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Politicians...and ShipWrecks!
Two things that make we seafarers shudder with dread!
Another tavern in my little town(apart from 'Ye Olde Faggott & F irkin'-of our Virtual Ship forum fame,) is the White Swan.
Yesterday whilst having a noggin or three with Nipper,Thomas ,Jocelyne and Big Dick(no,don't ask!)-we pondered on the very mundane name of this hostelry-well things were very quiet).We supposed it's just because it's by the river.-the name,that is).
At home on the 'pooter' I googled White Swan(as you do!),and one of the articles that emerged was the following.We folks under the Northern Star don't know as much about Antipodean history as we ought to.......
'Thanks to NZ History Website for this extract)
'On 29 June 1862 the S.S White Swan (335 tons,built at Whiteinch,Glasgow in 1854)was holed by a rock while steaming down the North Island coast between Napier and Wellington. A number of New Zealand's leading politicians and civil servants were among the passengers. A heavy loss of life would have been calamitous for the government and the administration of the colony. Miraculously, Captain Allen Harper managed to find the one safe spot on a notoriously rugged coastline to run the ship ashore on Wairongo Beach, at Uriti Point on the Wairarapa coast. All the passengers and crew managed to scramble ashore without injury.
It is always pleasant to hear of shipwrecks in which there was no loss of life. No one was lost in the wreck of the White Swan on June 29th 1862, and yet that mishap is much better remembered even today than many more serious wrecks. The White Swan was a small steamer of 335 tons and was in poor condition long before she was run ashore near Castlepoint, on the east coast. There was a certain glamour about this particular voyage. It had been proposed again and again about 1860 that the next session of Parliament should be held in Wellington. After the session of 1861 the newspapers became impatient and insisted that the experiment should be made forthwith. The removal of the seat of government to Wellington was already a vital question upon which public opinion was becoming vocal. Though Mr Fox of Wellington was premier, there were four Aucklanders in the ministry and Wellingtonians were afraid that their influence would prevent the session being held away from the northern city. Already there had been six prorogations when, at last, Parliament was summoned to meet for the dispatch of business, as the saying is, at Wellington, on June 30th 1862. It was generally understood that the governor would not be present. Actually on the 30th there were present only four members of the Upper House and eight of the Lower and both adjourned for want of a quorum.
Meanwhile at Auckland, matters moved tardily. The White Swan was to have sailed on the 26th but owing to the non arrival of the mail she was detained until the following day. Next day there was a fog. Again she was put off. Besides the premier, the Auckland Members and their wives, the chief justice, Sir George Arney, had to attend as a Member of the Legislative Council. At length all of these and some departmental officers were on board making a total passenger list of 65. In the hold were six cases of departmental papers and other official records which were required for the session. Up to the moment of sailing the engineers were having some difficulty with a suction pipe that fed the boiler.
The White Swan eventually got to sea. On Saturday at midday she reached Napier. There she took on some more passengers and in the evening proceeded on her voyage. Before daylight next morning, there was a bump, which the captain believed was caused by striking a log of wood. Almost immediately the forepart of the ship began to fill and her head was turned straight inshore. A heavy surf was running, but the beach was safe enough and all on board were landed not far from the wreck. Soon some employees from George Moore station appeared and the castaways were taken to the homestead and made comfortable. A day or two later they were picked up by the Stormbird and landed in Wellington, late once more, for the opening of Parliament.
This episode provided a convenient excuse thenceforth for the loss of government papers. '
I wonder if a list of the MP's expenses was amongst the papers lost,then?:D
Regards to all,
Gulliver
