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'St Leonards'

to Auckland in 1873

Daily Southern Cross, 22 October 1873, Page 2
Port of Auckland Arrivals September 26
St Leonards, ship, 999 tons, C G Petherbridge, from London. Passengers -

Saloon -
Allan 		William
Cann 		Mrs
Hatfield 	Charlotte, Ann Jane, Ann and A J
Humphries 	Miss Matilda 
Kenah 		Mr and Mrs J W
King 		Alice
O'Rorke 	Misses Adelaide and Henrietta

Single Men
Burness Jonathan 22
Butts James 40
Cameron 	Jonathan 34
Charley 	Benjamin 23
Fisher 		John 31
Henderson 	Jonathan 21
Jackson 	George 24
McGarry 	James 21
McInnis 	Michael 24
McKenzie 	Henry 39
Onions 		George 22
Orton 		Nathaniel 21
Plowman 	William 24
Rames 		Joseph 21
Rogers 		Alfred 21
Shaw 		John 29
Simpson 	William 22

Single Women
Algssn 		Sarah 18
Atherton 	- Catherine 24, Richard 1
Basley 		Martha 22
Bunford 	Sarah 24
Cameron 	Charlotte 30
Chapman 	Elizabeth 24
Croke 		Ellen 19
Finch 		Agnes 20
Flipmin 	- Mary 20, Rose 18
Flory 		Sarah 24
Garner 		Mary 24
Garvey 		Mary 27
George 		Jane 52
Goldsmith 	Harriett 31
Houlakon 	Maria 18
Jackson 	Emma 25
Jouning 	Agnes 22
Kane 		Mary 18
McGarry 	Winifred 18
McGowin 	- Elizabeth 45, Jane 43
McIlveney 	Jane 21
McInnis 	- Anne 29, Catharine 27
McIntee 	- Winifred 22, Eliza 17
Pocklington 	- Martha 37, Maria 6
Podesta 	Harriett 18
Rames 		Mary 56, Elizabeth 29, Mary 24
Robinson 	Jane 56
Rountree 	- Maria 24, Eliza 12, Maria 10
Vidler 		Ruth 22
Wright 		Charlotte 24
Owen and 	Graham, agents

Goode 		Dr
Ackland 	Mr
Bayley  	Mr W
Duffer 		Miss (Miss Dudley's niece)
Dudley 		Miss 
Howton 		Mr
Ledger 		Mrs and 2 children
Lee ? 		Mr 
McMillan 	Mr
Marshall 	Mr
Murphy 		Mr
Norris 		Mrs
Shera 		Mr
? (2)
and 15 in the steerage
- Coombes and Daldy, agents.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, 25 December 1873, Page 3
Captain Petherbridge, of the ship St. Leonards, has been appointed general manager by Messrs. Shaw, Savill and Co. of their New Zealand trade. Captain Petherbridge will, therefore, for the present remain in New Zealand, and the master of the barque Malay (recently sold) will take the St. Leonards back to London.

