George Moss Evans was the first of the writer’s family to arrive in Australia. During his long and eventful life, he worked as a sailor, a teamster, a fisherman and an engine driver at Port Fairy, one of Victoria’s earliest coastal townships.¹ This article will concentrate on his connection to steam power and the equipment under his care.

George Moss Evans was born beside the Old Kent Road, Surrey, England on 3 January 1836, the son of hatter, John Evans and his wife Harriet, née Walters.² In March 1852, George was apprenticed as a sailor aboard the Mentor ³, a career choice which would dramatically change the course of his life. The following year, he shipped on the near-new 287-ton barque Innellan on an unlucky voyage to Australia. The ship’s woes started when, on 5 October 1853 (only hours out at sea from the Thames), she collided with another ship in the English Channel.⁴ The damage was slight and quickly repaired, and the voyage was resumed on 24 October.