John Mills has devoted a good portion of his life towards the documentation of steamships. The result is a unique source of information that will be of use to researchers well into the 21st century. Such a task is not easy. The preparation needed to exercise good judgement and a consistently high standard to the work demands a familiarity with nautical history, reporting conventions and the arcane world of government documentation processes.
This edition, (1999) available in hard copy through the museum, adds considerably to the first edition published by the Steamship Historical Society in 1971. All of the entries have been reviewed and there are well over two thousand new additions. I have found the New Mills List an invaluable companion in my work and the provider of answers for the many individuals who make use of our archival and library research facilities.
John was the 'greater equal' in a team of individuals who all provided support in this project. His patience and attention to detail is astounding. Other members of the team include Earl Moorhead, long serving museum registrar; Jonathan Moore who supervised the initial conversion from hard copy to digital format, the president Doug Fell who worked closely with John to move the project along and Gene Clevenger who resolved the many problems associated with specialized formatting. Finally a special thank you to Dr. Gordon Shaw, a Patron of the first rank.
Maurice D. Smith,
Curator,
Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston.
October 21, 1999.
The Mills Lists is regarded by researchers as a important resource for those interested in Canadian steamships. To make best use of this data base readers are advised to read the introduction that follows by Mr. Mills. (Sailing ships are listed in the Wallace List).
Mr. Mills has given the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes permission to create an electronic version of his list. His generosity is appreciated.
For Recent Changes to the Mills List go to the
Following Link
Mills List Update
Introduction by Mr. Mills
This list has been compiled over many years as a personal research project. An informal preliminary version was published some years ago in the name of the Toronto Branch of the World Ship Society, but the present List is a complete reworking with a large amount of new material. Its aim is to include all inland and coastal steam and motor vessels over 75 feet in length, registered in Canada from the beginning down to 1930. By that date almost all the early, poorly-documented vessels had ceased to exist, and information on later ones is readily available elsewhere. The following are excluded: yachts, sailing ships with auxiliary power where sail was the main means of propulsion, warships, ships used exclusively in trans-ocean services, and highly specialized non- commercial craft such as dredgers, ice-breakers, lightships, etc. In some cases no clear distinctions can be made, and arbitrary decisions have occasionally been necessary.
Registration in the Early Days
Registration in the early days was rather haphazard and some steamers in distant areas were never registered, though they are shown here with such particulars as are available. Throughout the nineteenth century little distinction was made between Canadian and British register, other than the location of the Port of Registry, and the concept of an independent Canadian register developed rather slowly until the First World War.
For some time there were two forms of registration: under regulations based on the Imperial Merchant Shipping Act of 1854 applicable to any vessel deemed "Seagoing," or under an Inland Navigation Act of the Province of Canada (as it then was) which was based on an earlier Imperial act and applied to the Great Lakes and Upper St. Lawrence River. Montreal was the boundary between "seagoing" and "inland," and ships could be registered there under either Act, depending (in theory) on their intended use. Registration under the Inland Act was limited to Canadian-built vessels, however, and it was the custom to register foreign-built craft at Montreal under the Imperial Act regardless of where they were located. For reasons that are now obscure, a handful of vessels (probably less than a dozen) were registered under
the Imperial Act at Kingston, Ontario.
Maintaining Records
Records were maintained at the various Ports of Registry rather than at a central point. For registrations under the 1854 Imperial Act, and under its predecessors at ports on tidewater, duplicate records were sent to London starting in 1818, but were not normally made for ports above Montreal. Unfortunately, the Canadian records for these ports have survived in only a few cases.
This is by far the greatest problem in Canadian shipping research, and what little information can be given comes from unofficial and often inexpert sources.
Tonnage and Problems with Numbers
As a further complication, it should be noted that the basis of tonnage computation has changed several times. Frequently in early years it was little more than a "guesstimate" and might vary wildly in different sources for the same vessel. During the period of dual registration (i.e., Imperial or inland) it was computed on different formulae by the two authorities, the "inland" figures being considerably smaller. The new Dominion of Canada after 1867 rationalized the chaotic registry arrangements, adopting the standards of a new Imperial Act under which tonnage was calculated on much the same basis as it had under the 1854 Act. Starting in 1874, all newly-registered vessels came under the uniform system, and in 1877 and 1878 those registered under earlier systems were resurveyed, sometimes with startling effects on their official particulars (the tonnage of some passenger vessels almost tripled).
The arrangements adopted at that time have been continued in principle until recent years, with Official Numbers assigned from blocks in the U.K. series set aside for the purpose. The use of Official Numbers began in 1855 and it should
be noted that vessels transferred from British to Canadian register retained their British numbers without change. The Inland Act authorities did not use numbers; when these vessels were incorporated into the unified Canadian register no numbers were assigned to them, except in some cases where a resurvey was required because of rebuilding. However, no
consistent policy appears to have been followed in this regard.
The 1877-78 period was in fact a general tidying-up, and in the process some vessels were found to have ceased to exist and were removed from the register. Others were found to be running under names different from those under which they were registered, and had either to revert or to make formal change; an attempt has been made here to show these irregular name changes.
A working draft of this List was reviewed by Rev. E.J. Dowling, S.J., Dr. W. Kaye Lamb, John L. Lochhead, Daniel C. McCormick, Robert W. Parkinson and William Thomas, whose many constructive suggestions have been extremely valuable.
With the exception of Archives material, almost all the author's research for this List was done in the University of Toronto library system, and it is appropriate to acknowledge here the excellence of this enormous collection.
John M. Mills
Toronto