The ''Earl of Charlemont'' was a medium-sized, 878 ton passenger ship, which sank on a voyage to Australia.

Ship history

The ship was built at

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...

, Canada, in 1849. It sailed from the

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on 13 March 1853 with 366 passengers plus crew, captained by William Gardner. The first port of call was to be

Port Phillip Port Phillip (Kulin languages, Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped bay#Types, enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, before continuing to

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with the majority of the passengers. After a passage of 97 days the ship reached Cape Otway on 17 June, and set a course for Port Phillip some 56 miles away. At 5.15 a.m. the next morning the ship struck a reef (later named Charlemont Reef) about 1½ miles from Point Flinders (now

Barwon Heads Barwon Heads (previously known as Point Flinders) is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the west bank of the mouth of the Barwon River below Lake Connewarre, while it is bounded to ...

). An attempt to launch the ships boats failed in the heavy surf, so the main mast was cut down to lighten ship, which then washed over the reef and grounded nearer shore. A passenger named Savage swam ashore with a light rope, and a

hawser Hawser () is a nautical term for a thick cable or rope used in mooring or towing a ship. A hawser passes through a hawsehole, also known as a cat hole, located on the hawse.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, third edition, ...

was stretched between the ship and the shore. Using a ship's boat the passengers and crew were all safely ferried ashore by 8.30 p.m., apart from one elderly passenger named Thwaites, who died from a heart attack, and was buried on the headland. The passengers were provided with shelter by a local settler Mr. McVean, who alerted the authorities at

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

. James Cowie, the mayor of Geelong, sent food and eight bullock drays to transport the women, children and infirm to Geelong, while the able-bodied followed on foot. The people of Geelong raised £1,000 to assist the passengers who had lost all their possessions. A subsequent inquiry laid blame for the disaster on Captain Gardner, but a sailing directory published by the

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in 1855 noted that the wreck of the ''Earl of Charlemont'' and that of ''Sacramento'' two months earlier, were due to strong currents carrying the vessels inshore when hove to awaiting daylight. In 1953, on the centenary of the wreck, a memorial service was held attended by descendants of the survivors, and in November 1953 a cairn was erected overlooking the scene of the wreck.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Earl of Charlemont 1849 ships Shipwrecks of Victoria (state) Maritime incidents in June 1853