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

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. 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 A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

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 field elm (''Ulmus minor'') cultivar 'Atinia' , commonly known as the English elm, formerly common elm and horse may, Republished 1978 by EP Publishing, Wakefield. and more lately the Atinian elm, was, before the spread of Dutch elm dis ...

. 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 (panic ...

and

English oak ''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It grows on soil ...

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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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 (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

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 Wilson's 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. Sanda ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. Captain Scott encountered rough weather around

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

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 (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

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 Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Eng ...

. 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

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, WA Museum Boola Bardip, is located in the Perth Cult ...

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 Act of the Parliament of Australia which legally protected historic shipwrecks and any relics or artefacts from those wrecks. The Act The Act automatically affects all shipwrecks that meet the " ...

''.

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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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