SS ''Ventnor'' was a British cargo steamship that was built in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in 1901 and wrecked off

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 1902 with the loss of 13 of her crew. Her cargo included the bodies of 499 gold miners who had died in New Zealand and were being repatriated to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The wreck led to an end of the practice of exhuming human remains en masse in New Zealand and returning them to China.

Building

Russell & Co built ''Ventnor'' in its Kingston shipyard at Port Glasgow for Gow, Harrison & Co of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. She was launched on 23 January 1901. Her registered length was , her beam was and her depth was . Her tonnages were , and . Rankin & Blackmore of Greenock built her three-cylinder triple-expansion engine, which was rated at 346 NHP and gave ''Ventnor'' a speed of . Gow, Harrison & Co created separate one-ship companies to own each of its ships. The Ventnor Steamship Company owned ''Ventnor'', but Gow, Harrison managed her. ''Ventnor'' was registered in Glasgow. Her UK official number was 113936 and her code letters were SFKN.

Final voyage

The charitable association Cheong Sing Tong chartered ''Ventnor'' to return the remains of 499 bodies exhumed from 40 cemeteries in New Zealand to their homes in southern China. These men, mostly gold miners, were from the Poon Yu and Jung Seng districts of Guangdong Province. Nine elderly Chinese were also on board as "coffin attendants", caring for the bones during the transit back to China. The rest of her cargo was listed as "5,347 tons of coal for the Admiralty at Hong Kong, 144 sacks and 22 bales of fungus, one bale of tow and one bale of

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...

". ''Ventnor'' left

Wellington Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

for Hong Kong on 26 October 1902. At about 12:30 am on the morning of October 27 she became stuck on a reef off the south coast of Cape Egmont. She freed herself under her own power, but water was leaking into her number one hold. However, Wellington had no suitable dockyard to repair her, so her Master, HG Ferry, decided to continue to Auckland instead of returning or heading for New Plymouth or Manukau Harbour. SS Ventnor lifeboats

Water rose in the number one hold faster than her pumps could remove it, causing ''Ventnor'' to settle by the head. By evening on the next day she was unmanageable, her ballast tanks were full, and she was sinking. All hands were ordered to abandon ship, and she sank about off the coast, in of water, near Hokianga Heads soon after 9:00 pm on 28 October. Two lifeboats, one commanded by the First Officer, reached Ōmāpere beach. A third lifeboat later reached land safely, but another capsized drowning 13 people including Captain Ferry and five of the nine elderly Chinese. None of the Chinese bodies was recovered at first.

Aftermath

Ventnor survivors arrive on shore 1449524037935

The conclusion of a magisterial inquiry given on 19 November 1902 found that the sinking occurred due to either negligence or incompetence. It was found that drunkenness could not be proven and that while Captain Ferry made good decisions after striking the reef, the blame for the striking lay with him alone. Over the next few months after the sinking, the remains of the Chinese gold miners began to be washed ashore. The local Māori tribes ( Te Roroa and

Te Rarawa Te Rarawa is a Māori iwi of Northland, New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New ...

) buried their remains near their own burial grounds. Cheong Shing Tong chartered the ''Energy'' to try to find the wreck and recover the bodies, but the wreck remained lost for over 100 years. Remains were repatriated to China for many years after the sinking on an individual basis, but the ''Ventnor'' was the last attempt at a mass shipment.

Commemorations and monuments

In 2007 a connection was formalised between the descendants of the Chinese gold miners and the iwi Te Roroa and Te Rarawa. A grove of 22 kauri trees were planted at the Waipoua Visitors Centre in the Waipoua Forest and a Chinese-inspired gate was constructed in the urupa at

Mitimiti Mitimiti is a small settlement in Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand. It lies close to the Warawara Forest, between the mouths of the Whangape Harbour and Hokianga Harbour on Northland's west coast, 44 km west of Kohukohu, New Zealan ...

to memorialise the sinking. The wreck was discovered in 2012 and is now a National Heritage Site. In 2010 Renee Liang wrote a play, ''The Bone Feeder'', about the story of the ''Ventnor''. In 2017 she turned the script into a libretto for an opera of the same name, with music composed by Gareth Farr to a libretto written by Renee Liang. It includes text in the English,

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

and Māori languages. In June 2020 a documentary crew caused controversy by filming the wreck. On 10 April 2021, a public monument was officially unveiled outside the Manea Footprints of Kupe Experience in Opononi. This monument lists the names of those onboard who drowned and also the 499 who were to be repatriated. It also gives thanks to Te Roroa, Te Rarawa and the people of Hokianga for the ongoing respect and care shown to the bones which washed up on the beaches 119 years earlier. In attendance were descendants of Choie Sew Hoy and Ng Jor Ching, currently the only two people with known living descendants out of all the Chinese that were on board. The white lion used in the

lion dance Lion dance ( zh, s=舞狮, t=舞獅, p=wǔshī, c=, first=t) is a form of traditional dance in Culture of China, Chinese culture and other Asian countries in which performers mimic a Asiatic lion, lion's movements in a lion costume to bring good l ...

minutes earlier was burned as an offering to the heavens as part of Ching Ming festivities in what was claimed to be a New Zealand first.

References

External links