Talpore is one of the most significant ships to have been built on Teesside. Built in 1861, this gigantic vessel was the largest river steamer of its day. Built in Stockton by Pearce, Lockwood & Co., Talpore was built as a ‘troop’ ship, to transport soldiers on the River Indus in India (which was controlled by Britain at the time). The ship could accommodate an astonishing 800 troops and their officers, in two tiers of cabins (which can be seen on this model). Talpore became known as The Great Eastern of the North, after Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s famous ocean going steamship, built three years earlier in 1858 and by far the largest ship of its kind at the time.
Image courtesy of Preston Hall Museum and Grounds