Capt John Davey was born in Shaldon just down the road from Exmouth in 1844. He went to sea when he was eleven serving on various ships including Lord Raglan (12232 Lloyds Reg), Artaxerxes (36417) and Lady Ebrington (7051). He obtained his master’s ticket when he was twenty and in 1868 gained his first command of the Heloa. He bought his first ship the 316 GRT Annie (32752) in 1870 which is believed he traded to Singapore.
His second ship was the 306 GRT barque Hilda (64090) ex Looling which he bought in Hong Kong and traded along the coast of China to Shanghai. On his subsequent return to Devon his time in the Far East led to his nickname of “Shanghai Davey”.
Capt Davey returned home to marry in 1883 and started what was to become a lifelong association with the local excursion trade based on Exmouth Dock. This had originated from the Exmouth Docks Act of 1864 which authorised the construction of Piers, Walls, Locks, Gates, Bridges, Arches, Quays, Landing Places, Avenues, Approaches, Wharfs, Warehouses and Reservoirs and a railway connection to Exmouth station which had opened in 1861. The whole area was to comprise five acres and be completed within five years.
In 1888 interested parties associated with Exmouth Docks, including Messrs Ellett and Matthews, bought the small paddle steamer Prince from Cosens & Co of Weymouth for excursions in the area. This was such a success that they built the paddle steamer Duchess of Devonshire in 1892 and then in 1896 the ever so slightly larger Duke of Devonshire.
Along with Messrs G Ellett, A J Darke and Capt Luke, Capt Davey became one of the founding Directors of the Devon Dock Pier and Steamship Co in 1898 which took over the Exmouth and Great Western Ferry Co, the shares of the Docks Company, Teignmouth and Paignton Piers, the Dock and Ironworks, the Devon Steamship Co which owned the paddle steamers Duchess of Devonshire and Duke of Devonshire and the assets of a Company then running launches on the Brixham ferry in Torbay.
Capt Davey also sailed as master of the Duchess of Devonshire and had been in charge of Teignmouth Pier and Pavilion. In 1894 he was presented with a sideboard as a mark of appreciation of his services in connection with the pleasure steamer trade.
Based at Exmouth the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire ran excursions connecting Exmouth, Teignmouth, Paignton, Torquay and Dartmouth as well as calling at several beaches along the way and sometimes sailing further afield to Lyme Regis and Weymouth in the east and Salcombe and Plymouth in the west.
For calling at the beaches they put their bows up on the shingle and kept the ships in place using a kedge anchor dropped from the stern and by running the engine ahead to maintain control of the angle of the stern to the beach using the wash from the paddle wheels pushing over the rudder. Generally speaking it was a tried, tested and very safe manoeuvre but it was ever subject to the weather which could be a real issue where passengers had been landed in the morning but it had become too windy to pick them up again in the afternoon.
As this picture demonstrates there could also be a problem if the steamer took too long disembarking or embarking passengers on a falling tide and so found itself stuck. As you can see in this pic it was a pretty calm day and the Duchess came off the beach later on the rising tide.
I love the detail in this pic. Note the deteriorating top of the paddle box, the destination board advertising “Torquay and River Dart Trip”, the captain’s cabin painted white, the two black vertical ventilators providing some circulation of air for the engine room below, the gangway neatly stowed forward of the port paddle box and on the right the port side light casing and the slightly lopsided chimney from the galley in the sponson below.
Capt Davey remained a Director of the Devon Dock Pier and Steam Ship Company right up to his death on April 19th 1928 aged 84 at his home at 17, St Andrew’s Road, Exmouth. His funeral took place at Littlesham Parish Church in April 1928 and was conducted by the Rev W A P Glenn. Principal mourners included his son Mr E Davey, his daughters Mrs H Knowling of Brighton, and Miss H Davey, his daughter in law Mrs E Davey and his son in law Mr H Knowling. The Devon Dock Pier and Steamship Company was represented by Messrs J A Matthew (Managing Director), G H Ellett (Director) and G M Thomson (Secretary). The coffin was made of waxed oak with brass fittings and was covered with a full length floral cross and numerous flowers from friends.
As the business declined, four years later in 1932 Duchess of Devonshire was withdrawn and laid up. Duke of Devonshire was sold to P & A Campbell in 1933 which tried unsuccessfully to run from Torquay with their much larger paddle steamer Westward Ho in 1932 and 1933. They did not operate the Duke and sold her the following year for service from Cork in Ireland.
