Bringing Prosperity

This bronze steering wheel and gear box casing is all that remains of the Sunrise II, the last cream boat to operate on the Manning River. Custom built by boat builder Bill Ryan of Browns Creek, Taree in the early 1950s the Sunrise II collected cream from farms along the Manning River taking it to the Butter Factory at Scott’s Creek, Mitchells Island until the early 1970s.

Cream boats were built with a sleek and shallow draft to enable access to farms located along creeks and river tributaries but became redundant once road transport was improved. For many communities along the river, the cream boat was relied upon for communication and was an important part of domestic and social life for those along the river. The Sunrise II not only transported goods and produce, but people, mail, newspapers and domestic items too.

The steering wheel and gear box were manufactured by Haden’s Engineering of Taree and evidence the depth and breadth of technical and engineering skills available in the Manning area at the time. Unusually cast in bronze, it is reported that some of the boat skippers did not like the steering wheel as it was very cold to use in the early mornings of winter. The steering wheel and gear box were removed during the Sunrise II’s subsequent refit as a fishing trawler.

This cargo manifest book records the cargo and passengers of the PS Ballina loaded at Port Macquarie during the 1870s for shipping to Sydney. It provides an insight into local farming by listing  each farmer or producer and details their shipments including everything from coops of fowls to cedar boards, pigs to kegs of wine, with maize, wheat, wool, hides and oysters common entries.

The frequency of their shipping gives further insight into the size and scale of their farms and operations.  Many well known local traders and producers names are written in the book. This book also records the names of Sydney trader and produce agents of the time including [James] Henry Young, local Member of the Legislative Assembly for 24 years.

The PS Ballina was one of many ships wrecked at Port Macquarie on the Hastings River bar. This manifest book records the cargo lost on the Ballina’s last journey on 13 February 1879.

The book was used again in the 1920s to record detail of hours worked and material used by local builders James and Hastings Bourne, trading as Bourne Bros.  It suggests that the manifest book was stored, hidden or perhaps lost for about 40 years before being rediscovered and reused as an accounts book. The book lists details of building works carried out on a number of local buildings including schools, businesses and homes during the 1920s some of which survive either wholly or partially today.

This model of the SS Willirie made by dairy farmer Frank Little in the late 1970s illustrates the method of cream collection for butter production from the early days of dairying until road transport took over in the 1950s. These steam powered launches were able to navigate relatively shallow areas of the waterways and reach dairy farms on small rivers and creeks as well as major rivers.

The model, with its cream cans on the foredeck, the master and deck hand in the wheelhouse, and two women passengers demonstrates that these vessels not only carried cream to the butter factory but transported passengers between properties or to town. A canopy over much of the deck area gave travellers and crew protection from the sun and rain.  Some cream launch operators had contracts with stores in town to deliver goods to properties, some delivered parcels, and some were licensed to act as passenger ferries when not collecting the cream.

When cream launches were superseded by road transport, some were converted for other purposes, such as fishing vessels or as passenger ferries. By the time this model was made, the launches had disappeared from the rivers but it is likely that the more romantic river craft of earlier times still held a special place in the heart and mind of its maker.

Constructed of cast iron with restored wooden handles, this steering wheel is from the drogher PS Jumbo, the last drogher to operate on the Macleay River.   Operated by the North Coast Steam Navigation Company she carried gravel, timber, logs and other freight. The rear mounted paddle wheel driven drogher was later sold to Kempsey Shire Council to carry stone and other road maintenance materials up and down the Macleay River and became known as the ‘Stone Ferry’.

Carrying stone was a heavy and at times hazardous task, Cec Mackay who skippered the drogher from time to time recalls an incident in 1938 when the PS Jumbo laden with stone, heeled over in windy conditions and sank. To refloat her, the stone had to be unloaded by shovel and carted ashore by wheelbarrow.

Her role was cut short in 1947 when she sank whilst tied up at East Frederickton Wharf. There was some controversy around the sinking as the drogher with its flat bottom had tilted at low tide and instead of rising with the tide simply remained in the same position with the high tide water flowing into her. Efforts to refloat her failed and the Shire Engineer’s decision not to salvage the vessel resulted in his resignation a short time later.

Kempsey Shire Council invited tenders for the purchase of the submerged drogher and eventually accepted an insurance payment, selling the PS Jumbo to the Lawson Construction Company. She was later refurbished but became beached at Spencers Creek, Jerseyville, where remains can still be seen today.