While the 'Sophia Jane' was having her paddles fitted in readiness for her maiden voyage another steamer made its first voyage - the 'Surprise' set off for Parramatta amid a volley of smoke and steam on 1st June, thereby becoming the first steam powered vessel in Australia. When the 'Sophia Jane' was launched later in June 1831 the 'Australian' reported:

Steam navigation will help greatly to raise the character of this Colony abroad, and to improve it at home. The addition of such a vessel as the 'Sophia Jane' to our coasting trade is a most gratifying event. It is almost in the trading world what a new governor would be in our political hemisphere. A fresh spirit will be infused into all our settled and unsettled district that can be approached by water. Persons will shortly be able, we expect, to breakfast in town, lunch at Newcastle, dine at Port Stephens, and put up comfortably at Port Macquarie next  morning, at half the present expense and in quarter the time, for the journey to Wallis's Plains. Should she not find enough to do between this and Newcastle the route to and from Hobart Town lies open, and the Western Port, when the fine line of coast about there shall be settled.'

The 'Sophia Jane' was said to be of very beautiful build and a good sea boat. She was commanded by Lieutenant Edward Biddulph R.N. who was also part owner. The whole of her deck was 126 feet; her breadth 20 feet and could travel eight miles an hour in smooth water. She was originally constructed for the almost exclusive accommodation of passengers and her principal employment had been in conveying passengers between England and France. No expense had been spared in fitting her out and the apartments were said to be of the finest description. There were three separate cabins (one for gentlemen, one for ladies and one for steerage). Sixteen beds could be made up in the gentlemen's room, 11 in the ladies and 20 in steerage. In an emergency extra beds could be prepared making a total accommodation of 54. Her value was estimated to be £7,500 and she arrived from England with an experienced engineer and a duplicate set of all the necessary apparatus. She was considered very fast and could make the 60 miles between Newcastle and Sydney in under 8 hours. 

The Sydney Gazette reported the following article in 1831 - 'Yesterday was a proud day for Australia, a day that ought to be placed high in the calendar of her improvements - a day to which her sons and daughters if alive to the true interest of this country, will in future years look back with admiration. The first efficient exhibition of steam navigation in this fifth quarter of the world was beheld by the select few who had adventured on board the Sophia Jane on Friday the 11th day of June. The Sophia Jane put forth all her powers. She showed what the ingenuity of man had been able to contrive - to dispense with oars and canvas and to urge rapidly onward, in defiance of winds and weather, a vessel of large dimensions and heavy burthen. Early in the morning the Captain gave breakfast on board to his Excellency the Governor and a distinguished party of ladies and gentlemen. The vessel performed a gentle trip round Dawes Point, Darling Harbour and Goat Island and in so fine a style that His Excellency and all the fashionable guests were pleased to express the highest encomiums on the scientific construction of the vessel, and on the admirable skill with which she was managed. Soon after 11 o'clock, a signal gun having been previously fired, the Sophia Jane loosed her moorings in Sydney Cove, and began her adventurous journey. The manner in which she threaded her way through the shipping, without any assistance whatever, filled everyone with admiration. She crept in and out with the utmost exactness, and when fairly free from the cove her energies were allowed unlimited play and away she went as on the wings of the wind. Her velocity was astounding. She actually flew through the water. Before the passengers well knew they had started, they found themselves abreast of Pinchgut Island; and ere they had digested this astonishment, they looked up and lo! they were in the very mouth of the Heads! Here a gun was fired, and Mr. Watson, the pilot came on board. At 2 o'clock the company was summoned to the mess room where they found a sumptuous cold collation, served up under the direction of Mr. Bax, of the Australian Hotel. Every luxury that could be devised was spread upon the hospitable table, garnished with the choicest champagne and other wines, ale porter Etc. The passengers had already seated themselves at table when they were conscious of a very peculiar motion, the vessel rolling in the most regular and agreeable manner; but supposing it to be only imaginary on their sitting down, for the first time, in the cabin, no particular notice was taken of it; but when the meal was finished, and they returned on deck, what was their astonishment to find themselves actually at sea - aye, rolling upon the wide ocean, the boundless expanse before them and the Sydney Heads far behind. The day was the most favourable that could be desired. Not a cloud obscured the sky; the sun shone in all its chastened splendor and a gentle breeze from the westward seemed to refresh and invigorate the joyous passengers. Part of the band of the 39th regiment added to the other delightful pleasure of the excursion the charms of martial music.

