The barque ''Maria'' was launched at Yarmouth in 1836. ''Maria'' was originally used on the England to Bombay run in the 1830s. She sank with the loss of 28 lives on 23 July 1851 near

Cape Terawhiti Cape Terawhiti is the southwesternmost point of the North Island of New Zealand. The cape is located 16 kilometres to the west of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Ohau Point, located on the northern tip of Cape Terawhiti and, along ...

on the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Only two crew members survived.

Description

''Maria'' was a barque built at Yarmouth in 1836 and originally owned by J Somes to 1838, then Gardiner and Co. Her masters were Humble to 1838, Black to 1839, Johnstone to 1845, and Stevenson in 1846. In 1839, 1844 and 1947 she was sheathed with

yellow metal Muntz metal (also known as yellow metal) is an alpha-beta brass alloy composed of approximately 60% copper, 40% zinc and a trace of iron. It is named after George Fredrick Muntz, a metal-roller of Birmingham, England, who commercialised the all ...

. Repairs increased her burthen from 420 to 460 tons when she returned to service in 1849.Shipping list
Daily Southern Cross, Volume V, Issue 213, 13 July 1849, Page 2, retrieved 18 September 2015

Captain Plank's voyages

Plank was an English sea captain. His earlier vessel was ''Paragon''. In 1844 he was transporting mahogany from Honduras to England. In 1849 he assumed command of ''Maria''. On 23 March 1849 ''Maria'', under Captain Plank,

transported ''Transported'' is an Australian convict melodrama film directed by W. J. Lincoln. It is considered a lost film. Plot In England, Jessie Grey is about to marry Leonard Lincoln but the evil Harold Hawk tries to force her to marry him and she w ...

convicts from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

. She departed Dublin on 5 April 1849 and arrived 23 July. The superintending surgeon was Edward Nollitts. She had embarked 166 female convicts, one of whom died on the voyage. ''Maria'' then sailed via

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

with 170 passengers, arriving at Honolulu on 17 December, The journey having taken 66 days from Sydney. She returned to Sydney from

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

via

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...

. She made another voyage to California in 1850, returning to Sydney in July after an eventful voyage with 28 passengers and 20 shipwrecked sailors. She had sailed via Tahiti, the Navigators, and Horn Island. Two days after leaving the Navigators, Nortoa, the second mate, had stabbed two men and then jumped overboard. Attempts to rescue him were unsuccessful. In September she again sailed from Sydney to San Francisco, reaching there on 4 January 1851. ''Maria'' had come to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, New Zealand from California in April 1851 with a 260 tons of coal, having sailed on 22 February. While she was there Charles Clifford chartered her to convey livestock to the Canterbury settlement. Two shipments were taken to Lyttelton, the first in May and the second in June.

Final voyage

Captain Plank sailed ''Maria'' from Lyttelton for Wellington on 20 July 1851. She had onboard 22 crew and six passengers. At 6am on 24 July, she struck a submerged rock at Ohariu Bay, to the north of

. ''Maria'' broke in two about 400m from shore.Editorial
Wellington Independent, Volume VII, Issue 604, 26 July 1851, Page 2Ingram, C. W. N., and Wheatley, P. O., (1936) ''Shipwrecks: New Zealand disasters 1795–1936.'' Dunedin, NZ: Dunedin Book Publishing Association. pp. 53–54. The passengers and crew attempted to lower the ship's boat but the lowering mechanism broke, killing several people. The survivors then tried to reach shore using salvaged material as a raft. The raft was dashed into the rocks near the shore, killing almost all on it. Only two crewmen survived, a Malay and Stewart, an ordinary seaman who had been at the wheel at the time of the accident; in all 26 lives were lost. Eleven bodies were recovered, of whom all but one were buried close to the site of the wreck. The body of Captain Plank was taken to Wellington and buried in the city's cemetery. Among the dead were two Canterbury settlers, G.P. Wallace of Wellington and

William Deans William Deans (baptised 31 January 1817 – 23 July 1851) was, together with his brother John Deans (pioneer), John, a pioneer farmer in Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury, New Zealand. He was born in Kirkstyle, Riccarton, Ayrshire, Riccarton, Sc ...

Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scotlan ...

. William and his brother, John Deans, had established Homebush, a sheep and cattle station near Darfield.

Outcome

As a result of this accident there was a strong call upon the government to construct a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

. A public meeting was held calling for action.Public meeting
Wellington Independent, Volume VII, Issue 605, 30 July 1851, Page 2, retrieved 18 September 2015 The

Pencarrow Head Lighthouse Pencarrow Head Lighthouse is a decommissioned lighthouse at Pencarrow Head in the Wellington region of the North Island of New Zealand. Upper lighthouse Constructed in 1859, the Pencarrow Head Lighthouse was the first permanent lighthouse ...

, the first lighthouse built in New Zealand, commenced operations in 1859.

Citations

References

* {{italic title 1851 in New Zealand Maritime incidents in July 1851 Shipwrecks of the Cook Strait Age of Sail merchant ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom 1836 ships