''Lady Elizabeth'' was a British ship built in 1869 by Robert Thompson Jr. of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. Robert Thompson Jr. was one of the sons of Robert Thompson Sr. who owned and operated the family ran shipyard J. L. Thompson & Sons. Thompson Jr. eventually left the family business in 1854 to start his own shipbuilding business in Southwick,

. She was 658 tons and was classified as a barque cargo sailing ship with one deck and three masts. She had a keel and outer planking made from American

rock elm ''Ulmus thomasii'', the rock elm or cork elm (or orme liège in Québec), is a deciduous tree native primarily to the Midwestern United States. The tree ranges from southern Ontario and Quebec, south to Tennessee, west to northeastern Kansas, ...

and a fore end made from English elm. The stem was made of

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...

and English oak with an iron floor as the deck. The ship also had copper and iron fastings. The ships was also registered in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

under the name Wilson & Co. Messrs Wilson & Co. was based out of Sydney, Australia. The ship carried a comparative classification under American Lloyd's as "First class-third grade" (First Class under British Lloyd's)

Service history

''Lady Elizabeth'' was owned by shipping merchant John Wilson and made her primary shipping runs between

Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

and

. Sometimes ''Lady Elizabeth'' would make other runs to Chinese ports in the Asian Indian region to deliver timber. There is speculation that ''Lady Elizabeth'' was named after John Wilsons mother Elizabeth Wilson. She was commanded by Captain Edward W. Cobbett and after 1875, by Captain Thomas S. Scott.

Final years

''Lady Elizabeth'' was only in service for nine years when she met her fate on 30 June 1878, while she was on charter for Messrs Shenton and Monger to carry a cargo of lead ore and 611 tons of

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. Captain Scott encountered rough weather around

Rottnest Island Rottnest Island ( nys, Wadjemup), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, Rottnest is an A-class ...

and the ship was driven south because of the difficulties in acquiring navigational headings. On the morning of 30 June, Captain Scott ordered the crew to head back to

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

about 55 kilometres away to south-south-east. During the heavy storm, one man was lost overboard but the crew could not launch any boats to rescue the sailor because of the weather. Captain Scott sighted what he believed to be Parker Point (the southernmost tip of

) and ordered his crew to adjust the ship's heading towards Fremantle through

's southern channel. Moments later, ''Lady Elizabeth'' struck a reef in Bickley Bay. The ship lost control and swung to the south when Captain Scott ordered the port anchor be dropped. At 10:30 pm, ''Lady Elizabeth'' began listing to starboard and the water started coming over the decks. Captain Nash, a pilot on

saw the blue distress signal flares but was unable to reach ''Lady Elizabeth'' due to the weather. He was forced to wait out the storm. By morning, weather conditions improved to launch a rescue of ''Lady Elizabeth's'' crew. Over the course of the next few months, the

that was stored in the ship's cargo hold broke free and washed up on shore. Most of the cargo was scattered between

and Bunbury. Nearby locals made substantial gains salvaging the cargo from the lost ''Lady Elizabeth''. It is believed that the sailor who was lost overboard during the storm was the only casualty.

Outcome

An inquiry into the disaster found that Captain Scott was not liable for the sinking and no charges against him were filed. However, during the inquiry, it was noted that Captain Scott 'made use of expressions which were both unbecoming and amounted to gross contempt'. Afterwards, he displayed regret for the use of his expressions and apologized to the Court. The court inquiry was held by L. Worsley Clifton, Collector of Customs; John F. Stone, J.P.; and W. E. Archdeacon, Staff Commander, R.N., Admiralty Surveyor. Captain Thomas Scott retained his certificate of captain. The hull, iron ore, and

that were salvaged was sold at auction for £1,039. The

that was lost was insured for £5,000. After the sinking of ''Lady Elizabeth'', Robert Thompson & Sons of

under

J.L. Thompson and Sons J.L. Thompson and Sons was a shipyard on the River Wear, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, Sunderland, which produced ships from the mid-18th century until the 1980s. The world-famous Liberty Ship was among the designs to be created, produced and manuf ...

company, began construction of another ''Lady Elizabeth'', completed in 1879, just one year after the sinking of the first ''Lady Elizabeth''.

Other events

Shortly after the sinking of ''Lady Elizabeth'', Ah Cum, a Chinese steward, was charged with larceny. Ah Cum did plead guilty to stealing personal effects and cargo from Captain Scott. The items included one pound of corn flour, a pound of tea, two dozen red herrings, two bottles of brandy, two bottle of wine, a pint of rum, two cans of jam, and tobacco. Ah Cum had apparently sold the merchandise to other immigrants sailing on ''Lady Elizabeth''. He was sentenced to 3 years gaol. Two more immigrants were also charged with larceny on the last voyage of ''Lady Elizabeth''. Robert Young & George Lench both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to ten months in prison. The two immigrants were later acquitted. Two more immigrants were taken into custody for breaching the cargo when they arrived in

on 12 March 1878. Their outcome is not determined.''The Western Australian Times'' Friday, 15 March 1878; p. 2

Documented arrival and departures

Meaning of column A or D (For Arriving or Departing): *A Arriving *D Departing *S Last spotted

Current status

''Lady Elizabeth'' was discovered in 1969 in 7 metres of water on Porpoise Bay near Rottnest Island and Dyer Island. The bell from ''Lady Elizabeth'' was raised and donated to the

Western Australian Maritime Museum The Western Australian Museum is a statutory authority within the Culture and the Arts Portfolio, established under the ''Museum Act 1969''. The museum has six main sites. The state museum, now known as WA Museum Boola Bardip, officially re-ope ...

where it is currently displayed. The wreck has become a common site for divers to view the wreck however; no artifacts can be removed under the ''

Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 The ''Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976'' was an Australian Act of Parliament designed to legally protect historic shipwrecks and any relics or artefacts from those wrecks. The Act automatically affects all shipwrecks that meet the "historic" crite ...

''.

Notes and other information

* According to the Western Australian Maritime Museum, There was another three-masted barque named ''Lady Elizabeth'' that visited Fremantle, Western Australia that was built in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1852. (Official ID: 25973) That ship was built for C. Tyler who also registered the ship in London. Although they are similar in design, there is no relation between this ship and ''Lady Elizabeth'' (1869) & (1879). * After stepping down as captain of ''Lady Elizabeth'', Cobbett eventually became captain of the steamer ''Saxon Monarch'' under the British flag in 1880.Mystic Seaport Maritime Database

References

{{1878 shipwrecks Barques Shipwrecks of Western Australia Maritime incidents in June 1878 Rottnest Island 1869 ships