In 1842 she was plying regularly between Sydney and Wollongong however in 1846 her engines were transferred to the newly built Phoenix and the old Sophia Jane was broken up. The Phoenix was wrecked on the North Head of the Clarence River in 1850.

On 30th November 1831 at Carrington the Australian Agricultural Company steamer 'Karuah' was also launched, although she was not looked on with such favour as the 'Sophia Jane' or the 'William the Fourth', she was nevertheless an important addition to the Company's communications capability. Sir Edward Parry recorded in his diary - 'Our little steamer got under way today for the first time and paddled about the harbour. I cannot yet say much for her success, but everything is stiff and new and we hope to be able to improve her. I do not think she went above three knots. ' On the following day she was found to have been greatly improved by an alteration in her paddle boards and by working the engine more, taking her speed up to 4 knots.

Some of the excitement felt at the coming of the paddle steamers can be understood from the following letter to the Sydney Gazette later in 1831 on the imminent launching of colonial built William IV:

'I, with pleasure take up my pen, to describe the gratifying sight I have this day enjoyed. Many of your readers, I am inclined to think , only know the Williams River as a part of the Hunter, while it is in fact a separate River, emptying itself into the Coal River; and has from its mouth to Clarence Town ( a distance of about 68 miles), a depth of from four to five fathoms, of water, without a single rock or bank to impede its navigation. On the right bank of this noble river, now well named after our most gracious Sovereign, and adjoining to Clarence Town, the township of the Parish of Uffington in the County of Durham, Messrs, Marshall And Lowe, shipwrights have in their yard on the stocks a steam vessel nearly finished to be called the William the Fourth.

This colony can now boast of being able to build her own steamers, and these with her own indigenous timber, the flooded gum, which Messrs Marshall and Lowe, declare is equal to any in the world for ship building, and particularly for treenails. Whenever this beautiful vessel may be launched into her proper element; which it is calculated will be in about a month, it will be seen that vessels now of 600 tons can be built or completely repaired in the William River quicker and cheaper than can be done in Sydney Cove, a circumstance of the utmost importance to our whale fishery speculators who I have not the least doubt will, when they see the masterly work of the 'William the Fourth' not fail to vie ample employment to Messrs Marshall and Lowe'.

Some of the enthusiasm had begun to wear thin by 1834 when the following letter appeared in the Sydney Herald:

'GENTLEMEN - Very great dissatisfaction has arisen in the public mind here, in consequence of the alterations which have taken place in the management of the steam vessels which ply to and from Hunter's River, since they changed owners; and notwithstanding the strong protestations about "sparing no exertion and expense for the accommodation of the Public" etc, which appeared some time ago in the newspapers, when the idea of monopoly was so amusingly disclaimed, the arrangements - which were formerly poor enough - are now so unequivocally bad that many people are talking of taking the road in preference. On one occasion, when bed time arrived no clean sheets were to be had! true, the detention at sea all night was not anticipated, but such cases should be provided for; on another occasion, some passengers when they asked for a towel were coolly presented with the tail of a shirt! Besides, the fare is very bad , and refreshments are charged for at an exorbitant rate. Can the owners suppose that in addition to this the Public are to be tormented and imposed upon by vexatious charges upon their luggage and small parcels - and that the dismissal of so deserving a favourite as Captain Taggart, for not submitting to a reduction of pay will be over looked ? They must bear in mind that a new vessel is on the stocks, and that public patronage when once lost is not easily regained, - that they must eventually be the losers by a niggardly system - and that, whatever their own opinion may be, we, in this part of the world, cannot but look upon it as the result of mismanagement'. - Hunter's River 10th January 1834

The Hunter River Packet Association was formed in  1834 to provide opposition for the Sophia Jane and the William the Fourth in trading between Sydney and the Hunter. A meeting had been held in April 1833 when it was decided to build a 200 ton steamer in New South Wales to be fitted with two 40 horse power engines each. Mr. Lowe of Clarence Town tendered to build the ship and when the machinery had arrived in 1836 it was fitted in the newly built 'Ceres'. When the Ceres was wrecked six months later the company was wound up.

The Hunter River Steam Navigation Company was formed in 1840. A meeting had been called by John Eales and when the company was approved  it was decided to have built in England three iron steamers. These were to be the Rose and Thistle - both built by Fairbairn and co on the Thames and the Shamrock built for Paterson of Bristol.

These additional steamers in Australia caused much competition in the Hunter River Trade with other vessels particularly the Victoria steamer.

