paddle

I wonder if this was taken by the same photographer (Ted Hood) who did this six months earlier - www.flickr.com/photos/statelibraryofnsw/3447212244/

The steam paddle wheel horse / vehicle ferry (between Dawes Point and Milsons Point) could be either the 'Benelon' 1885 - www.ferriesofsydney.com/benelon.html or the 'Barangaroo' 1889 - www.ferriesofsydney.com/barangaroo.html

Thanks for adding these links, beachcomberaustralia - particularly the one describing Ted Hood hanging upside down to take his photograph! It's hard to say who took the images in this series as they are uncredited.

From Wikipedia: At the end of her cable-laying career [1878] she was refitted once again as a liner but once again efforts to make her a commercial success failed. She was used as a showboat, a floating palace/concert hall and gymnasium. She acted as an advertising hoarding—sailing up and down the Mersey for Lewis's Department Store, who at this point were her owners, before being sold. The idea was to attract people to the store by using her as a floating visitor attraction. By the time she was sold piecemeal at auction in 1888 she had become an embarrassment.

Thank you for the photo. So sad to see her in that state.

From PortCities : Eventually, in 1885, the unwanted hulk was hired by Lewis's department store in Liverpool. The store wanted to use her as a music hall, fun fair and a giant advertising billboard. The tired old screw engines were coaxed into powering the ship to the River Mersey, where it was opened to the public at a shilling (5 pence) a head. After exhibition trips to Dublin and the River Clyde, which did not make much money at all, the Great Eastern returned to the River Mersey in 1888.

great photo and unusual end use!

From History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications : By the time the Great Eastern reached Liverpool the port side facing Birkenhead carried the slogan ‘LADIES SHOULD VISIT LEWIS’S BON MARCHE CHURCH STREET’, while on the starboard side facing Liverpool: Towards the stern: LEWIS’S ARE THE FRIENDS OF THE PEOPLE Lewis’s name was painted in 30 feet high letters. Towards the bows: RANELAGH STREET LEWIS’S BON MARCHE LIVERPOOL BASNETT STREET MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, BIRMINGHAM On the paddle box: THE BON MARCHE LIVERPOOL

The 1883 date of the photograph ties in with the launch of the paddle steamer "Tilbury" . She was commissioned by the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway who maintained the ferry service across the River Thames between Tilbury and Gravesend. She operated for nearly 40 years before being scrapped in 1922.