Days of Sail and Steam: by Deborah Lerech

In the 1820s Oakville was situated at the opposite end of Lake Ontario from well developed areas like Kingston where passage to the Atlantic was possible. Few schooners from the large ports at Kingston and York sailed as far as the head of Lake Ontario. To transport the growing quantities of wheat, timber and other wood products such as staves to markets east and to transfer points on the St. Lawrence required the use of a number of vessels. ¹ William Chisholm wasted no time in establishing a shipyard on the Sixteen. The pre-eminent reason that enabled Oakville to become a shipbuilding centre was the timber available in the region and the new lumbering trade that became the Township's staple, providing the product most necessary to a shipbuilder. ²

The size of Chisholm's and other shipbuilders' sailing ships was limited by the shallowness of rivers and harbours. Those ships built at the Sixteen during the early years "ranged from 50 to 100 tons' burthen, carrying capacity". ³ Chisholm's shipyard was situated above the final curve of the Sixteen on the south bank, a part of the city that now represents the north end of Navy Street where the water is deep close to the shore. In Aug. 1828 the first schooner, appropriately christened Trafalgar, was launched and it was destined to sail the lake between the head, Rochester, and Oswego. After being badly damaged in a November storm it was rebuilt and became "a vessel of some importance and for a time belonged to William Marsh, magnate of Port Britain". ⁴

The increasing number of new schooners joined "the fleet of carriers bound for the markets in Lower Canada" after which it would continue on to other British colonies or to Great Britain itself. During the early 1830s, "wood products made up two-thirds" of the exports as areas were still being cleared for farmland. ⁵ As well as taking supplies out, the schooners returned bringing "salt?other merchandise, and immigrants." This benefited not only the village but also the town's founder because, when landed at Oakville, "the merchandise was used to stock the shop Chisholm had established there. ⁶

Although a schooner was the first ship launched at Oakville, other types of vessels were to follow. The steamer Constitution was launched at Chisholm's shipyard on Jan 19, 1833. The ship was built "to provide steamer service to and from the head of the lake to the capital at York both for passengers and freight." Chisholm had been awarded the contract for his joint stock company that he had established for that very purpose. ⁷ The Constitution was one of the larger steamboats on the lake at the time "being 150 tons burthen, 133 feet in length, and had accommodations for 51 passengers in berths". ⁸ The Constitution was bought by Capt. Hugh Richardson in 1835, which he renamed the Transit ⁹ Only a year later, on May 7, 1834, the Oakville was also constructed at Chisholm's shipyard. Lake steamers were the only method of quick travel in Upper Canada, therefore they were always fully booked and their profits were always substantial. ¹⁰ When viewed in context with the roads of the period, the speed and comfort of a steamer voyage was a much more pleasant alternative to the stagecoach. After the introduction of the steamships, the large "three-, four- and five-masted schooners were in use." There was a fear amongst the sailing ship owners and builders that the carrying business would be overrun quickly, however:

for 60 years the schooner was able to compete successfully with the steamship in the carriage of freight. Marine enginesand boilers long remained expensive and the coal necessary to supply the power occupied space which the sailing ship could utilise for cargo; consequently many a sailing vessel was financially successful, while some of the smaller steamers were run at a loss. ¹¹

In 1835-36 the Provincial Steam Dredge was used for canals and ports around Lake Ontario, and returned each winter to Oakville where it was repaired the harbour was newly dredged each spring allowing for larger ships to sail in and out of Oakville. The following year a lighthouse was built in November of 1837 due "to the increased traffic in the harbour." Along with a grant from the House of Assembly, Chisholm himself provided the funds for almost half the cost. ¹²

Shipbuilding was indeed a costly industry and not a task to be undertaken lightly. The average cost of "a new wooden hulled vessel in the 1830s was probably between £8000 and £10,000." ¹³ Part of the reason for this cost was the amount of skilled labour that was involved in the process of building a ship. At the shipyards in Oakville whipsawyers "cut timber into plank for the shipbuilders to spike into the framework of strong oak, shaped and ready for planking." For this they were paid 7s6d/100' for pine, and 10s/100' for oak. ¹⁴ The capacity of the ships, measured in bushels, came from the giant hulls. To build the hulls, the frame was raised up on the keel and then covered in plank, which had been steam tempered for a day beforehand. Then they were caulked in oakum (old hemp shredded and soaked in pine tar), and finally re-caulked above water in tar and below in tallow. ¹⁵

All the town seemed to be involved with shipbuilding. In addition to the original five shipbuilders, the 1840s and 1850s saw a further expansion of the shipyards at the mouth of the river. William Chisholm's nephew Duncan was a shipbuilder at Oakville as was John Potter who later became a carpenter and built many of the original houses in Oakville. Shortly after the ship Burlington was completed in 1837, the shipyard was sold by Chisholm to Jacob Randall and his brother-in-law John Jeffery. John and Melancthon Simpson build brightly coloured ships which were heralded for their wood carvings. ¹⁶ In addition to the ship builders it was common to see a large turnout for a launching in a town concerned with shipbuilding. John A Williams recalls that "all the people for miles around gathered to see [the ship] launched and to cheer lustily when it struck the water without mishap. The day was a holiday and quite a bit of whiskey was launched down the necks of those who came to town for amusement." ¹⁷ Because of the amount of business generated by the shipyards, it was always good news for all when a ship was launched successfully.

Bibliography
Armstrong, Frederick H., A City in the Making: Progress, People & Perils in Victorian Toronto, Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1988
Brimacombe, Philip, The Story of Oakville Harbour, Cheltenham Ont.: Boston Mills Press, 1975
Guillet, Edwin C., Early Life in Upper Canada, Toronto: The Ontario Publishing Company Ltd., 1933
Lewis, Walter, "Steamboat Promotion and Changing Technology: the Careers of James Sutherland and the Magnet," in Ontario History, Vol. LXXVII, # 3, Sept. 1985 pp. 207-230
Mathews, Hazel C., Oakville and the Sixteen: The History of an Ontario Port, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1953

Footnotes

1. Hazel C. Mathews, Oakville and the Sixteen: The History of an Ontario Port, pp. 30-31
2. Philip Brimacombe, The Story of Oakville Harbour
3. Hazel C. Mathews, Oakville and the Sixteen: The History of an Ontario Port, pp. 30-31
4. Ibid., pp. 30-31, 35
5. Ibid., p. 32
6. Ibid., pp. 32-33
7. Philip Brimacombe, The Story of Oakville Harbour
8. Ibid.
9. Frederick H. Armstrong, A City in the Making: Progress, People & Perils in Victorian Toronto, (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1988) p. 206
10. Philip Brimacombe, The Story of Oakville Harbour
11. Edwin C. Guillet, Early Life in Upper Canada, (Toronto: The Ontario Publishing Company Ltd., 1933) p. 462
12. Hazel C. Mathews, Oakville and the Sixteen: The History of an Ontario Port, pp. 120-121, 124
13. Walter Lewis, "Steamboat Promotion and Changing Technology: the Careers of James Sutherland and the Magnet," (in Ontario History, Vol. LXXVII, # 3, Sept. 1985 pp. 207-230) p. 209 The Magnet, a similarly privately build ship placed on the Lake Ontario routes as a independent steamer, stopped at Oakville in the mid 1850s as shown by a bill of landing for goods shipped July 26, 1854. p. 218
14. Hazel C. Mathews, Oakville and the Sixteen: The History of an Ontario Port, pp. 213-214
15. Ibid., pp. 213-214
16. Ibid., pp. 122, 124, 214-215
17. Ibid., p. 2