Wrecks - GOWER SHIPWRECKS
Gower Shipwrecks 1830 - 1849
Last Updated (Saturday, 14 January 2012 18:38) Friday, 06 November 2009 10:58
GOWER SHIPWRECKS 1830 - 1849
IRISH MINERS On 23 June 1830 she was wrecked on the Dangers reef at Rhossili when carrying copper ore from Swansea for Llanelli. The crew were rescued by station officer Bartlett and his men of the Coastguard.
HENRY This brig was owned at Harrington, Nova Scotia, and stranded on the banks off Whitford on 29 October 1830 when bound from Quebec for Penclawdd with a cargo of timber. Though badly damaged, the cargo kept her afloat allowing crew and passengers to get ashore. The passengers were the crew of the London ship Hibbert which the Henry had chanced upon waterlogged and on her beam ends in mid Atlantic. The Hibbert's men had clung to the side of the vessel for three days and were lucky to have survived. When they got to Swansea they were given a free passage to Bristol by Capt Hyde of the steamer Palmerston.
The storm of 19 February 1833. After nearly three weeks of bad weather, masters of windbound vessels were glad to see Tuesday 19 February dawn with a "serene sky and a light easterly breeze". Many vessels were now able to leave Swansea harbour and make their way down channel. During the evening, however, the wind veered to south and was soon blowing a strong gale as it swung to southwest. The next morning the wind shifted to northwest and blew at hurricane force for the rest of the day. Vessels which were in mid channel put about to seek shelter at Mumbles. Those wrecked were:
SURPRISE A Clovelly smack with coal for Bude. She reached Swansea Bay leaking badly and sank before she could be run ashore. Her crew were picked up by another vessel.
FRANCES ANNE This Padstow schooner, with coal for St Ives, went down near the Greengrounds off Mumbles with the loss of her crew of six and four passengers.
FAVOURITE A Campletown schooner and the Laugharne sloop MARY were both driven ashore at Port Eynon and lost with all hands. The Mary had been returning to St Clears with groceries from Bristol: tobacco, gin and vinegar were found amongst the debris.
UNKNOWN A schooner was seen to go down on the Helwick. Her masts came ashore near Oxwich but she appears not to have been identified.
SYREN This London registered brig sailed from Swansea on 18 December 1833 with coal for the government steamers at Malta. She ran into a gale off Worms Head, became unmanageable, and was driven ashore near Burry Holmes. Her crew got ashore in the boat but the vessel became a wreck.
MARY ANN A Wexford schooner homeward bound with coal from Cardiff. She gave up the struggle with headwinds but struck the Mixon on 17 November 1834 as she made for Mumbles. Crew and passengers landed safely and on the next ebb the coastguard boarded to recover stores before she went to pieces.
NEW BLESSING This brig was bound from Cardiff for Waterford but was in collision with a ketch between Lundy and the Worm. Badly damaged she drifted towards the Helwick and sank on 22 October 1835.
BRITANNIA This Bideford vessel was wrecked on Pwll Du Head by a heavy gale on 28 July 1837. Capt Bowden and his crew scrambled ashore.
DILIGENCE A St Ives schooner bound from Hayle for Swansea which stranded on the Lynch sand off Whitford on 20 December 1837. George Holland, Lloyd's agent, and six others manned a boat and brought the crew ashore. The weather held enabling the cargo to be discharged and the vessel refloated.
HERO Early on the morning of 30 January 1838 this Montrose brig ran ashore at Port Eynon in poor visibility. She was nearing the end of a voyage from Chile for Swansea with copper ore and Nicaragua wood. The vessel stranded at low water, the crew got ashore but she broke up as the flood tide covered her.
