Can you imagine a time when pigs and passengers travelled in close quarters along the NSW South Coast? The eastern seaboard steamship routes served as highways in and out of the region, sometimes before towns had been even gazetted, or roads and train-lines constructed.

Now on display at the Bega Pioneers’ Museum, the travelling exhibition, Of Pigs and Whistles – How Steam Navigation Linked South East NSW to the World tells the compelling story of steamship navigation in the region, in particular the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company, exploring the significant contribution the maritime industry made to the economic and social development of the South Coast and hinterland.

Founded in 1858, the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company’s is a tale spanning almost 100 years, revealing the fascinating history surrounding the corporation’s role in creating a vital link to the rest of the world following European settlement.
And given that the South Coast was a rich source of produce and natural resources, ports in the region became integral to Australia’s economic and social story.

Of Pigs and Whistles – How Steam Navigation Linked South East NSW to the World was curated by local heritage management and interpretation consultant Angela George with support by arts worker and writer Leah Szanto.

Angela said the exhibition gives viewers an opportunity to learn about the shared narrative which united the broader region and its populations across the expanses of geography, over many kilometres and multiple generations.

“From the time the company was formed until the time it ceased, it dominated the local maritime industry – it was the in and out of the place and the key to its survival,” Angela said.

“If you had to go to a city for medical treatment or you needed clothing or other supplies, it came in on an Illawarra Company ship or went out on an Illawarra Company ship.”

Captains faced the dangerous job of navigating unpredictable waters and dangerous coastlines. There were high seas and high dramas, with some miraculous rescues, and tragic losses.

And pigs and passengers were close travelling companions.

Angela pointed out that viewers might find the link with and significance of the humble pig in the history of the company quite surprising.

“There are so many fascinating and funny stories about the pigs, from the porkers that shared cabins with passengers, to the heroic pig that played lifesaver to a shipwrecked load of passengers,” she said. Comment [AG1]: Insert ‘

“The human side of the story so interesting in terms of the people who worked for the company and the role it played in the community. It wasn’t like big businesses are these days, the Illawarra Company became a real part of all the communities it served.”

She highlighted how incredibly demanding life must have been for those involved in this particular chapter of the region’s history, not the least because charts and equipment during the 19th and early 20th centuries were considerably less sophisticated than they are today.

“Can you imagine steaming from Sydney to Eden a couple of times a week, stopping at just about every port, dozens along the way, then turning around and going straight back again? They must have been exhausted navigating the risks,” Angela said.

“People relied on the shipping line as the most reliable service. We take it very much for granted now that we can just jump in the car and be in Sydney in six hours, that wasn’t an option then.

“Even by the 1950s when the company ceased to operate, there were no sealed roads and it might have taken two or three days travel, and often with no easy way to cross the many rivers along the way,” Angela said.

With funding support from Create NSW, exhibition development was managed by South East Arts and design was by Workhorse Design, with valuable input from the broader region’s combined museum community, including those in the Bega Valley, Eurobodalla, Shoalhaven, Wollongong City and Snowy Monaro local government areas.

Of Pigs and Whistles – How Steam Navigation Linked South East NSW will be on show at the Bega
Pioneers’ Museum until April 2025.

SS Bega

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