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The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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The story goes that one evening Mr John Parson, who owned the tidal mill at Insworke, near Millbrook, returned to Mutton Cove very late and had to pay 5s 6d to hire a waterman to take him across the Hamoaze to Millbrook. That was a lot of money and Mr Parson vowed that he wouldn't be doing that again: he would start a ferry service. But it was not a case of simply buying a boat and getting started: first he had to seek permission from the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, who held the ferry rights on the river. The Earl declined a suggestion that he extend his own Cremyll Ferry to Millbrook but gave permission to John Parson to start his own service. He acquired his first steamer in 1885, appropriately named "Millbrook" and started to run it between North Corner and Millbrook. Two other vessels followed in quick succession: the "Iolanthe" and the "Lady of the Lake". When the new landing stage at Mutton Cove was opened in 1891, the service was moved to there. On January19th 1892 Mr John Parson joined with another boat owner, Mr William Gilbert, Saltash, to form the Saltash, Three Towns and District Steamboat Company Ltd, which took over the running of the Millbrook Ferry in addition to operating river excursions. But hardly had the new venture started than Mr Gilbert died and his shares passed to Mr E P Gilbert. Almost immediately the relationship between him and John Parson seems to have started to deteriorate. On November 13th 1894 Parson bought the Mutton Cove to Cremyll ferry service operated by the Oreston & Turnchapel Steamboat Company, along with their vessel "Despatch". He extended the service to run up to Millbrook in direct competition with the Saltash Company, in spite of the fact that he still owned shares in it. For the next fifteen years he continued what became known as the "Steamer War". To see details of the Millbrook Ferry service on Tuesday March 19th 1907 CLICK HERE. Both companies suffered financially as a result of this battle but as he was the sole proprietor of his vessels, Mr Parson was probably damaged the most. On March 28th 1929 he formed a limited company, the Millbrook Steamboat & Trading Company, to protect his interests. They continued the Millbrook Ferry and in 1933 started through fares by boat and motor bus to Whitsands Beach for 1s 6d. Mr John Parson died on the evenoing of Friday March 9th 1934, at the age of 81 years. He was born in Millbrook in 1852 and it would appear that both his parents died before he was 18-years-old, when he was Head of the Household looking after his older sister, Mary Parson. In 1891 he was still unmarried and their cousin Ernest Parson had joined them as manager of the coal merchant's business. He had at times held seats on the Parish Council, the St German's District Council and the County Council and was credited with being the insigator of the telephone service at Millbrook, becoming its first subscriber. Returning to the history of the Millbrook Ferry, in 1935 the last paddle steamer, the "Britannia", was put on the Ferry but by the start of the Second World War she had been laid up. The motor vessel "Lady Elizabeth" and "Devon Belle" continued to provide the service right up until the 1970s. With the increase in private car ownership, the need for a ferry between Millbrook and Devonport was reduced to a morning and an evening service for Dockyard workers. Later that decade the service just petered out and it is not known exactly when the last boat ran.
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