By the 1830s, Liverpool was overtaking Bristol as a transatlantic port. The Great Western Railway was formed in 1833 to build a Bristol-London line and appointed
Isambard Kingdom Brunel as chief engineer. The issue of the line's length was discussed at an 1835 director's meeting when supposedly Brunel joked that the line could be made longer by building a steamship to run between Bristol and New York. The necessary investors were recruited by Brunel's friend, Thomas Guppy, a Bristol engineer and businessman. The next year, the
Great Western Steam Ship Company was established, even though the rail line was still years from completion. Famed Arctic explorer, Admiral Sir
William Edward Parry was appointed as
Comptroller of Steam Machinery and Packet Service in April 1837. Nova Scotians led by their young Assembly Speaker,
Joseph Howe lobbied for steam service to
Halifax. The
Rebellions of 1837 were still ongoing and London realized that the proposed Halifax service was also important for defence reasons. That November, Parry released a tender for North Atlantic mail service to Halifax. The St. George Steam Packet Company also bid £45,000 for a monthly Cork-Halifax service including their
Sirius and £65,000 for a monthly Cork-Halifax-New York service. Great Western's directors were confident that they would win the contract because of the demonstrated success of their first steamer. However, the Admiralty rejected both bids because neither company offered to begin service early enough. Guppy was also in disfavor at the Admiralty because of his critical remarks about the Royal Navy's steamship designs made at an 1837 scientific meeting. Cunard, who was back in Halifax, did not even know of the tender until after the original deadline. Cunard returned to London and started negotiations with Admiral Parry, who was Cunard's good friend from the time Parry was a young officer stationed in Halifax twenty years earlier. Cunard offered Parry a fortnightly service beginning by May 1840. While Cunard did not currently own a steamship, he had been involved in an earlier steamship venture (
Royal William) and owned coal mines in Nova Scotia. Cunard's major backer was
Robert Napier, who was the Royal Navy's supplier of steam engines. Napier was eager to support Cunard because he just had a falling out with Junius Smith of British and American. Cunard also had the strong backing of Nova Scotian political leaders such as Howe at the time when London was concerned about building support in British North America after the rebellion. In May 1839, Admiral Parry accepted Cunard's tender over the loud protests of Great Western's directors. Parliament investigated Great Western's complaints, and upheld the Admiralty's decision. The company also faced difficulties at its home port. The water was not deep enough for
Great Western to dock at Avonmouth, forcing the ship to anchor midstream. The Docks Company refused to dredge a deeper berth and charged twice the rate as Liverpool. The result was that Bristol lost further ground to it rival ports. After the collapse of British and American, Great Western decided to alternate departures between Avonmouth and Liverpool, before abandoning Avonmouth entirely in 1843. The company remained profitable even though it now competed directly against Cunard's fortnightly service. In 1843, the firm's receipts were £33,400 against expenditures of £25,600. However, the company was still financially stressed because of the cost of building
Great Britain, which ultimately reached £117,295. In 1843,
Great Britain was finally launched with great fanfare. She was no less than three times the size of Cunard's
Britannia Class. The company's fortunes improved in 1845 when
Great Britain entered service. She recorded 14 days, 21 hours (9.3 knots) to New York and a day less on her return. However, on 23 September 1846
Great Britain ran ashore because of a navigational error and was not expected to survive the winter. The directors suspended all sailings of
Great Western and went out of business. The company was forced to sell the salvage rights at a fraction of
Great Britain's original cost
Great Britain was saved, sold and served various owners until 1937. ==Great Western fleet==