Lady Kinnaird (1877)

Lady Kinnaird was a three masted barque which was built in 1877 at Dundee, Scotland by Brown & Simpson for W.B. Ritchie. She operated between the United Kingdom and the Australian colonies. She was lost after running aground in Spencer Gulf south of Cape Burr on the east coast of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia early on 21 January 1880. Her main anchor was recovered from her wreck site in 1979 and was placed on display in the nearby town of Port Neill in January 1880 as part of the commemoration of the centenary of her loss.

Lady Kinnaird anchor on the foreshore at Port Neill
History
NameLady Kinnaird
OperatorW.B. Ritchie[1]
BuilderBrown & Simpson[2][3]
Yard number34[3]
HomeportDundee[2][4]
FateRan aground near Cape Burr on 21 January 1880
NotesHistoric shipwreck[5]
General characteristics
TypeBarque[6]
Tons burthen680 [6]
Length190 ft 0 in (57.91 m)[6]
Beam30 ft 4 in (9.25 m)[6]
Depth of hold17 ft 8 in (5.38 m)[6]

Origins

Lady Kinnaird was built at Dundee in 1877 by Brown & Simpson for W.B. Ritchie. She was of iron construction and had three masts.[2][3][6] She was reported as having at least one sister ship - Lord Kinnaird.[7]

Career

Lady Kinnaird had a career sailing between ports in the United Kingdom and ports in the Australian colonies which was shortened by her loss after running aground on 21 January 1880. On all of her voyages, the master was Alexander Laws.

Date Description of voyage
11 April 1877 Depart Dundee for Adelaide under the command of Laws, arrive 17 July 1877 with cargo with total declared value of £7,800. The ship's carpenter, John Braumer, was lost when he ‘was washed overboard during a heavy gale whilst crossing the Southern Ocean.’[8][9][10]
14 September 1877 Depart Adelaide for London with a cargo of 1,058 bales of wool, arrive 1 January 1878[11][12][13]
3 March 1878 Depart for Brisbane, arrive 20 June 1878[14][15]
16 July 1878 Depart for Newcastle in ballast under the command of Laws, arrive 21 July 1878[16][17]
6 August 1878 Depart for Manila with a cargo of 295 tons of coal, arrive 6 October 1878[18][19]
not known Depart Manilla for the United Kingdom.
18 July 1879 Depart from Liverpool for Adelaide under the command of Laws, arrived 24 October 1879 with three passengers and cargo.[20]
15 December 1879 Depart for Port Pirie[21]
19 January 1880 Depart Port Pirie for London with a cargo of wheat, run aground near Cape Burr early on 21 January 1880[6]

The wrecking event

Lady Kinnaird, under the command of Laws, left Port Pirie at 4.00 am on 19 January 1880 bound for the United Kingdom with a cargo about 8400 bags of wheat, being shipped on behalf of John Darling & Son. During the afternoon of 20 January, the wind direction changed to the south along with an increase in speed. At 8.00 pm, the wind conditions were described as ‘furious squalls’. The barque continued its course into the southerly wind. At about midnight, when about to do a planned change of course to the east or the southeast, it was discovered that the barque was close to the west coast of Spencer Gulf. As the barque did not respond to a change of course, the main anchor was released but its cable failed and before a second anchor could be released, the barque ran aground. At sunrise, the crew realised that the barque had run aground south of Cape Burr about 0.75 miles (1.21 kilometres) from the shore. The crew exited the wrecked vessel without loss of life and made way in lifeboats to the nearby shore where a camp was set up.[22][23][24]

Aftermath

The Marine Board of South Australia held an inquiry in the loss of the barque and on 9 February 1880, found the master, Alexander Laws, to be negligent. A further inquiry presided over by four magistrates was convened where evidence from expert witnesses was heard. On 25 February 1880, the inquiry found Captain Laws not guilty of the charge of negligence.[25][26]

Timber recovered from the wreck site is reported as being used to build a water store known as Lady Kinnaird Tanks which adjoined the current alignment of Lincoln Highway about 6.6 kilometres (4.1 miles) north of Port Neill.[27]

In 1911, the submerged rock (known as Lady Kinnaird Rock in some sources) which the Lady Kinnaird ran aground on was discovered and marked with a buoy. At low water, it was reported that the minimum depth of water above the rock was 1 fathom (6.0 feet; 1.8 metres) while the published chart advised a depth of 6 fathoms (36 feet; 11 metres). The buoy subsequently ‘disappeared’ in 1922 and was not replaced.[28][29]

Recovery of the main anchor

In 1978, recreational divers living in Port Neil contacted the Society for Underwater Historical Research (SUHR) for advice about and for possible assistance with the raising of the main anchor from the wreck site and conserving it for public display as part of the commemorations planned for the centenary of the loss of the barque in 1980. In November 1978, the SUHR and local divers surveyed the wreck and located the anchor in 11 metres (36 feet) depth of water. In March 1979, the SUHR and local divers lifted the main anchor from the wreck site and moved it to shallower water within 100 metres (330 feet) of the beach at Port Neill. In June 1979, the anchor towed ashore and lifted by mobile crane into a tank made of concrete built into the ground specifically for the purpose of conserving the anchor. On 20 January 1980, the conserved anchor was unveiled on a public reserve on the foreshore at Port Neil in front of a crowd estimated as being more than 800 people.[30][31][32]

