Lady Elizabeth (1869) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Lady Elizabeth was a British ship built in 1869 by Robert Thompson Jr. of Sunderland. Robert Thompson Jr. was one of the sons of Robert Thompson Sr. who owned and operated the family ran shipyard J. L. Thompson & Sons. Thompson Jr. eventually left the family business in 1854 to start his own shipbuilding business in Southwick

Southwick

-Places:India* Southwick, Ooty, a suburb of Ooty town in the state of Tamil Nadu.England* Southwick, Hampshire , a village in the county of Hampshire* Southwick, Northamptonshire, a small village* Southwick, Somerset, a small village...

, Sunderland. She was 658 tons and was classified as a barque

Barque

A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...

cargo sailing ship with one deck and three masts. She had a keel and outer planking made from American rock elm

Rock Elm

Ulmus thomasii, the Rock Elm or Cork Elm, is a deciduous tree native primarily to the Midwestern United States. The tree ranges from southern Ontario and Quebec, south to Tennessee, west to northeastern Kansas, and north to Minnesota...

and a fore end made from English elm

English Elm

Ulmus procera Salisb., the English, Common, or more lately Atinian, Elm was, before the advent of Dutch elm disease, one of the largest and fastest-growing deciduous trees in Europe...

. The stem was made of teak

Teak

Teak is the common name for the tropical hardwood tree species Tectona grandis and its wood products. Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries, including those in Africa and the...

and English oak with an iron floor as the deck. The ship also had copper and iron fastings. The ships was also registered in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

under the name Wilson & Co. Messrs Wilson & Co. was based out of Sydney, Australia. The ship carried a comparative classification under American Lloyds as "First class-third grade" (First Class under British Lloyds)

Service history

The Lady Elizabeth was owned by shipping merchant John Wilson and made her primary shipping runs between Fremantle, Western Australia

Fremantle, Western Australia

Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...

and London, UK. Sometimes the Lady Elizabeth would make other runs to Chinese ports in the Asian Indian region to deliver timber. There is speculation that the Lady Elizabeth was named after John Wilsons mother Elizabeth Wilson. She was commanded by Captain Edward W. Cobbett and after 1875, by Captain Thomas S. Scott.

Final years

The Lady Elizabeth was only in service for nine years when she met her fate on 30 June 1878, while she was on charter for Messrs Shenton and Monger to carry a cargo of lead ore and 611 tons of sandalwood

Sandalwood

Sandalwood is the name of a class of fragrant woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods they retain their fragrance for decades. As well as using the harvested and cut wood in-situ, essential oils are also extracted...

to Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

. Captain Scott encountered rough weather around Rottnest Island

Rottnest Island

Rottnest Island is located off the coast of Western Australia, near Fremantle. It is called Wadjemup by the Noongar people, meaning "place across the water". The island is long, and at its widest point with a total land area of . It is classified as an A Class Reserve and is managed by the...

and the ship was driven south because of the difficulties in acquiring navigational headings. On the morning of 30 June, Captain Scott ordered the crew to head back to Fremantle

Fremantle, Western Australia

about 55 kilometers away to south-south-east. During the heavy storm, one man was lost overboard but the crew could not launch any boats to rescue the sailor because of the weather.

Captain Scott sighted what he believed to be Parker Point (the southernmost tip of Rottnest Island

Rottnest Island

) and ordered his crew to adjust the ship's heading towards Fremantle through Rottnest Island

Rottnest Island

's southern channel. Moments later, the Lady Elizabeth struck a reef in Bickley Bay. The ship lost control and swung to the south when Captain Scott ordered the port anchor be dropped. At 10:30 pm, the Lady Elizabeth began listing to starboard and the water started coming over the decks. Captain Nash, a pilot on Rottnest Island

Rottnest Island

saw the blue distress signal flares but was unable to reach the Lady Elizabeth due to the weather. He was forced to wait out the storm. By morning, weather conditions improved to launch a rescue of the Lady Elizabeth's crew. Over the course of the next few months, the sandalwood

Sandalwood

that was stored in the ships cargo hold broke free and washed up on shore. Most of the cargo was scattered between Rottnest Island

Rottnest Island

and Bunbury

Bunbury, Western Australia

The port city of Bunbury is the third largest city in Western Australia after the State Capital Perth and Mandurah. It is situated south of Perth's central business district...

.

Nearby locals made substantial gains salvaging the cargo from the lost Lady Elizabeth. It is believed that the sailor who was lost overboard during the storm was the only casualty.