In 1842 the General Steam Navigation Company offered for sale by auction the whole of their property consisting of their steam boats 'Victoria', 'Tamar', 'Sophia Jane' and 'Maitland'; the coal barge 'Jolly Rambler' and the Hulk 'Alexander' together with the unexpired lease on the company's wharf at Sydney and Stores at Morpeth.

The Hunter River Steam Navigation Company became the Australasian Steam Navigation Company in 1851 and held a monopoly of the Hunter River business as well as extending their services up and down the coast.

The wharves must have been  bustling confusing places when the steamers came in. Adding to the confusion were the stage coach owners, vying for the trade of disembarking passengers. In 1842 James Stilsby appeared in court on a charge of assaulting Miss Emma Brown who had been a passenger on the steamer Shamrock from Sydney to Morpeth. It was Stilsby's practice to seize the luggage of passengers to force them to use his coach. He had on this occasion 'endeavoured by force and rudeness to compel her to go as a passenger in his coach after she had engaged a seat in a rival vehicle'. Stilsby was fined 40/- for the assault and the Judge in sentencing remarked that it was time to put a stop to the rudeness and ridiculous pretensions of Stilsby who scarcely allowed passengers a choice of the means of conveyance but illegally seized their luggage and used threatening and abusive language in his endeavour to compel their patronage.'

Disembarking passengers not only had to keep an eye on their luggage, but also their pockets. Mr. Wycks Norton of Newcastle landed in Morpeth on the Cornubia steamer in 1846 found on reaching the public street in Morpeth after pushing his way through the crowd of Passengers and idlers who stood on the quay that his pocket book containing £40 had been stolen.

In August 1845, the proprietors of the Sophia Jane announced they would have to withdraw her from trade. Extensive repairs were required 'to a greater extent than it would be prudent to encounter' and they were reluctantly compelled to suspend her trips, although it was contemplated to build a new replacement  Steamer. The Sophia Jane was to leave Morpeth for Sydney for her last trip soon after the announcement.

The 'Thistle', under Captain Pattison's command, was one of only two steamers to ply between Sydney and Morpeth during the winter of 1843.

She was one of the first ships owned by the Hunter River Steam Navigation Company and was solid and  two masted with flush deck and replaced. She 'Sovereign' on the Moreton Bay run in 1846. Although she ran aground there in March when Captain Mulhall decided against a pilot, the settlement was impressed with her capacity and speed which enabled her to take wool clip to Sydney at a faster rate than the 'Sovereign'

In 1846 the following was recorded in the Sydney Morning Herald:

COLLISION AT SEA: On Saturday night, about  nine o'clock, the steamer Thistle, and a small cutter called the 'Black Swan', came into contact, when we regret to say, two lives were lost. The following is an account of the accident :

'The steamer 'Thistle', Captain Mulhall, left Newcastle on Saturday evening, at six o'clock, the 24th October 1846, upon her way to Sydney; when off Bungaree's Nora, about 9 pm was run into by a small cutter called the 'Black Swan'. The night being very thick and dark, and the cutter showing no light, prevented her being seen before she came close under the bows, when she carried away the Thistle's bob stay, gib-guys, and top gallant mast. Hearing a cry for help aboard the cutter, the 'Thistle' lowered the larboard boat, which was no sooner in the water than she filled and got stove, losing the oars, and nearly the lives of two men; cleared away the starboard boat, and sent the second mate and two hands aboard the Black Swan, who returned with one man, being the only one left on board, the others, Nicholas Walsh and one other having been knocked overboard, it is supposed, by the main boom, and drowned. They lay to for the remainder of the night close to the cutter, during which time she had drifted about seven or eight miles from Newcastle. At day light, finding that the cutter had not received much injury, the second mate of the steamer was sent with two hands and the man belonging to her aboard, for the purpose of taking her into Newcastle.

We the undersigned passengers by the steamer 'Thistle', upon Saturday night, the 24th October 1846 declare that the above statement is correct as far as we were witnesses of the circumstance, and that no blame is to be attributed to the master or crew of the steamer, as the cutter showed no light, and the steamer had a good light and look out at the time the accident took place. also that the master, officers, and crew used every endeavour to save the said cutter and her crew. Signed Richard Windeyer, G. Morant, Simpson, John B. Smith, Henry Phillips, Thomas M. Jones, Joseph Forster.'

The 'Thistle' was more fortunate in 1848 when near Bird Island on a passage from Morpeth the main shaft broke rendering one paddle wheel useless. She was delayed five hours while temporary repair measures were taken and the 'Rose' replaced her run for 10 days while more permanent repairs were finished.