Evening Post, 6 November 1877, Page 2
THE ST. LEONARDS FROM LONDON. As we anticipated yesterday, this fine ship, the property of Messrs. Shaw, Savill, and Co., under the command of our old friend Captain Todd, beat into harbor last evening. We must compliment Pilot Holmes for the manner in which be worked the ship in against half a gale of wind and ebb tide. She has a full complement of passengers and a large cargo. The passage out has been a very enjoyable one. Amusements of various kinds were introduced, theatrical performances, concerts, dances, readings, &c., in short, everything possible was done to beguile the usual tedium of a long voyage, which, in this case, was scarcely felt at all. Everyone speaks in the highest terms of Capt. Todd and his officers, who have won golden opinions on all sides, and from our own knowledge of them, we can readily believe that they thoroughly deserve it. Captain Todd was an old friend of the late Captain Williams, whose melancholy and untimely fate affected him deeply. The St. Leonards is in excellent trim and order. She comes consigned to Mr. Edward Pearce, and was berthed at the wharf this afternoon. The following is the captain's report:— Left the Downs on Monday, 30th July, and landed the Channel pilot off Start Point on 3rd August ; from thence had a succession of calms and adverse winds until the 26th, when we got the N.E. trades. Up to this date, the wind had kept so persistently ahead that we were only once able to steer a course, and then only for a few hours: passed the Equator on 11th September in 26deg. W. S.E. trades were strong and favorable, and wore lost on the 18th September in lat. 22deg. S. and long. 26deg. W. Passed the meridian of Cape of Good Hope on 3rd October, with fine and favorable winds, making Cape Leuwin in 18 days, and from thence had strong N.E. and northerly winds, with a very low gloss, passing Tasmania on the 29th. Sighted New Zealand (Cape Farewell) on Sunday afternoon ; strong westerly winds wore experienced in Cook Strait. Terawhiti was passed at 6am yesterday; at 8 a.m. Pilot Holmes boarded, and by 8.30 last night she anchored in the powder ground, having beat in against an ebb tide. The passengers are all well, and there has been no sickness or mishap during the voyage. She brings the following passengers : — Cabin — Mrs. Wilson and family (2), Miss Bead, Mr. W. Barton, Mr. G. Raikes, Rev. D. Dutton and family (3), Miss Poulton, Rev. J. G. Jeynes, Mr. Pollen, Mr. J. A. Low, and Mr. G. C. Thompson. Second cabin— Mr. H. S. Horn and family (4), Mrs. Doria and family (3), Mr. G. P. Jones, and Miss S. Jeynes. Steerage- Mr. J. Chrystal, Mrs. A. Chrystal, Mr. W. Anderson, Mrs. A. Anderson, Mrs. A. Black, Mr. J. Osborne, Mr. R. Stronge, Mr. W. H. Stratten, and Mr. W. Berry and family (12).

Evening Post, 7 November 1883, Page 2
THE WRECK OF THE ST. LEONARDS. FULL AND SPECIAL DETAILS.
PASSENGERS DESTITUTE. EXEMPLARY CONDUCT. (From our London Correspondent.) (By Telegraph from Auckland. | London, 21st September.
There was great excitement at all Anglo- Colonial resorts in the city on Monday afternoon last when it became known that a large emigrant ship, outward bound for Now Zealand, had been run into and sunk in the Channel that morning. At first nobody seemed to be very sure what the name of the vessel was, but on learning that the St. Leonards had just resumed her interrupted voyage, most of us concluded it would be she, and enquiry at the office of Shaw, Savill and Co. verified the suspicion. The St. Leonards was a fine iron sailing ship of 1054 tons, built at Sunderland in 1864, and classed Al at Lloyds. She has for 13 years been a regular trader to New Zealand, and was specially well-known at Wellington. The accounts of the catastrophe appearing in the London papers of the 18th were so meagre and incorrect; that I shall not trouble you with them. On the 19th, the wreaked passengers and crew, who had been landed by the Cormorant (the steamer that ran the St. Leonards down) at Dartmouth, came on to London, and were housed in comfortable rooms at Blackwall. I found them thankful and fairly cheerful, considering the majority had lost every stitch of clothing and were destitute of all the property they had in the world. One family were in bed, absolutely unable to get up for want of wearing apparel. They had been in their berths at the time of the collision, and had to be saved in nightgowns, which garments now represent their sole earthly possessions. When these poor folks get out to New Zealand, I trust the misfortune they have met with will not be forgotten, and a little money subscribed to set them on their legs again. I may as well perhaps mention here that the Canterbury emigrants are to be sent forward by the Oamaru, and the Wellington ones by the Margaret Galbraith.

