Sydney Ferries Limited

Sydney Ferries Limited operated ferry services on Sydney Harbour from 1900 until June 1951.

The company grew out of the North Shore Steam Ferry Company and took over smaller ferry operators to become the largest ferry operator in Sydney's history. Without a physical connection across the harbour, demand for ferry services to developing areas on the North Shore rose dramatically and Sydney Ferries commissioned 27 large ferries in its own right between 1900 and 1922. The company named its vessels with Australian Aboriginal words beginning with "K".

The 1932 opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge saw the companies annual patronage drop from 40 million to 15 million.

The first regular passenger ferry services across the harbour began in the 1840s and 1850s, at which time the Gerrard Brother's ran paddle steamers Ferry Queen, Brothers, and Agenoria. Herald was sent out from England for the North Shore Steam Company and later for E Evans and Partners. Demand for passengers services had developed to the point that in 1861, the forerunner to Sydney Ferries Limited, the North Shore Ferry Company, was formed as an unincorporated company. Its backers included James Milson and Francis Lord. The company's first ferries was Kirribilli (I). Nell, Galatea and Coombra followed. Land subdivision from the 1870s saw development east of Milsons Point in the Neutral Bay and Mosman, New South Wales areas. Mosman was first an excursion area and residential development had suffered until the regular ferry services began in the 1870s.

It became a limited liability company, the North Shore Steam Ferry Company Ltd, in 1878. On 14 December 1899, the company was incorporated as Sydney Ferries Limited. It subsequently took over the Parramatta River Steamers and Tramway Co. Ltd. (in 1901), the Balmain New Ferry Co. Ltd. in 1917 and the Watsons Bay and South Shore Steam Ferry Co. Ltd. in 1920.

Sydney Ferries acquired some innovative technology from its predecessor companies, notably the double-ended screw ferry design in which Sydney was a world leader at the time. In 1879, the North Shore Co. introduced Sydney's first, and the world's second, double-ended screw ferry, Wallaby. This remained the basic design of all Sydney double-ended screw ferries. However, the company continued to acquire paddle-steamers until 1885. They serviced the harbour's busiest route from Circular Quay to Milsons Point (50 years later the location of the Sydney Harbour Bridge) and Lavender Bay to which an all-night service was added in 1884. Milson's Point became the harbour's busiest wharf with the introduction of a connecting tram service from Ridge St North Sydney. It became busier still in 1893 with the connection of the North Shore railway line from Hornsby.

In late 1899, the North Shore Co. was reincorporated as Sydney Ferries Limited. At this stage, the fleet comprised 27 vessels including four vehicular ferries and two cargo ferries.

The first 20 years of the twentieth century were a time of significant growth in demand for ferry services on the harbour, and Sydney Ferries grew rapidly.