[peacock prose] Lady Edeline and her four sisters survived the 1932 opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and were converted to diesel power that decade.

Lady Edeline was the longest serving of the five sisters, and the last wooden ferry run by the government service.

Continuing a Balmain Ferry Co convention of naming their ferries after the wives of Governors-General of Australia and Governors of NSW, Lady Edeline was named after Lady Edeline Strickland, wife of New South Wales governor, Sir Gerald Strickland.

In common with most Sydney Harbour ferries at the time, Lady Edeline and her four sisters were wooden double-ended screw steamers.

With construction of a Sydney Harbour Bridge seeming likely, she and her four sisters were designed for a maximum of fifteen years of life.

The five were relatively small and had a veed shape and shallow draft to navigate the muddy and silted upper reaches of their upstream runs.

From 1900, the Balmain New Ferry Company began a period of expansion to keep up and compete with the tram network expanding into what is now referred to as Sydney's Inner West.

As part of economy measures, almost older and/or larger steamers were put up for sale, and the five "Lady-class" ferries were converted to diesel power in the 1930s with Lady Chelmsford first.

In 1936, Lady Edeline re-entered service with a six-cylinder 228 bhp Gardner diesel that pushed her to 10 knots.

In 1951, with annual patronage down to 9 million, the NSW State Government took over Sydney Ferries Limited and its remaining fleet and assets.

Their routes were expanded to all inner-harbour (ie, non-Manly) services including Taronga Park Zoo, Milsons Point, Cremorne and Hunters Hill.

In 1974, the board became the Public Transport Commission (PTC) and a royal blue and white scheme was adopted for all the ferries.

The Lady Edeline appeared in the 1983 film, "Careful, He Might Hear You", in which it was sunk upon collision with a larger passenger ship.

She was towed to Hobart with Kosciusko in 1975 to assist following the collapse of the Tasman Bridge however she was found to be in too poor condition and was scrapped.