05/26/2026
From the Shelburne County Museum collection, this two-ended white china egg cup has a large cup on one end and a smaller cup on the other. The edges of both cups have a green colour transfer print of a garland with roses. The larger cup also features a round crest with a belt tied in a circle, with the words “South Shore Line” and “Senlac” written inside. It is speculated that a passenger on the Senlac may have walked off with this egg cup as a souvenir!
The Steamship Senlac was built in 1904 by David Lynch at the Hilyard Brothers shipyard in Portland, NB, for the S.S. Senlac Co. Ltd. of Saint John, NB. The Senlac was specifically designed to carry passengers, cargo and mail between Halifax and Saint John, with stops at south shore ports along the route. It was also constructed to be robust to withstand the rough weather and harsh conditions between Saint John and Halifax during the winter months. The vessel was 187 ft / 56.9 m long and 33 ft / 10 m wide. The frame was constructed of Bay Shore spruce, the deck was hard pine, the planking was birch and hard pine, and it was outfitted with two Scotch marine boilers.
The ship featured a main deck and a saloon deck, and no expense was spared to provide long and unobstructed promenade decks. Each of the 44 staterooms was carpeted, had electricity and steam heat and a large plate glass window, and creature comforts such as an American-made Ostermoor mattress, a toilet, cutlery specially made in Toronto and crockery from England. Other luxuries provided were a smoking room, a ladies’ lounge and a dining room. The vessel could carry up to 400 day passengers and sleep 97, with a crew complement of about 30, including 10 stewards attending the passengers.
Coming out of Halifax Harbour on the eastern side of the channel on 1 Jul 1907, the Senlac encountered dense fog. Travelling at about six knots, it sounded fog signals at regular intervals. Just as the ship passed George’s Island, there was the whistle of an incoming steamer, the Rosalind. The Senlac responded by giving a short blast and moving to starboard, while the Rosalind replied and stopped. However, within a few seconds, both ships collided, seriously damaging the Senlac and putting her out of service. It was later ruled by the courts that both vessels were at fault. Upon hearing the Rosalind’s whistle, the Senlac should have moved to port, stopped or reversed engines, and the Rosalind was negligent for not hearing the fog blasts and proceeding up the harbour without caution.
Following the collision, the Senlac was sold to Brister & Co. in Halifax for refurbishment, and finally to a French company in 1916. The ship’s name was changed to SS Acadien and it was put into service carrying freight and passengers between Halifax, Sydney and St. Pierre. In Feb 1918, the steamer was caught in a powerful gale at Placentia, NF. It was found damaged and adrift days later, but the Captain and nine crew members were lost.
The image of the Senlac is on a postcard from the online auction site eBay. The poster is from the Cape Sable Historical Society collection.
Thank you to Curator Cady Berardi for her assistance with this post.
