Randell, William Richard (1824 - 1911)

Summary

William Randell was the first man to put a steamboat on the Murray River. He had the boat, Mary Ann, built in 1852-1853, extending it to 75 feet in 1854 and joining it with a new hull, in 1855, mounting the single paddle-wheel between the two hulls and renaming it Gemini.

Published resources

Book Sections

• Tolley, John C., 'Randell, William Richard (1824-1911), paddle-steamer owner and politician' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 6: 1851 - 1890 R - Z, Bede Nairn, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1976), pp. 6-7. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/randell-william-richard-4450. Details

Conference Papers

• Klenke, Andrew, 'Randell's Dry Dock, Mannum', in 2015 South Australian Engineering Heritage Conference - Transactions [Fourth South Australian Engineering Heritage Conference - Adelaide 15 May 2015] (Adelaide: Engineers Australia, South Australia Division, 2015), pp. 11-31.. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q8017359. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/93178050. Details
• 'Randell, W R (1824-1911)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-558994. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_r.html. Details
• Engineers Australia ed., Wonders never cease: 100 Australian engineering achievements (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2019), 236 pp, https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/2025-08/EA1_Wonders%20never%20cease.pdf. "Opening up the inland", pp.96-7. Details
• Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details