Outcome

An inquiry into the disaster found that Captain Scott was not liable for the sinking and no charges against him were filed. However, during the inquiry, it was noted that Captain Scott 'made use of expressions which were both unbecoming and amounted to gross contempt'. Afterwards, he displayed regret for the use of his expressions and apologized to the Court. The court inquiry was held by L. Worsley Clifton, Collector of Customs; John F. Stone, J.P.; and W. E. Archdeacon, Staff Commander, R.N., Admiralty Surveyor. Captain Thomas Scott retained his certificate of captain.

The hull, iron ore, and sandalwood

Sandalwood

that were salvaged was sold at auction for £1,039. The sandalwood

Sandalwood

that was lost was insured for £5,000.

After the sinking of the Lady Elizabeth, Robert Thompson & Sons of Sunderland under J.L. Thompson and Sons

J.L. Thompson and Sons

J.L. Thompson and Sons was a shipyard on the River Wear, Sunderland, which produced ships from the mid-18th century until the 1980s. The world-famous Liberty Ship was among the designs to be created, produced and manufactured at the yard's base at North Sands....

company, began construction of another Lady Elizabeth

Lady Elizabeth (1879)

The Lady Elizabeth was an iron barque of 1,155 tons launched on 4 June 1879 and built by Robert Thompson Jr. of Southwick, Sunderland. Robert Thompson Jr. was one of the sons of Robert Thompson Sr. who owned and operated the family ran shipyard J. L. Thompson & Sons. Thompson Jr...

, completed in 1879, just one year after the sinking of the first Lady Elizabeth. See Lady Elizabeth (1879)

Lady Elizabeth (1879)

Other events

Shortly after the sinking of the Lady Elizabeth, Ah Cum, a Chinese steward, was charged with larceny

Larceny

Larceny is a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of England into their own law. It has been abolished in England and Wales,...

. Ah Cum did plead guilty to stealing personal affects and cargo from Captain Scott. The items included one pound of corn flour, a pound of tea, two dozen red herrings, two bottles of brandy, two bottle of wine, a pint of rum, two cans of jam, and tobacco. Ah Cum had apparently sold the merchandise to other immigrants sailing on the Lady Elizabeth. He was sentenced to 3 years gaol.

Two more immigrants were also charged with larceny

Larceny

on the last voyage of the Lady Elizabeth. Robert Young & George Lench both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to ten months in prison. The two immigrants were later acquitted.

Two more immigrants were taken into custody for breaching the cargo when they arrived in Fremantle

Fremantle, Western Australia

on 12 March 1878. Their outcome is not determined.

Documented arrival & departures

Meaning of column A or D (For Arriving or Departing):

A Arriving
D Departing
S Last spotted

*Lady Elizabeth* Destinations
Date	Year	A or D	From	To	Secondary Date	Passengers	Cargo
8 March	1870	A		Fremantle, Western Australia
October	1870	S		Shanghai, China
March	1871	S		New York, United States
June	1872	S		London, England
April	1873	S		New York, United States
October	1874	S		New York, United States
24 December	1874	A	Port Adelaide, South Australia		7 December	Mr. J. Hicks	22 pkgs., J. Cookworthy; 35 pkgs., order
12 June	1875	A	Gravesend, England			Rev. Henry Laurence, the newly-appointed Church of England chaplain for Champion Bay, along with his wife and family. Also 147 Government and nominated immigrants
13 July	1875	D	Fremantle, Western Australia	Champion Bay, Western Australia		Mrs. Laurence and daughter. Rev. J. B. Atkins, Messrs. Harvey and Kenny, and eight miners and their families (20)	Cargo-Sundry pkgs, merchandise (part of the original cargo iron from London) ; 8 pkgs. spirits (under bond) ; 51 bags potatoes, 100 hides beer, 50 bags sugar, and sundries.
July	1875	S		London, United States			^{Possible confusion between Western Australian Newspaper telegram and Lloyds Register}
June	1877	S	New York, United States
15 December	1877	D	Gravesend, England	Gage's Road, Western Australia	12 March 1878	Immigrants	Ships cook died two days before reaching port.
12 March	1878	A	London, England	Fremantle, Western Australia		80 Immigrants
25 March	1878	D	Fremantle, Western Australia	Shanghai, China		Miss Scott	Sandalwood, iron ore

Current status

The Lady Elizabeth was discovered in 1969 in 7 metres of water on Porpoise Bay near Rottnest Island and Dyer Island. The bell from the Lady Elizabeth was raised and donated to the Western Australian Maritime Museum where it is currently displayed. The wreck has become a common site for divers to view the wreck however; no artifacts can be removed under the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976
Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976
The Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 is an Australian Act of Parliament designed to legally protect historic shipwrecks and any relics or artifacts from those wrecks...

.

Service history

Final years

Outcome

Other events

Documented arrival & departures

Current status

See also