jpg
1989 caesares jpg.jpg
1989 reindeer.jpg
1989 ibex races against frederica .jpg
1989 lynx.jpg

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