STATEMENT OP THE CHIEF OFFICER,
The chief officer of the St. Leonards, whom I met rather opportunely, was at first disinclined to speak about the collision. He said he intended to reserve his account of the affair for the official enquiry. On my representing, however, that this letter could not possibly appear in print for six weeks to come, he relented and eventually volunteered the following : — " The St. Leonards sailed in the first instance on 31st August, but was caught in the terrible storm of 2nd Sept., and put back with sprung bowsprit and other material injuries. These took ten days to repair, and we did not again make a start till the 13th, when the passenger-list presented a somewhat changed appearance, owing to the absence of two of the original contingent, and the addition of two others. The corrected list ran as follows :— Saloon— Mrs. E. Southall, Charles B. Southall, Stanley Russell, Miss Storey, and H. Purkiss. Second cabin— W. H. Applebe, H. C. Weir, Augustus Brabury, and Mrs. Schawa.
Steerage - Richard Mann, Sarah, Margaret, Sarah, and Susan Ingham ; Mr. and Mrs. William Adams and family (7), George Leggatt, Walter Park, James Bettell, Charles Harvey, Carl Paterson, Clyde Hoyle, Adolph Weinner, Jas. Rogers, T. Bace, and T. Park. A brother of Mr. Stanley Russell was also on board, having arranged to go down the Channel with us and leave with the pilot. The St. Leonards was- in charge of Captain Todd, assisted by Mr. Broadway, chief officer ; Mr. Alsop, second officer; and a crew of 29 all told. We left Gravesend on Thursday, 13th September, and proceeded down the Channel under the guidance of the pilot (Williams) with a light breeze and fine weather. Everything went well till half past 8 on the morning of Monday the 17th, when we were, as far as I can make out, just 18 miles east of the Start. The ship had all sail set, and at 8 a.m., when my watch expired, she was going about 11½| knots before a fair wind. The weather had turned foggy so that you could not see more than 200 yards before you, and we perpetually blew the fog-horn. Moreover the pilot, who was on duty with the second officer, had the men posted in the look-out. I also happened to be on deck, waiting for the breakfast bell to ring, but Captain Todd was below. I don't know which of us noticed it first, but all of a sudden I saw a steamer on the port side, apparently only about 100 yards off, coming straight into us. The pilot roared " Full speed astern," and some one on board the steamer replied, "Full speed astern it is." By this time she was nearly upon us, and the pilot seeing a collision was inevitable, gave the order " Port helm." This brought the captain on deck. He, too, realised that a bad smash could not be averted, and told us to lower the boats. The steamer then struck us amidships, crunching through the side of the St. Leonards as if she had been a bonnet box. There seemed to be hardly any shock ; in fact, those below say they did not at first think anything serious had happened. We, however, knew the vessel would go to the bottom in a few minutes, and no time was lost in lowering the boats and getting the passengers— first the women and children and then the men— into them. The Cormorant (for that was the steamer's name) recoiled after striking us, but the immediately came and stood by, throwing a rope aboard, by means of which most of the crew clambered into her. Everybody behaved extremely well. There appeared to be no hurry or panic, yet the loading of boats was managed remarkably quickly. In between eight and nine minutes after the collision the last man (Capt. Todd) left the ship, and within a few seconds the St. Leonards plunged bow foremost and disappeared. She had all sail set, which made the site even more remarkable and impressive than it might otherwise have been. The air in the saloon exploded with a loud noise, that made some think that the powder aboard had been got at, and the sea was covered with wreckage live stock and luggage. The Cormorant steamed for Dartmouth after making sure all human beings belonging to the St. Leonards were safe aboard, and landed us there at noon. Many of the emigrants and poorer passengers have lost their little all by the wreck, and are in a deplorable condition.

