Royal Humane Society & Life Saving Awards

Lot 1135    Day 1    Royal Humane Society & Life Saving Awards

Estimate $6,000
Bid at live.noble.com.au

S.S.WAIRARAPA, fob medal, handcrafted in gold (15ct, 13.1g, 40x27mm), by A.T. (Anton Teutenberg, Auckland) (D&C.U3 [this piece]), ring top suspension, reverse inscribed 'From/J.Williams/to/T.Roberts/With Heartfelt/Gratitude/For His Bravery/in Saving my/Daughter Jane/at the Wreck of/S.S. Wairarapa/20.10.94'. Good very fine.

The following courtesy Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia:^^S.S. Wairarapa was a New Zealand ship of the late 19th century plying the route between Auckland, New Zealand and Australia. It came to tragic fame when it hit a reef at the northern edge of Great Barrier Island, about 100 km out from Auckland, and sank. The death toll of around 140 people remains one of the largest such losses in the country's history. The ship was named for the Wairarapa region.^^Wairarapa was built in Dumbarton, Scotland, in 1882, for the Union Steam Ship Company. Soon after launch she sailed to New Zealand, to become one of a small number of luxury steamers plying the route across the Tasman Sea to Australia.^^Wairarapa sailed from Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday, 24 October 1894. The ship's destination was the rapidly growing New Zealand port city of Auckland, 2,000 miles away. As Wairarapa rounded the top of the North Island of New Zealand four days later, fog and storms set in. However, Captain John S. McIntosh refused to slow the ship from 13 knots, nearly full speed despite the thick fog. Fatally, the ship went off-course, possibly due to a faulty compass bearing. At the subsequent Court of Enquiry into the incident, some even suggested the ship had been steered by dead reckoning rather than using a compass at all. Whatever the cause, the ship skirted to the west of the Poor Knights Islands, not the east. As a consequence she was much closer to the mainland than the ship's crew believed.^^At around 8 minutes past midnight on Monday, 29 October 1894, the ship was wrecked on the steep cliffs near Miners Head on the northern tip of Great Barrier Island, off the coast of Auckland.^^The hours after the wreck saw great loss of life. Many passengers could not swim and drowned in the rough seas trying to make it to shore. One liferaft was seen floating out to sea and was never sighted again. Many men, including a large portion of the crew, took to one of the lifeboats, leaving women and children behind. A number of people took refuge in the ship's rigging. At about 3 am Captain McIntosh jumped into the sea and was presumed drowned. Several other lifeboats which had been safely launched stayed near the stricken ship and picked survivors from the sea where possible.^^One lifeboat eventually succeeded in reaching a local community of Ngati Wai Maori based at Katherine Bay, on the western coast of the island. They were able to rescue and provide care for a number of the survivors. Seaman, fisherman and farmer Mariano Vella and his new wife belonged to the survivors of the disaster.^^Although Wairarapa was expected in Auckland, there was no way of knowing where she may have come to grief. As the only contact with the island at the time was via weekly trips from a steamer, it was three full days until news of the shipwreck reached Auckland.^^The Northern Company's steamer Argyle arrived in Port FitzRoy on Wednesday, 31 October, and took the survivors who had reached Port FitzRoy on board. The steamer then proceeded to the site of the shipwreck, and to Katherine Bay, picking up further survivors and sailing back to arrive in Auckland about 3am Thursday 1 November.^^A Court of Enquiry was held after Wairarapa disaster, and found Captain McIntosh's actions were the primary cause of the tragedy.^^The wreck of Wairarapa is scheduled for preservation in the Auckland Regional Plan: Coastal and is also protected under the archaeological provisions of the Historic Places Act 1993.^^The following account by Jane Williams courtesy of 'Remembering the Past Australia':^^Miss Jane Williams, one of the survivors, had a most thrilling experience, being in the water for twelve hours. For a part of the time she was clinging to a spar, with her hair wound round it, and during the remainder she lay on two buoys. Her sister Sarah, twenty years of age, was drowned, but Miss Jane Williams had a most marvellous escape from death. She says:- ^^"At a quarter past 12 I heard a thud, and jumped out of my bunk. I was in the apartment with my sister Sarah. I went to the ladies' cabin on the way to the saloon staircase, and ascertained that there was an accident of some sort. I went back for my sister, and we both put on our lifebelts. We then ran on the hurricane deck in time to see the steamer list over. A number who were standing on that side of the steamer were swept off by the sudden force and drowned. The screams at this time were dreadful. ^^My sister and I then climbed on a railing, and were nearly swept away several times by the terrific force of the waves. The situation may be imagined, for at this time it was pitch dark. Many thought about this time that the steamer was breaking and would sink. I moved to the right and clung to a rope, which was suspended from the saloon awning. In the meantime my sister climbed on to the captain's bridge. The next thing a huge wave swept over us, and, the rope breaking, I was swept into the sea. Not being able to swim, I had to hold myself up by catching pieces of wreckage that were floating about. I was swept with a great number of others among the wreckage close to the cliff. By this time welcome dawn was just beginning to appear, and we were able to recognise each other. The scene at this time was terrible. I was holding to one of the spars with my hair woven round it, and was in this position for some hours, while many were drowned one after another in my sight through the force of the waves and the wreckage. ^^Among those I recognised being drowned at this time were Mrs. McDonald, one of the stewardesses in the saloon. Miss Cole, who could swim, was about this time swept on to a small ledge by the force of the waves, and was saved. Among the great number who here perished I was the only one left alive in the water. Every minute I thought it was my turn. However, I managed to keep my presence of mind. When all around me had been drowned I saw a lifebelt floating in the water. I managed to get it and put my head through it. I lay in this position for perhaps a couple of hours when I saw another lifebelt floating about. I caught it, and put my feet through it, thereby keeping myself afloat. I had only my nightdress on, and this helped me greatly, for if I had been dressed I feel sure that I would have been drowned. ^^At this time numbers were being taken from the steamer on to a cliff by means of a rope. Every minute I expected some help from those who had got on the shore, but none came. For a long time, I could not say how many hours, I was in the life buoys, but they told me subsequently I was in the water fully twelve hours. I could see many lying evidently exhausted on the cliffs. At last I saw some of those on shore looking at me and waving their hands. I waved my hands back. At this time I was probably eight or nine hundred yards away from the shore, and my feelings of pleasure at being seen cannot be described. Those on shore shouted and waved their hands to keep my spirits up, and encouraged me until they could obtain a rope to pull me on shore. ^^Shortly afterwards I recognised the fact of Mr. Thomas Roberts swimming towards me with a rope. When he reached me I could scarcely hold up my arms to let him put the rope round my shoulders. I felt terribly weak. Mr. Roberts then swam with me to the cliff. I really don't know how he managed, for there was a strong current running at the time. However we got back in safety to the cliff, and we were both hauled up by those above. I was so weak when I got on shore that I could not stand."