Exmouth
The Northern Star 8 May 1847
Wreck of an Emigrant ship – One hundred and sixty five lives lost.
Accounts from Scotland report the shipwreck of the brig Exmouth, which had on board about one hundred and seventy persons, nearly all Irish emigrants, every soul of whom except three of the crew were lost.It appears that she sailed from Londonderry on Monday 20th, and was soon caught in a gale which raged with great violence on the Scotch and Irish coasts. In the course of succession of gales and squalls every stitch of canvas was blown away, and after having been buffeted about the vessel became unmanageable and at half past twelve last Wednesday was driven amongst the rocks at Ballavanie, on the north west side of Islay, when she soon went to pieces, and every soul on board including the captain, Mr Booth, perished except three of the crew who floated ashore on the maintop. These men, who were in a state of dreadful exhaustion, were hospitably received by Mr Chinne, factor for Mt Campbell of Islay. On the Wednesday afternoon the wreck was passed by the Modern Athens, when many of the bodies were being washed on the shore. The three survivors John Stevens, George Lightford and William Coultard obtained a passage to Glasgow in the Modern Athens which arrived at the Broomilaw on Saturday and were clothed and lodged by the Shipwrecked Mariners society. The Exmouth belonged to Newcastle and was bound for Quebec. She was the property of Mr John Edons of South Shields. During the same gale a brig from New Orleans put in to Bowmore Islay in distress, with the loss of two men and bulwarks, and a schooner with the loss of one man. On the island of Fara a barque, a brig and a schooner are on shore.
Further Particulars
Wreck of Exmouth, from Illustrated London News, 7 May 1847, from the British Newspaper Archive
The vessel was registered for 165½ passengers but as two children count for one adult and a very large proportion were under age – there being only about 60 men amongst the passengers – the survivors think that the total number of these ill fated emigrants must have amounted to the total stated viz.: 240.
The ship lost sight of land about four o’clock on Sunday afternoon. The breeze which had been light in the morning, increased to a gale during the day, and about eleven p.m. it came in terrific squalls accompanied by heavy torrents of rain. They then furled the fore and main sails. The wind which had been to the westward at first, veered northerly and the storm increased in violence, which blew the two topsails from the bolt ropes. The crew then commenced to bend other topsails, which they furled, but about three in the morning they were blown from the gaskets. The ship was now driving to the southward and eastward. The reason for the master not standing to the westward where they would have ample sea room, was for the purpose of attaining some harbour of refuge, where he might repair damages and replace sails.
On Monday forenoon the longboat was unshipped by the force of the seas, which broke over the vessel, and in eth course of the same forenoon the bulwarks were stove in and the lifeboat washed away. The gale continued with the same violence during the whole of Monday night and Tuesday; and an indication of the force of the hurricane may be had from the fact that on the latter day the mainsail after being furled was torn from the gaskets by the storm blast. While the crew were setting the foresail it was blown from the bolt ropes, and the trysail mast was unshipped, and the main gaff carried away which rendered them unable to carry the spanker. During this dreary time the vessel pitched dreadfully now on the crest of a mountain wave and in two seconds afterward reeling in the trough of the sea; the passengers were all below under hatches, many of them insensible to external danger from the pains of seasickness, but some of them had a fearful presentiment of disaster. Cooking, of course was out of the question but the grown up people had no heart to be hungry and moreover the cooked provisions brought from Londonderry were not yet entirely exhausted.
Wreck of Exmouth, from Illustrated London News, 7 May 1847, from the British Newspaper Archive
The mainmast had been broken into splinters by the fourth collision with the rocks and this recoiling wave had not only dragged the ship, but the fragments of the mast that adhered to her by the rigging, further into the sea, and then cut them off from the dense mass of human beings on board every chance of escape. Had the wreck remained in the chasm where it was originally thrown, and from which the three survivors escaped, it might have been used as a bridge by the others. Unhappily the last vestige of relief was taken away. The same wave which effected this fearful havoc must also have prevented the five seamen from reaching the foretop, from which they might have had a chance of escaping. A quarter of an hour elapsed from the time the brig first striking until the three passengers got on the rock. At the moment she struck or a little previous to it about half a dozen male passengers were standing on deck occasionally asking the mate if there was any danger. Of the three young ladies who were cabin passengers one of the sisters had been confined to bed with sea sickness from the moment of leaving Derry but at ten o’clock the other two took their position in the companionway and were seen there when the survivors last looked on the deck. The ship was ground and crunched so frightfully among the rocks that she must have broken up almost instantaneously. There was no cry from the multitude cooped up within the hull of the ill fated brig, or at least it was unheard for the commotion of the elements was so furious that the men on the top could scarcely hear each other at the top of their voices. The emigrants therefore must have perished in their berths as the rocks rapidly thumped the bottom out of the vessel. The three men who had escaped to the rock no soon as the ship entirely disappeared, searched anxiously for some outlet by which they might reach the mainland; but none could be found and they finally took shelter in a crevice, which however did not shield them from the rain, which fell heavily all night and here they remained till grey daylight. They discovered an opening through which they scrambled to the summit and after day had fairly broken they observed a farmhouse about half a mile distant. Thither they proceeded and were most hospitably nourished and put to bed. They were thoroughly worn out by exhaustion not one of the crew not having been in bed from the moment the ship left Derry. There were at the same time nearly naked having divested themselves of their heavy clothing when the Exmouth struck, and lost part of that which remained when scrambling on the rigging and amongst the rocks. The hospitable farmer (whose name we have not learned) and others who had been appraised by him, went to the scene of the catastrophe but of course too late to help and only to gaze on the desolation. Mr Chinnes, Islay’s factor soon heard of the event and kindly furnished the men with a passage to Glasgow by the Modern Athens steamer, which as already stated they arrived on Saturday last. Here they were consigned to the care of Mr Fildes of the naval rendezvous, and assistant to Lieutenant Forrest agent for the Shipwrecked Mariners Society and by him they have been comfortably boarded and clothed in the meantime.
Memorial to those lost on the Exmouth, photo and copyright to Rob Farrow at Geograph
The Exmouth had nothing on board but ballast, and the provisions and little stocks of goods of the emigrants. She is the property of Mr John Eden of South Shields and though old, is stated by the survivors to have been found in every respect. All the crew and passengers were perfectly sober during this fearful time and the three seamen state that they never saw drink on board at all. The Captain was in the prime of life and has left a widow and family. All the rest of the seamen were unmarried with the exception of a man called John Ross who is amongst those perished. According to the above estimate the number who have suddenly called to their account amounts to 248.