SL Lady Elizabeth, c.1900

SL Lady Elizabeth is believed to have been built by the Monarch Company of New York State circa 1900 and transported to England soon after. She is a small steam launch built with a vertical bow and counter stern, the vessel is painted off-white with red below the waterline and the upper works are varnished wood.

She has a single cylinder steam engine with Stephenson’s valve gear. The builder of the engine is unknown but it appears that the bulk of the castings are taken from the Stuart Turner, Stuart 5A type engine which is a common engine fitted to launches of this type. The boiler is a Lune Valley type fired by paraffin and was built by Lune Valley Engineering in 1910. This company was based in nearby Lancaster and was one of the most prolific and innovative manufacturers of steam launches and machinery.

History and ownership

SL Lady Elizabeth is believed to have been constructed as an early non-reversible motorboat. It was salvaged by George Pattinson in 1955 having sunk in a few feet of water off Cockshott Point at Bowness, where it had been abandoned by its previous owner. Pattinson restored SL Lady Elizabeth to use adding the steam plant and boiler. The boat was then used to troll for Char, a fish from the Salmon family believed to have been stranded in Windermere at the end of the ice age and now a delicacy local to Windermere and other lakes.

Restoration Plans

Lady Elizabeth is deemed to be almost entirely original and it will therefore be preserved with little intervention. The interior will be carefully dismantled and stripped back to leave the hull planking and frames bare. This will then be treated with preservative to ensure there is no moisture in the vessel. It will then be re-painted and varnished as original. The boat will be a dry static exhibit although it may occasionally be put afloat for special events.