ELIZA JANE, JEREMIAH These two vessels were lost at Rhossili on 24 March 1838. The 63 ton sloop Jeremiah, of Bideford, was wrecked near the Worm. Her crew scrambled ashore when she struck the rocks. At about 5 o'clock that afternoon another sloop was seen in the bay almost on her beam ends, her cargo having shifted in the heavy swell. The vessel was anchored and the crew left in the boat but it capsized as they came ashore drowning all three. The boat came in on the flood and identified the sloop as the Eliza Jane, of Dungarvan. A body recovered the next day was that of the sloop's master Philip Vincent. In his pocket was a knife bearing his initials and he was tattoed with the square and compasses and "other masonic symbols" and also wore a medallion of the Virgin.
FERONIA This schooner struck the Mixon on 24 July 1838 when bound Ulverston for Aberavon with iron ore. She refloated on the flood but sank when running for Mumbles flats. The crews of two pilot boats picked up the crew. As the pilots were bound down channel the rescued were put aboard the schooner Wave and landed at Swansea. The Lifeboat Institution voted cash payments to the rescuers and its Silver Medal to John Rees, master of the Wave, "in consideration of his kind and humane conduct to the rescued by taking them on board his vessel and administering such comforts and assistance as they required".
SISTERS Bound to Swansea from St Ives she was driven ashore at Rhossili by a sou'west gale on the evening of 27 November 1838.
GRACE This Chester sloop was carrying a cargo of oats from Bridgwater to Liverpool when swamped by heavy seas and forced ashore at Rhossili in February 1839. She became a wreck on the exposed beach and was sold where she lay.
Notice of the sale by auction of the wreck of the sloop GRACE at Rhossili.
( The Cambrian, Swansea Museum )
Heavy north-west gale 21 January 1840. Two vessels were lost with all hands this day: the schooner Shepherd, of Liverpool, was wrecked at Worms Head and the schooner Dolphin, of Dartmouth, struck the beach near Burry Holmes. The barque Suir, of Waterford, was also in danger of being driven ashore and her crew cut away the mainmast in an attempt to save her. She did drive onto the beach at Llanmadoc but held together. It took two months of effort to refloat her so that she could be towed to Llanelli for repair.
CITY OF BRISTOL The engines of this paddle steamer can still be seen at low water of spring tides just to the north of Diles Lake on Rhossili beach. Built at Hotwells, Bristol in 1827 she ran all year on the routes from Bristol to Dublin, Cork and Waterford. The packet left Waterford on the morning of Tuesday 17 November 1840 bound to Bristol with a crew of twenty two and seven passengers. As cargo she carried 15 bullocks below deck, 280 pigs in pens on deck, 370 barrels of oats, 113 barrrels of barley, two tierces of lard and 120 flitches of bacon. She was delayed by bad weather but by six next morning was off the Smalls. Making up channel they saw St Govans at noon and made out Caldy light at 4.45 on Wednesday afternoon. It was blowing hard from the south east and visibility was poor with rain squalls so Capt John Stacey told the men on deck he intended to seek shelter to the north of Worms Head. Soon after 6 land was seen on the port side (presumably Burry Holmes) and the vessel struck. The engines were put astern but she was hard aground and was soon broadside to the heavy surf which pounded the open beach. Crew and passengers were now all on deck but the sea ran too high to consider using the boats. It was low water and the crew hoped the ship would hold together and float in as the tide made. The cook and stewardess were swept from the deck inspite of being lashed to the rails. At high water, soon after midnight, the ship broke in three and most of the crew and passengers were swept away. The master, mate and three seamen had taken refuge in the fore rigging. The mast fell as the ship broke up hurling seaman Poole amongst the wreckage. He broke three ribs but was able to pull himself onto a paddle box. A large sea washed him off and carried him towards the beach. People on the beach dashed in to drag him out. Poole thought he was the sole survivor until he met Thomas Hamlier (in some accounts his surname is given as Anstice), the ship's carpenter, at the King's Head, Llangennith. Hamlier was powerfully built and had lashed himself to the wheel. When the vessel broke up he jumped in and swam ashore. He was bruised but otherwise unhurt and able to walk to Llangennith. The remaining 27 crew and passengers died that awful night.
