Fred Ransom's Spicy Paddle Steamer

I was very lucky to find this photograph for sale on eBay in 2017. I have a saved search for my surname, Ransom. On several occasions I have almost deleted the search because I seem to get mostly newspaper photographs involving kidnap victims through the ages. Fortunately, the vendor put my surname into the item's main heading as well as the description, and the item looked as if it might be interesting.

I discovered that my first cousin, three times removed, Frederick John Ransom, was born in April, 1841. Frederick's cousin, 19 years his junior, was my great grandfather, Horace Ransom. In partnership with J. F. D'Oyly, Frederick was associated with at least two Paddle Steamers. Their first was named Spicy, which, as the newspaper advertisement (complete with a small illustration of Spicy) from the Dorset County Chronicle and Somersetshire Gazette of 27th June, 1867, indicated, made regular crossings from Poole to Cherbourg and back.

Spicy had been built in Bristol in 1864 where this photograph was taken. Fortunately, someone has written, in pencil, on the back of the real photo postcard, the names "D'Oyly & Ransom", and also "Spicy", or I might never have found the image.

In 1869, the Paddle Steamer Eclair was purchased by the two men, and was regularly advertised in newspapers with her sister ship Spicy. Both steamers are mentioned in this advertisement from The Bideford Weekly Gazette, dated 20th December, 1870.

In 1875, Frederick married Harriet Ann Hart, the daughter of Henry Hart, a ship owner and agent from Bristol (whose name appears in the newspaper advertisements).

That some of these early steamers were quite comfortable to travel on is evidenced by the letter from a correspondent signing himself "D.A." in the Ilfracombe Chronicle of 1st June, 1872. He described with enthusiasm a voyage which he had made a few days previously on the new steamer Eclair, and said that they did the journey from Cumberland Basin, Bristol, to Ilfracombe, in four and three-quarter hours, including calls at Portishead and Clevedon, and that the catering was excellent, the menu for breakfast comprising Grilled chops in addition to bacon and eggs and other items.

This quote is taken from the website www.tour-devon.com which sadly appears to have been deleted but can still be found here on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. 

It is always exciting to get a glimpse into the life of a distant ancestor, but in this case my time travelling feels incomplete. I have a yearning to find out more about Frederick, and would love to journey on one of his steamers and enjoy those bacon and eggs!