The present day

The wreck site was declared a historic shipwreck under the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1981 (SA) during April 1983.[5] The wreck site is officially located at 34°7′48″S 136°21′36″E.[2] Since 1998, the main anchor has been on the register of local heritage places maintained by the District Council of Tumby Bay on the basis that it is ‘a notable landmark in the area.’[33]

See also

Citations
  1. Mathew, 1878, page 75
  2. ANSD, 2014
  3. The Wrecksite, 2014
  4. Mathew, 1878, page 73
  5. SAGG, 1983,page 885
  6. The South Australian Register, 1880, page 5
  7. "Shipping intelligence". South Australian Register. 22 April 1880. p. 4. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  8. "Shipping News, British News, Departures for Adelaide". South Australian Chronicle and Weekly Mail. 26 May 1877. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  9. "Shipping intelligence". South Australian Register. 18 July 1877. p. 4. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  10. "Miscellaneous". The Northern Argus. 20 July 1877. p. 3. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  11. "Wool and tallow". South Australian Chronicle and Weekly Mail. 6 October 1877. p. 3. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  12. "Shipping news". Adelaide Observer. 15 September 1877. p. 2. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  13. "Shipping. London, January 1". Sydney Morning Herald. 5 January 1878. p. 5. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  14. "Shipping, arrivals". The Brisbane Courier. 22 June 1878. p. 4. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  15. "Shipping Intelligence, Port of Brisbane". The Argus. 22 June 1878. p. 6. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  16. "Shipping, departures". The Brisbane Courier. 11 July 1878. p. 2. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  17. "Shipping, Port of Newscastle". Newcastle Morning Herald & Miners' Advocate. 22 July 1878. p. 2. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  18. "Departures". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 August 1878. p. 8. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  19. "Foreign Shipping Intelligence (by submarine cable)". The Argus. 27 November 1878. p. 5.
  20. "Shipping Intelligence". South Australian Register. 25 October 1879. p. 4.
  21. "Shipping intelligence". South Australian Register. 16 December 1879. p. 4. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  22. South Australian Chronicle and Weekly Mail, 6 March 1880, page 5
  23. South Australian Register, 27 January 1880, page6
  24. BIA, 2005, page 213
  25. "The loss of the Lady Kinnaird (hearing of 23 February 1880)". South Australian Register. 28 February 1880. p. 9. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  26. "The loss of the Lady Kinnaird (hearing of 25 February 1880)". South Australian Register. 28 February 1880. p. 9. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  27. "Search results for "Lady Kinnaird Tanks, MONU"". Department of Planning Transport & Infrastructure. 26 April 2005. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  28. "Notice to Mariners, Spencer Gulf, Cape Burr". Daily Herald. 26 July 1912. p. 2. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  29. "Notice to Mariners, Spencer Gulf - Cape Burr". Daily Commercial News & Shipping List. 12 July 1922. p. 5. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  30. Hale, 1980, page 9
  31. SUHR, 1979, pages 28-29
  32. SUHR, 1980, page 38
  33. "Heritage Places, Lady Kinnard Anchor". Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

References
  • Boating Industry Association of South Australia (BIA); South Australia. Department for Environment and Heritage (2005), South Australia's waters an atlas & guide, Boating Industry Association of South Australia, ISBN 978-1-86254-680-6
  • "Australian National Shipwreck Database (ANSD) - Lady Kinnaird". Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Environment. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  • Hale, Alan (1980), The wreck of the Lady Kinnaird, January 21st 1880, Society for Underwater Historical Research, ISBN 978-0-9597500-2-7
  • The Dundee Directory 1878-79, including Lochee, Broughty Ferry, Newport, Tayport, and the rural district in the vicinity of Dundee, Dundee printed and published by J.P. Mathew, 1878, retrieved 30 November 2014
  • Society for Underwater Historical Research (SUHR) (1979), Annual report 1979, Society for Underwater Historical Research, ISSN 0157-7646
  • Society for Underwater Historical Research (SUHR) (1980), Annual report 1980, Society for Underwater Historical Research, ISSN 0157-7646
  • "Historic Shipwrecks Act 1981; Notice under Sections 5(1) & (2) - declaration of San Miguel, Marion, Iron King, City of Adelaide and Lady Kinnaird". South Australian Government Gazette (SAGG): 885. 14 April 1983.
  • "The Lady Kinnaird". South Australian Chronicle and Weekly Mail. 6 March 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  • "The wreck of the Barque Lady Kinnaird". The South Australian Register. 26 January 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  • "The Lady Kinnaird". South Australian Register. 27 January 1880. p. 6. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  • "Brown & Simpson". The Wrecksite. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
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