Capt Stacey's body was taken to Bristol for burial at his home at Pill at the mouth of the Avon. A Mrs Urquart arrived later in the week, and put herself through the harrowing experience of viewing the bodies recovered each day, until she recognised that of her brother Donald Frazer, chief engineer, which she also took to Bristol. Three bullocks and seventy five pigs had swum ashore and were herded to the farm of George Holland, Lloyd's Agent, at Cwm Ivy.
The remains of the City of Bristol on Rhossili beach. Worms Head is in the background of the two upper photos.
(Photographs by R.C. Smith)
FANNY This schooner was bound for Bideford from Newport when she met bad weather and ran back for Mumbles. She struck the Mixon on 26 January 1841 and began to break up. John Channon, the master, and his crew of two were rescued by the Swansea pilot boat Susan skippered by George Bidder. The Lifeboat Institution voted a reward of ten shillings each to Bidder and his assistants Walker, Blackmore and Johnson.
DART A Wexford smack which was anchored in Mumbles roads in January 1842 when her cables parted in a strong gale. She drove over the Greengrounds and sank in the middle of Swansea Bay with the loss of all hands.
GURNET A smack owned at Mumbles. She she was a regular trader carrying oysters from Mumbles to Bristol for onward transmission to Billingsgate by rail. On 17 March 1842 she attempted to enter Swansea in boisterous conditions but capsized drowning her two crew.
INDUSTRY Also owned at Mumbles but worked in the limestone trade. She was sailing from Limpert Bay, Aberthaw, for Aberavon on 19 May 1842 when she was found to be leaking. In running for Mumbles she went down two miles off the lighthouse. A passing vessel picked up the master but his crew drowned.
SARAH & RACHEL This oyster skiff was owned by Capt Phillips of the Ship and Castle public house, Mumbles. She capsized while dredging in the Mixon Pool (the area of deep water between the Mixon and the shore) on 22 April 1843. Her crew of four were drowned leaving two Mumbles women widowed and twelve children fatherless.
LIVERPOOL PACKET This brig was bound for Penzance with a cargo of coal from Newport. She lost her rudder and was abandoned by the crew near Flat Holm. She sailed herself down channel and was wrecked in Rhossili Bay on 9 October 1843.
South easterly storm 17 March 1844. Dozens of vessels were anchored in the roads at Mumbles when this storm struck. The SUPERIOR, of St Ives, parted her cables and sank a number of oyster skiffs as she drove through the moorings. The CHARLES, of Llanelli, and REBECCA, of Bridgwater, rolled their bilges out on the stony shore.
SPREACOMBE This Bridgwater sloop was anchored in thick fog on the night of 16 April 1844. Her master was unsure of his position but could hear a ground sea surging on the shore. The vessel dragged and was carried onto the rocks of Whiteshell Point to the east of Caswell Bay. Unable to get ashore the men spent five hours in the rigging. They were seen from the shore and news sent to Mumbles. Three brothers Jenkins put off in their boat and saved the men shortly before the mast came down. The Jenkins family would play a prominent part in the Mumbles Lifeboat station when it was formed a little over twenty years later.
Gale from all quarters on 2 August 1844. A number of vessels were wrecked in this summer gale.
MARGARET A schooner bound from Rotterdam to Bristol driven ashore Broughton Bay and went to pieces. Crew survived.
MARY This Bridgwater schooner lost nearby drowning a woman passenger.
THETIS A Llanelli schooner which sank at anchor in Oxwich Bay. Her crew of four rescued from the rigging by Capt Marshall of the AFFO which was anchored nearby.
TRITON of Plymouth, wrecked at Port Eynon. Five of her crew drowned but her master survived.
JULIA of Chepstow, went ashore on the Worm drowning one man.
ANNE sank at her anchors in Mumbles roads.
In the three weeks following this gale nine bodies were recovered from the sea and buried at Rhossili.
