The Pride of the Yarra Steamboat Collision

Photo of Otago Harbour taken from the location of the commemorative plaque at Port Chalmers.

The Sinking of the Pride of the YarraIn Dunedin’s Southern Cemetery three beautiful celtic crosses can be found in neighboring graves.

What happened?

What is the story behind these crosses?

The graves are linked by a common disaster.

The story is written in

stoneWe can find out more by visiting the graves and reading the headstones.

The tall Celtic cross bears four marble plaques that commemorate the deaths of the Rev. Thomas Campbell and his wife Marian, their five children and their two servants who were all drowned on the Pride of the Yarra in Otago Harbour in 1863.

The story written in

stone

The inscription reads…

Sarah RobertsAged 23

Servant of the Rev. T. H. CampbellDrowned

in the same steamboat

collision 4 July 1863

This inscription has weathered badly so that it now cannot be read. We need to go to older records to find out what it once said…

Fanny FinchAged 17

Servant of the Rev. T. H. CampbellDrowned

in the same steamboat

collision 4 July 1863

Another story in stoneNot far from the Campbell

family and servants graves, the grave of another victim of the collison can be found - Charles Sommerville.

A further victim was noted in the newspapers of the time to be buried close by but there is no headstone.

The inscription reads…Erected

by Margaretin memory of

her beloved husband Charles Sommerville

Who was drowned in the Pride of the Yarra

steamboat collision July 4th 1863

Aged 46 years

Location of the graves

Charles Sommerville Block 2P Plot 28

The Campbell Family and Servants Block 2P Plot 30

Map of Dunedin’s Southern Cemetery sourced fromhttp://www.dunedin.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/25472/cemplot_southernphoto.pdf

What happened 1? The Rev. Thomas Campbell had arrived from England to take up the

position of Principal (or Rector) of the new High School (Otago Boys’ High School). He had just arrived in Port Chalmers with his very young family of five children, aged 5 and less, (Alfred was 6 weeks old and had been born on the voyage to New Zealand) and several young servants after a 3 month voyage from England.In 1863 there was only a track from Port Chalmers to Dunedin and ships were unable to sail up the harbour to Dunedin. Small steamboats provided a regular service ferrying passengers from Port Chalmers to Dunedin. On the fateful Saturday (July 4th) the Rev. Campbell and his wife had travelled from Port Chalmers to Dunedin to arrange a place to stay and agreed to assist with the Sunday service and christen the baby. They returned to the ship later that afternoon and loaded some luggage and the family on board the Pride of the Yarra. The evening was clear but cold and the family huddled in the small cabin just below deck, with about 8 – 10 others. There were an estimated 40 - 50 or so people on board intending to travelled to Dunedin from Port Chalmers. The Favorite was another small passenger ferry plying the Otago Harbour and on this evening she was coming in the opposite direction from Dunedin on her usual run. (Otago Daily Times, 18 Jul 1863)

What happened 2? The crew of the Pride of the Yarra had

seen the lights of the Favorite approaching for some distance. Captain Spence became alarmed when the Favorite came so close. At the inquest he said, “I ordered the helm a port three or four minutes before the collision and it was about a minute or two before we were struck that I ordered the engine to be stopped and reversed.” (Otago Daily Times, 9 Jul 1863) Papers Past. http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/

According to the Otago Daily Times report at the time the captain of the Favorite did not see the Pride until the moment preceding the collision. They turned the Favorite in desperation and stopped the engines. But it was too late. Favorite struck the bow of Pride and staved its bow plates almost to the starboard side.

This image on the plaque is taken from a painting of The Pride of the Yarra by H.C. Berry.

(Otago Daily Times, 18 Jul 1863) Papers                Past.http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/

What happened 3? The deck passengers were knocked over by the impact, but then

clamoured to the bow to grab at the rails of Favorite and clamber aboard as Pride was sinking fast.Those in the cabin had no forewarning prior to the impact. It was impossible to escape from the powerful inrush of water into the Pride’s cabin. After a few minutes passengers were being rescued from the water. But there was no boat on Favorite or lifebuoys. The Favorite stayed for 20 minutes or so and then set a course for Port Chalmers to raise help.