NARRATIVES OF PASSENGERS.
The saloon passengers were mostly down below when the collision occurred, but Walter Park, an intelligent young immigrant, describes the scene thus : — " We steerage passengers had just finished breakfast, and were standing amidships gossiping, when a shout from aft attracted our attention to a steamer on the port side that appeared about to run us down. I heard the pilot bawl, " Full speed astern," and a voice from the steamer answered, " Full speed astern it is ;" then for a few awful and interminable seconds our eyes were glued to the advancing vessel, and at last the steamer crashed into the St. Leonards, between the galley and main hatch. I had expected an awful shock, but the noise was less than one would have thought possible. The captain had given orders for the boats to be lowered before the collision occurred, and the work of getting the women and children into them was managed very smartly. No one appeared to be specially alarmed. Two young gentlemen, belonging to the saloon, named Russell, swam from the St. Leonards to the steamer, so as not to overload the boats, and myself and nearly all the crew clambered into the latter by means of a rope. Mrs. Adams and her children were sea-sick in the cabin at the time of the accident, and had to be helped into boats in their nightdresses, but some bedding was thrown after them. The sailors had a little pet dog they made a point of saving, but the captain's hound (a noble brute) got drowned. We were hardly safe aboard the Cormorant when the St. Leonards went down head foremost." Charles Rogers, a passenger, states — " I joined the ship in London, and left the East India Docks on the 30th of August. After proceeding down the channel the ship experienced a heavy gale on the 1st September, which so disabled her that she put back to London, and, after receiving repairs, left again on the 13th in charge of a channel pilot named Williams. Everything seemed to go well till Monday morning, the 17th, when I heard a terrible crash, rushed on deck, and saw that a large steamer had struck our ship on the port side just about Plimsoll's mark. I was fearing that an explosion would take place as, just inside where she was struck a quantity of gunpowder was stored in casks, and if this had happened scarcely a soul would have been left to tell the tale. However, our captain, with great coolness, gave orders to lower the boats, which was done with a deal of smartness, and all the passengers placed in them. One lady passenger and her children had barely time to save themselves, and had only their nightdresses on, although she managed to grasp an old coat belonging to me which was lying on the forecastle. After all the passengers were in the boats, the crew then pot into them. After pulling a short distance away, I saw the St. Leonards go down, stern first. Three loud reports followed ; her decks apparently were blown up, and the water was covered with wreckage. Sheep, pigs, and stores were picked up by the Cormorant, which brought us into Dartmouth, where we received every kindness." The passengers by the St. Leonards were unable to save even the smallest article. Three of the emigrants — Weir, of Colchester; Bradbury, of London; and Applebe, of Cork — who were among the second-class passengers, lost close on £300 each, besides a quantity of goods of a valuable character. Adams, formerly a corn and hay merchant of Newbury, Yorkshire, who was accompanied by his family of six children, lost considerably over that sum in hard cash, and an emigrant named Harvey lost the savings of five years.

THE PRESS ON THE DISASTER.
The Morning Post, in a leader that has been very generally approved by the wrecked passengers, draws the following conclusion from the catastrophe : — " In looking at this unhappy collision it is impossible not to so that it was mainly due to the impossibility of the sailing ship getting out of the way of steamer, whether the latter was going at a greater speed than was justifiable in a severe fog there is no evidence to show ; but it is certain that when the St. Leonards became first aware of her approach she was bearing down upon her at a rate which it was impossible to control. When the mischief she was bound to do became apparent, the terrified people on board the St. Leonards could hear the order of the captain of the Cormorant to stop her to go astern full speed, and so on, and must have known what their peril was, but they were powerless to utter a word, to make any signal, or to get out of the way. It thus becomes a very serious question whether sailing vessels should be allowed to carry passengers. We are not, of course, speaking of yachts and vessels carrying merchandise only, but of passenger ships. In a certain sense a sailing ship is an anachronism — a thing obsolete. Steam has superseded the wind, has given an increased speed, increased power, increased moans of signalling, and increased facilities of handling the ship. Why, then, are ships freighted with precious lives allowed to go on their voyages without any one of these appliances of modern science? This collision should serve as a warning, but it is almost too much to hope that proper heed will be given to it. Yet we venture to insist once more that captains of steamers are under no circumstances justified in going full speed in a fog, or at any time when it is impossible to boo another vessel or its lights. The blowing of a steam whistle is utterly ineffectual to warn out of the road sailing ships that have no means of instantly arresting their speed if going with the wind, or of indicating in a fog what course they are about to take. " Englishmen," says the Standard, commenting on the disaster, " may all read with a feeling of pride the account of the coolness and presence of mind displayed alike by the officers, crew, and passengers of the emigrant ship St. Leonards. Struck amidships, in a thick fog, she sank in a few minutes, but the whole of her passengers and crew, numbering 62 persons, were saved. The wreck of the St. Leonards may be cited as a model of what should take place on such an occasion. Calmness and coolness prevailing, boats are rapidly lowered ; first the passengers, then the crew, lastly the captain, take their places in them, and they row off just as the ship goes down. High credit is due to all concerned."

Star 24 April 1882, Page 2
Lyttelton - Arrived. April 23 — St Leonards, ship, 1054 tons, Todd, from London. Edwards, Bennett and Co.. agents.
Passengers — Misses Aybury, Horrocks, Messrs Alfred Hoare and F. Richmond;
Steerage— Messrs John Murchie. John McLaren, James M'Laren, Thomas Kirk, Henry Stewart, W.B. Winter.