A LIGHTHOUSE ON WORMS HEAD ? In April 1845 Carmarthen Town Council, concerned at the number of wrecks in Carmarthen Bay, petitioned Trinity House for a light to be erected on the Worm. The brethren replied that they were willing to erect such a light and, to maintain it, would levy one eighth of a penny per ton on vessels which crossed a line from Morte Point, Devon, to the Worm. However, instead of erecting a lighthouse, Trinity House moored a lightship off the western end of the Helwick shoal. The ship was placed on station on 1 October 1846 and a bright revolving light shown each night. The vessel was replaced by a navigation buoy in 1989.
Notice to Mariners - Lloyd's List 1846
BRECHIN CASTLE Wreckage of a substantial vessel was found along the coast from the Worm to Mumbles Head on Friday 19 February 1847. Todd, the Comptroller of Customs at Swansea, and Holland, Lloyd's agent, were informed and by the time they got to Oxwich large quantities of wool were coming ashore with the wreckage. The ship's papers washed up and helped to identify the wreck as the barque Brechin Castle, of Dundee, John Baxter master, Adelaide to Swansea with 520 tons of copper ore from the Burra Burra mine and 120 bales of wool - total value in excess of £ 17,000. A large section of the hull floated in at Limeslade on the morning of the 22nd. That day the commissioner enquiring into the state of education in Wales visited the school at Oystermouth (Mumbles). He described the boys' school as slovenly and unsystematic and reported "I found but a thin attendance - there had been a wreck in the neighbourhood the day before, and all the bigger boys were gone to look at it". [Sadly in my day I do not recall any wrecks in the area or even I would have considered "going on the mitch" from school - a wreck would have been a damn sight more interesting than an afternoon of Latin, French and R.E. !!]]
The barque had carried a crew of fifteen along with the Fairbourne and Winterbottom families as passengers. All were drowned. Seafarers in Swansea were of the opinion that the vessel had struck the Helwick and thought it likely that the lightship had contributed to the loss. As the Brechin Castle had left Britain in February 1846 her master would not have known of the lightship and possibly mistaken its light for Mumbles. Turning to port into Swansea Bay, as he thought, he would have put his ship onto the Helwick.
EAGLE This Aberystwyth smack was bound home with coal from Porthcawl when she struck the Cherrystone rock off Mumbles Head on 26 October 1848. Her crew abandoned and rowed ashore.
Two more vessels wrecked on the Mixon. The sea ran high over the bank on the morning of 6 March 1848 revealing another victim. The Cambrian supposed "the crew perished in the darkness of night unseen by any human being". It was some days before she was identified as the Waterford brigantine EARL GOWRIE. On 27 November, the same year, the London barque ARIETTA, Swansea bound with Cuban copper ore, struck the bank and was also wrecked. As the crew abandoned, a swell drove the boat against the side of the wreck - the second mate was knocked overboard and drowned. The master and thirteen hands rowed to the Neath tug Dragonfly which lay at anchor in Mumbles roads.
VICTORY This Aberystwyth smack struck Loughor bridge when bound to the Spitty copper works in January 1849. She was put up for sale where she lay in September that year.
Notice advertising the sale of the smack VICTORY, of Aberystwyth, which struck Loughor bridge and was wrecked.
( The Cambrian, Swansea Museum )
VICTORIA This schooner, owned at Looe, Cornwall, was in collision off Port Eynon with the Swansea barque Pascoe Grenfell on the night of 16 January 1849. She sank and her crew were picked up by a passing vessel and landed at Swansea. The barque lost her jib-boom but was able to proceed.
MARY JONES This brig was registered at Pictou, Nova Scotia, and well out of her course when bound from Pugwash to Liverpool with a cargo of deals and battens, for she was wrecked on 14 December 1849 against the cliffs between Port Eynon and Paviland. Seaman Tom Pollard was trapped by the falling masts and drowned. The master, Mark Maddison, was also trapped but the crew were able to release him and carry him to the cliff top. They were taken in by the Bevan family of Overton. The vessel's cargo was sold where it lay along the coast by George Holland, Lloyd's agent.