Purchased by J.T. Wilson in 1839. To continue in Hunter river trade as before.

The 'Tamar' was offered for sale with other vessels belonging to the General Steam Navigation Company in 1842.

In 1844 the 'Tamar' was involved in an accident opposite Mr. Hickeys property. James Coonford had been crossing the river and although a person on the paddle box of the 'Tamar' called to him repeatedly to 'keep off' he persisted in coming stern on. His boat struck against the paddle box and was upset. Every exertion was made to save the man, the steamer being stopped, and a boat lowered in two minutes after the accident had occurred. No blame was attached to any person on board.

 In 1846 the 'Tamar' was owned by The Hunter River Steam Navigation Company. The crew had a narrow escape during a storm on the passage from Sydney to Morpeth on a January afternoon in 1846 when she was struck by lightning when between Lake Macquarie and Red Head .

'In consequence of the rain most of the crew had gone below to shift their clothing with the exception of the man at the wheel and the engineer; the captain was walking the poop when the occurrence took place. the Engineer saw the lightning playing along the foreyard for some time, and ordered the firemen to throw fresh fuel on the fires to create smoke, thinking it would prevent the lightning from entering the funnel. A few minutes after a heavy flash struck the throat halyard block of the foresail, and running down the halyard (a chain one), shattered the foremast within about four feet of the deck, where it was surrounded by an iron hoop to which the belaying pins were attached. The mast fell over the starboard bow, by which the rail and bulwarks were smashed. The fore cabin steward was coming on deck at the time, and narrowly escaped being crushed; the engineer was standing under the lee of the starboard paddle box when it occurred, but luckily escaped uninjured. When the mast fell the electric fluid is supposed to have passed along the chain, and over the anchor into the sea. '

She later underwent a thorough repair. The machinery was taken out and the working parts renewed. New boilers replaced the old by the Company's engineer, Mr. Fyfe. She was also strengthened  with new beams in various parts and in June she made an 'experimental trip' a few miles outside the Sydney Heads. It was expected her speed would be nearly equal to the Company's iron boats; and her cabins, for comfort were said to be second to none - especially the ladies' cabin.

The Shamrock was owned by the Hunter River Steam Navigation Company. She was rigged as a three masted schooner, with a raised quarter deck and had been built in Bristol. In 1843 she replaced the 'Seahorse' plying between Launceston, Melbourne and Sydney. In February 1846 she was the vessel of choice for Rev. Dr. Lang on his voyage to Port Phillip and Moreton Bay and in October of that year she landed a party of five Europeans and ten blacks who were intent on an expedition to recover a white woman from natives in Gipps Land.

In August 1848 she was put in to Pyrmont for repairs. New boilers weighing twenty tons were fitted and the machinery was taken out and overhauled. Great improvements were made to her cabin accommodations -  the ladies' cabin was fitted up with ten berths and situated in the aft part of the poop instead of the fore. This left a large saloon of 33 ft capable of accommodating 24 passengers. On each side of the saloon four spacious state cabins were fitted up in the best style. On completion of the repairs she was to resume her  trips to Port Phillip.

The Ceres, commanded by Captain Livingstone, made a trial trip on Sydney Harbour on 21st January 1836 and six weeks later made her first trip to the Hunter River. She was fast and was said to have only taken 6 1/2 hours from Newcastle Wharf to Sydney.

Her launching in April 1835 had been a gay affair. The Sophia Jane, conveying a 'number of respectable persons' to the launch,  arrived in Green Hills on a Wednesday evening 'amidst the acclamations of multitudes of spectators who crowded the eminences and banks of the river on either side. On Thursday morning they set off for the the Deptford ship yard of Messrs Marshall and Lowe on the William River. They moored to the best advantage to give the ladies a fair view of the Ceres which was tastefully decorated with flags. The last block was cut from under and the pride of the Hunter River Steam Association  glided down the slipway. She was christened with a bottle of fine old port wine by a daughter of T.M. Winder assisted by Captain Church. The band played 'God save the King', 'Rule Britannia' and 'Hearts of Oak' before the company stepped aboard the Ceres for a series of Quadrilles, and country dances.