Duchess of Devonshire was sold to the South-Western Steam Navigation Company and reactivated in 1933 running from Exmouth on her old routes and in 1934 from Torquay but the new business was not a success.
On 27th August 1934 her hull was punctured by a groin on a particularly low tide whilst she had her bow on the beach at Sidmouth. A tug was summoned but in the meantime her kedge anchor dragged and she ended up broadside on to the beach initially providing a playground activity for the local children.
A tug was summoned and on the rising tide the stern was pulled off the beach but, unfortunately the volume of water coming in was too much for the pumps so the ship was secured with the bow onto the shore and the stern held by kedge anchors whilst a larger tug and more pumping equipment were summoned. During the night the wind was not kind, the anchors dragged and the Duchess fell in broadside onto the beach but this time starboard side to. The larger tug, Dencade, arrived at around 7pm on the rising tide and an attempt was made to tow the Duchess off but the temporary patching of the hole was not enough and, continuing to make water, the ship settled back onto another groyne, making another hole, this time under the main dining saloon aft.
Then the wind got up and at high tide she became irreparably damaged with the pounding from the waves so that was the end of that.
She was eventually broken up on the beach although the remains of her boiler and engine could still be seen on the shingle for some while after that.
In 1935 there was no paddle steamer service from Exmouth and Torquay but for 1936 and 1937 Duke of Devonshire returned to her old routes now in the ownership of Mr Alexander Taylor of Torquay sporting a buff funnel for 1936 and a red one for 1937 and advertised as being under the management of Capt Radley.
I love looking at the detail of pictures and trying to read what is going on in them. In this pic you can see from the paddle wash that the engine has been going full astern to back the Duke off the beach. But look on the bridge and see the telegraph handles are vertical for stop. Why has the captain rung stop? Look back aft and you can just make out the warp to the kedge stern anchor is still in place leading out from the Duke’s stern. The captain is having to wait until that is hauled in and doubtless may be gritting his teeth at this moment that this was not being done fast enough
The Duke’s return to the Devon excursion trade did not last long. She was by then over 40 years old, well past her design life, and was in need of major structural work to retain her passenger certificates. Mr Taylor had initially hoped to get up to £2,500 (about £168K in today’s money) for her. In the end he sold her to Cosens, which had their own workshops, slipway and ship repair facilities for doing the necessary work, for just £1,000 (about £68K in today’s money). That’s not a lot is it? That’s cheap for a paddle steamer. That’s scrap value. But that price reflected her overall condition at that time. Cosens took her in hand and, amongst other work, gave her a new and fatter funnel. They renamed her Consul.
Primarily based at Weymouth Consul ran short trips round Portland Harbour, to Lulworth Cove, the Shambles Lightship and Portland Bill as well as serving Swanage and Bournemouth and making occasional trips to Totland Bay, Isle of Wight.
Consul continued to put her bow onto the beach at Lulworth Cove just as she had done on the Devon beaches as the Duke of Devonshire in her earlier life.
She remained in Cosens’ ownership until the end of the 1962 season.
She then had two further operational seasons in private ownership ahead of her. In 1963 tried to run on the Sussex Coast and the London River with spectacular lack of success and in 1964 once again from Weymouth in competition for what was by then a very diminished trade with the paddle steamer Princess Elizabeth. This benefitted neither vessel..
After that she became a static sailing school on the River Dart under her original name until 1968 before being sold for scrap.
As a Director of the Devon Dock Pier and Steamship Company, and an active participant in the day to day running of the company, Capt Davey did so much for the paddle steamer excursion trade along the South Devon Coast. Doubtless if he had lived to see it, he would have been saddened and disappointed by the loss of his Duchess, and the manner of her going. Doubtless also he would have been surprised and delighted if he had known that his Duke would have such an exceptional second career, extended by two major rebuilds plus other work along the way, to notch up 68 years of operational service by the time she was eventually scrapped in 1969 more than forty years after he had passed away.
Related Posts:
Duke of Devonshire’s 1937 schedule from Torquay: 15th June 1937: Duke of Devonshire
Duke of Devonshire goes to Cork: 15th February 1934: Jeremiah Dwyer
Competition in 1932 from Westward Ho: 22nd June 1932: Westward Ho
Kingswear Castle returned to service in 2023 after the first part of a major rebuild which is designed to set her up for the next 25 years running on the River Dart. The Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle Trust is now fund raising for the second phase of the rebuild. You can read more about the rebuilds and how you can help if you can here.
John Megoran
