William Patterson Shipbuilders
[1] Patterson, the founder, was born in Arbroath, Scotland, in 1795 and worked his way up from London slop (ready made clothes) seller to shipwright at Rotherhithe, and then foreman at steamship builder William Evans.Here he took charge of the yard for the build of the steam packet Dasher for the Post Office, before moving to Bristol in 1823 to become assistant to William Scott at his ship at Wapping.The early constructions were traditional, the smack Dispatch and the West Indiaman Edward Colston, but soon he began to produce ground breaking designs, such as the schooner Velox in 1834 built to clipper lines, which surprised conservative Bristol shipowners.Patterson built the first steam vessel designed for regular Atlantic passengers in the SS Great Western[2] a large 1775 grt iron-strapped, wooden, side-wheel paddle steamer, which sailed for maiden voyage on 8 April 1838.The experience proved fruitful as Patterson was employed to draw up the hull lines for two large steamships built in Bristol by Acramans for the Royal West India Mail Company, the Avon and Severn, and an order in his own yard for Demerara, a 3000-ton bm vessel built for Royal Mail Steam Packet Company which unfortunately was stranded and almost wrecked in the Avon in 1851.
PrivateShipbuildingRiver AvonWilliam PattersonIsambard Kingdom BrunelshipbuilderBristolEnglandSS Great WesternSS Great BritainyachtswarshipsPattersonArbroathScotlandLondonshipwrightRotherhithesteam packetWilliam Scotttimber tradeBristol ChannelWest IndiamanschoonerGreat Western Steamship CompanyNew York CityCumberland BasinRoyal Mail Steam Packet CompanyM ShedSir Robert SeppingsgunboatsAlbacoreRoyal NavyCrimean WarRoyal Yacht SquadronbarqueschoonersRoyal AdelaideLiverpoolGreat WesternGreat Britainbrigantinegunboat