The event was recorded by a correspondent to the Sydney Gazette:

'In April 1835 the Sophia Jane was engaged to take the Maitland Cockneys to see this grand sight. A beautiful day it was, and the numerous and respectable company seemed determined to enjoy themselves. Part of the 17th band were engaged, and quadrilles etc were the order of the day. A pleasing river is the Williams, and it was a splendid sight to see the proud boat, stately as a swan wend her way through the numerous bends of the river - now narrowing, so that the trees on either side almost formed a festoon over the vessel - now widening to a broad lake like sheet of water, with green hills and white cottages, dotting here and there the verdant banks. On nearing the yard where the Ceres was laying on the stocks, a burst of wonder and delight broke from the admiring spectators; the noble vessel was seen high in air - ready, at the word of insignificant man, to dart into her native element - the wonder and pride of the Hunter. The grateful ceremony of christening her devolved upon the fair daughter of Mr. Winder, who with Graceful timidity, advanced to the platform, laving her sides (note the lady's, but the boat's) with generous wine, proclaimed her name to the world. After partaking of refreshment the company again embarked and departed for home, the cheerful glass circulated, and dancing was kept up with spirit. The military spurs of a certain gent harmonised admirably with the flowing drapery of a lady passenger'.

Five months later the 'Ceres' was wrecked when, after a night of heavy seas, she was taken between Bird Island and Bungaree Norah (Norah Head) and struck a rock. She sank quickly however all 26 passengers and crew were saved, after the one life boat on board made four trips back, the last one taking passengers from the mast as the ship sank. The 'Sophia Jane' first brought the news to Sydney after she had passed wreckage known to be of the 'Ceres'. Two passengers walked to Brisbane Water from the site of the wreck with dark tales (later denied) of passengers and children  denied seats on the life boats.  Mr. John Korff later purchased the wreck for 91 pounds. He built a vessel on the beach from the wreckage of the Ceres and then took the machinery to Sydney where it was later installed in the 'Victoria'

My thanks to Ron Madden for providing details about the 'Experiment'.

On 18th May 1832, the Australian reported that (George) Yeomans and (Benjamin) Singleton had built a large boat to be worked by horse/paddles providing an up river service on the Williams and Paterson Rivers to connect with the vessel that arrived at the wharf at Morpeth.

Operating as a steamer between Parramatta and Sydney from 1834, she left Parramatta for Sydney every morning except Sunday. In 1846 she was sent to Moreton Bay and became the first steamer to ply on the Brisbane River.

From William Lowe; Pioneer Shipbuilder of Clarence Town, An Australian Bicentennial Project printed by Craftsman Colour, Newcastle, 1988

In 1846 the Phoenix was launched in Sydney. She was said to be one of the best specimens of colonial ship building and  Mr. Chowne, the builder, had taken every care in her construction.  Her draft of water when launched ; was 3'6" forward, and 4'6" aft ;  dimensions: 105 feet keel, 130 feet over all ; breadth of beam, 19' 6 " ; depth of hold, 9'. The accommodation for passengers was said to be superior. 12 berths were fitted up in the ladies' cabin, 16 in the saloon, and 14 in the fore cabin. The engine belonged to the famous 'Sophia Jane', that had been launched 15 years before to ply her trade on the Hunter, but the boilers were newly made by Mr. Struth.

The 'Phoenix' made an excursion to Wollongong in October 1846 taking 4 hours to reach her destination, she had travelled at an average speed of nine and a half knots. Estimated to be faster than many of the other steamers, she was  to make her maiden voyage to Morpeth where a large number of spectators were expected to witness her debut at the Green Hills.

She commenced her regular trips to the Hunter on Friday 9th November, 1846 and was despatched on days on which there was no other steam conveyance between Morpeth and Sydney. She left Kellick's Wharf in Sydney every Tuesday and Friday Evening at 8pm and Anlaby's Wharf in Morpeth every Monday and Thursday morning at 7am.

In 1849 the 'Phoenix' was involved in the rescue of the 'Lady Clarke' off Nobby's. The 'Lady Clarke' had left Newcastle for Twofold Bay on a Sunday morning and after clearing the heads with the wind on the land it was attempted to put her about without success. She had drifted on to the reef off Nobby's before the 'Phoenix' managed to rescue her from her perilous position. Captain Wiseman received £20 reward for his part in the rescue.

She was employed in the Clarence River trade and the district was deprived of steam communication with southern districts for some time when the Phoenix was wrecked near the Clarence on Sunday 3rd March 1850 after  a 'terrific squall or rather a hurricane of wind with driving rains' blew up from the south. When the Phoenix encountered the gale, being a vessel of small power in proportion to her size she was unable to work herself off the land and was driven on shore. She carried on her deck a large cargo of wool which contributed to her difficulties. The crew and passengers - Mr. & Mrs. Manning and four children Mr. Birkett and ten in the steerage were all saved and Captain Wiseman, finding it impossible to save the ship ran her aground managing to save her cargo as well.