In all there were 13 known fatalities - 9 of whom comprised the Campbell family and their servants. Ten have memorials at Dunedin’s Southern Cemetery that can be viewed today.

(Otago Daily Times, 18 Jul 1863) Papers                Past.http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/

A Huge Public Funeral The funeral was held on Thursday 9th July at St Paul’s Church in the

Octagon. (This is not the church we see today. The church was later replaced with the current St Paul’s Cathedral built in 1915).

The commissioner of police formed a mounted and foot-constable guard. Large crowds stood “mute and sorrowful” as the coffins were carried out of the Provincial Hotel where the inquest was held. (Macaw, J. 2001) A hymn was sung at the service from the hymn books that the Rev Campbell had brought with him from England and had left with the church on his first visit. A procession of about 1500 - 2000 people stretched for over a kilometre as it followed the hearses down Princes Street to the Southern Cemetery. (Otago Witness, 11 Jul 1863, Page 4)

The monument that now stands on top of the grave was brought out from England in 1864. The octagonal base originally had eight porcelain plaques – one for each family member and one telling the story. These plaques have been replaced with the four marble panels shown in slide 3. (Macaw, J. 2001) The school opened less than one month later on August 3 1863 with Mr. G.P Abram acting as Rector.

In remembrance 1 The loss of the school’s first principal in such tragic circumstances has never been forgotten by the School.

Photo Caption: The Head Prefect of Otago Boys’ High School Bernard Lunn lays a wreath at the grave of the Rev. T Hewitt Campbell, first Rector of the school who was drowned in Otago Harbour on July 4 1863 while coming up from Port Chalmers to take up his post on the first day of his appointment. The grave is in the Southern Cemetery and the rest of the prefects attended the ceremony.

This photograph, with the caption at left, was first published in The Evening Star, Saturday August 3, 1963, p.2. Reproduced with permission from the Otago Daily Times.

In remembrance 2

In 2003 a memorial plaque was set in place at Port Chalmers near where the collision occurred.

Find out! Do you have harbour or river drowning and boating accident victims memorialised in your local cemetery? If so record the name and date on the epitaph and investigate.

Who are they? If you have more than one memorial you may like to create a trail in your cemetery.

What happened? Find out more about the boating or ferry accident this person or family was involved in. Look up the papers past website and find out about any personal tragedies.

It is quite likely if you live near a larger coastal town or city there will be harbour drowning and boating accident victims recorded in the local cemeteries. Boating and harbour accidents was a quite common tragedy in 19th century New Zealand. Find out why?

What other boating and ferry accidents can you find out about?

To present your findings you can create posters, the front page of a newspaper, brochures, pamphlets or a PowerPoint.

Books

McCraw. J. (2001). Harbour Horror, Square One Press Dunedin.

Websites

The Histories of the Stevens—Croot Family Heritage Elizabeth Pearce http://www.ournzheritage.com/histories_files/pearce.htm tells the story of the Campbell’s young servant who survived because she accompanied the baggage from Port Chalmers to Dunedin.

Northern Cemetery Records http://www.northerncemetery.org.nz/northerncemetery/application/dynamic/bio.cfm?BurialID=81334 There is information about the Pride of the Yarra in the second section of this article.

Papers Past http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/

• Otago Daily Times. (9 July 1863). The Fatal Collision. Page 4• Otago Witness. (11 Jul 1863). The Public funeral. Page 4.• Otago Daily Times. (18 July 1863). Fatal Steam Boat Collison. Page 5.• Otago Witness, (4 Nov 1908). The '' Pride of the Yarra" Tragedy. Page 87

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=OW19081104.2.281

Southern Cemetery map used in this resource was sourced from http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/_media/docs/cemetery_maps/cemplot_southernphoto.pdf Dunedin City Council: Location of Dunedin’s cemeteries http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/location-pdfs