Captain Taggart 1842

The Victoria was offered for sale by auction by the General Steam Navigation Company early in February 1842. She was described as - 196 ton vessel with two engines of forty horse power each, with everything complete and in running order. She had made her first trip in May 1840 and had never missed her usual trip of twice a week to and from Morpeth, with the exception of about six weeks when she was overhauled, and every part of her machinery was examined and perfected. She was said to be well suited to run between port Phillip and Sydney or between Launceston and Port Phillips.

The Hunter River Gazette recorded later in February - 'This steamer has  resumed her trips between Sydney and Morpeth; Mr. Edye Manning having made arrangements to run her in that trade. The Victoria leaves Morpeth every Monday and Friday at noon, and Sydney every Wednesday and Saturday. The public, we have no doubt, will continue to support this boat as effectually as they have done hitherto, for independently of her merits as a safe and certain conveyance, both for passengers and goods, the benefits derived by the public from  competition have been experienced,  in the reduction of fares for passengers, between Morpeth and Sydney, first introduced by the Victoria. Besides this vessel, another day steamer the Sovereign is also employed in the same trade, having been first introduced to supply the deficiency occasioned by the temporary withdrawal of the Victoria The success she has met with is such, that we understand she will now be continued in the trade, and will thus afford great additional accommodation to the public which we hope they will know how to appreciate.

 Captain Parsons (1847)  Captain Beel (1850)

The Maitland was launched from the Building yard of Mr. Russell, at Darling Harbour in 1837 amidst an immense concourse of spectators. Intended for the Hunter River trade, she was 103 tons with one engine of 60 horse power. She was considered to be a very strong and substantial vessel. In 1842 she boasted a new engine of 60 horse power that had been built expressly for the her (at a cost of three thousand pounds) by Fawcett, Preston & Co of Liverpool. The was run regularly between Port Macquarie and Sydney in 1842.

THE OLD STEAMER 'HUNTRESS' - This old craft, which is perhaps hardly entitled to the term steamer, in as much as although she was built for one, and has paddle boxes attached, no machinery was ever placed in her, seems to have at length found a secure mooring place, after having for some years kept the owners of boats on the river in terror by her vagaries during each fresh. The late flood, like each fresh, broke her loose from her previous moorings, but, unlike them, was high enough to take her on to the flat shingle beach by McDougall's Falls, where, a lucky ridge of shingle stopping her, she was stayed, and where she now rests, securely bedded in mud and shingle, some one hundred feet from the river. Here she will probably finally fall to pieces, unless some higher flood comes down and set  her wandering again. It is a great pity that a claim of some £200 for unpaid work should have sufficed to prevent any shareholder from interfering with her even so far as to make use of her as she is, the dread of this claim and its interest having, we believe, been the sole cause why the shareholders declined to have anything to do with her when, a few years ago, an offer was made by an enterprising man to put a small engine in her an start her on the river at his own expense, if secured against old claims, and allowed to have her rent free for some time.

On Sunday morning a rather singular accident happened to an omnibus belonging to Mr. J. Turner, but not then driven by him. The bus was as usual waiting, with others, on Taylor's wharf, Morpeth, for passengers from the up-steamer; when the steamer arrived a crowd hastened to Turner's bus, and filled it inside and out; when ready for the starting the driver called out to another coach to move on, and the coach did so, but from some cause was pulled up suddenly after going two or three yards; meanwhile Turner's bus had also begun moving, and not anticipating the sudden check, the horses, to avoid running into the first coach, moved sharply to the right; the wheels got locked and a piece of iron connecting the back spring with the body of the bus was snapped by the sudden strain; instantly the bus heeled, and overturned, the outside passengers all falling together in a ruck, and the inside tumbling against each other. It was at first feared and reported that serious injuries had been inflicted on some of the passengers, but happily the injuries were comparatively light, the most seriously case being that of a lady whose wrist was dislocated, and the small bones of her arm broke; another female was wounded in the back of her head, and a gentleman was injured in the cap of the knee, while most of the passengers were bruised more or less. It was subsequently found that the piece of iron which snapped was partially gone before. It is wonderful that the disgraceful state of the Morpeth road, which has driven several coaches off the line, had not caused a breakage of this iron previously. Maitland Mercury April 1852