>From the "Kiama Independent" of November 3rd, 1876. (Punctuation and paragraphing as per the original) As may have been seen by your last issue, one of the most sad and appalling events that has occurred here since this district has been inhabited, took place on Monday last, in the drowning of Mr James Wilson, of the Boatharbour store, and also his brother John, of Willow Bank Farm. When the tragic event became known, so incredible did it seem that many people hurried to the village to see if it indeed could be true. As it had been steamer day, many had seen the fishing party leave the shore, and as the weather was favourable, the boat seaworthy, and apparently well manned, such a result was, of course, quite unexpected; and when the bodies of both the deceased were borne home on the same bier, great was the consternation of those who had gathered upon beholding such a sad spectacle. An inquest was held on the following day, the particulars of which I give below. The funeral took place immediately after the inquest, and although the notice was necessarily short, the procession was one of the largest that had been seen at any funeral in the district. The Rev. W. Moore officiated at the grave, assisted by the Rev. J. W. Brown of Wollongong, who delivered an impressive address. Mr James Wilson was an active and intelligent member of society, and was foremost in every movement that had for its object the public good. During the nine years that he had been in business, he was held in the highest esteem by all with whom he came in contact. During an acquaintance of 1 years, the writer can say that the public and private character of James Wilson was most commendable. His assistance to struggling worth was frequent, and his deeds of charity were not a few, though done on the principle "let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth". During his early years, and until of late, he acted in the capacity of Secretary to the Wesleyan Sabbath school. He was also a local patron of the public school, and secretary of the building committee, in which latter capacity he displayed a most praiseworthy energy among what seemed to be insurmountable difficulties. He was 30 years of age, and leaves a widow and three young children. John was an industrious honest young man, of many sterling qualities, and in very high esteem by all who knew him. He resided on the paternal estate, and was the youngest of the family of the late Alderman Jas. Wilson. His age was 23, and he was unmarried. The inquest, as stated above, was held on the following day, Tuesday, October 31, before the District Coroner, H. Connell, Esq., and the following jury:- J. Perkins, jun. (foreman), J. Perkins, sen., W, bailey, Jas. Moffitt, P. Carroll, John Moffitt, A. Nelson, E. Elliott, and W. H. Vidler. After viewing the bodies the court adjourned to the council chamber. The first witness was constable Williams, but as his evidence only referred to circumstances as he found them on arriving at Gerringong, it is embodied in that which follows and is therefore omitted. The second witness was Mr. Robert Wilson, brother of the deceased, and exactly the same may be said of his evidence. The third witness was Mr. George Buchanan (who was one of the party in the boat) and he deposed: On the day previous, the deceased James and John Wilson, and J. Johnston, G. Wilson, R. Morrow, W. Gwynne, and himself, went out between one and two o'clock in a boat, about a mile south of the Gerringong harbour, fishing; it was a fine day, no swell, but a nice sea; they fished for an hour and a half, and then, because of the quantity of sharks, they resolved to go to Connor's Beach (better known as Weir's beach, or the beach between Mr. Weir's property and Black Head), about a mile further south; having lost their kellick or stone anchor) they went ashore there to get another, and found the water very rough, with a heavy sea running in; when about five or six rods from the beach J. Johnston got out of the boat into the water and walked ashore, and, having found a suitable stone, R. Morrow went out of the boat with a rope, which being made fast to the stone it was hauled aboard by the party in the boat; when this was done the sea had become much rougher, and all left the boat but James Wilson and himself; he then requested James Wilson to leave the boat; Wilson refused and said "Hold on"; a sea struck the boat, and he (witness) was thrown from his seat, and, getting one leg over the side, he again asked James Wilson to leave the boat with him, but he would not; seeing that his own safety lay in getting ashore, he jumped out of the boat, and had taken but one step in the water when he was thrown down by a great breaker, and he reached the land with difficulty, though assisted by G. Wilson, who pulled him ashore; about twenty seconds afterwards he saw the boat capsize, with the deceased (James Wilson) in it; they all went to his assistance, but could not raise the boat, which covered him; as the boat moved with the sea the other deceased (John Wilson) tried to seize hold of his brother, and the sea drew him under the boat; he (witness) saw both the deceased twice under the boat as the sea raised it a little from the sand; Mr. Weir came to them at this time, but the united strength of all was insufficient to raise the boat; in about three-quarters of an hour afterwards, the head and shoulders of the deceased John Wilson appeared in the water under the edge of the boat; they endeavoured to pull him ashore, but could not do so until they had cut the fishing lines, by which he was entangled, and he was then quite dead; about an hour after this, and while they were trying to get the body of James Wilson from under the boat, they saw his body with arms bent upwards, floating on its back, head foremost, seawards; being much exhausted he was obliged to leave, and was not present when the body of James Wilson was recovered; it was about four o'clock when the boat capsized; no angry words had taken place, and all were on excellent terms with each other, though there was some difference as to which harbour they should enter; there was no spirits on board, and all were sober; the boat is about 5 tons burden, and having no ballast, it was not easily managed; the head and face of John Wilson were covered with bruises when the body was recovered, and he (witness) believed he was stunned by the boat striking him, after the sea sucked him under it, and in that state he was soon suffocated by the water. The fourth witness was James Johnston also one of the fishing party and his evidence is taken up at that point, where it varies from or gives more information than the foregoing: Finding the sharks were taking their bait the party determined to shift, and go a little further south, but in drawing up the kellick they lost the stone and went into Connor's Beach to get another; he first jumped out of the boat, into water knee deep, when a swell came which reached to his middle, but he got ashore without difficulty; when the fresh stone was hauled on board the boat was then in a safe position, and all hands tried to get her nearer to the shore, in order to take him and R. Morrow (who went out to help with the stone) aboard, and while attempting to do so a wave very nearly upset the boat, and his impression was that all - with the exception of James Wilson - were then thrown out of the boat, though, fixed as he was, trying to keep the boat in position, he could not see whether they got out or were thrown out of the boat; at this time he called to James Wilson to come out of the boat, but Wilson called to them to get in and get the boat off, and they would have done so, but another wave came and capsized the boat over the deceased James Wilson; they all tried to lift the boat, and when it rose a little the deceased John Wilson went under to assist his brother, the boat closing over him, and their utmost united effort was unequal to raising the boat after that; an hour afterwards he saw the body of John Wilson in the surf at the stern of the boat; they got the body out of the water, but it was quite dead and a good deal bruised on the side of the head; shortly afterwards he saw the body of James Wilson in the surf, and though they tried to recover it the surf carried it out to sea; about sundown it drifted back to the surf, when it was recovered, and both bodies conveyed to Wilson's store; there was no drink of any kind on the boat; all were strictly sober and quite friendly; he had been only once before at Weir's beach; he then thought it was a safe place, but he did not think so now; when the deceased James Wilson was by himself in the boat, he called out, and he (witness) thought he said he wanted to save the boat; from the time he went ashore for the stone to the time when the boat capsized, half an hour must have elapsed. Dr. R. H. Tarrant deposed: he had examined the bodies of the deceased; that of John Wilson was much bruised about the head; the faces and skin of each were livid, presenting every appearance of asphyxia from drowning; from the examination of the bodies and the evidence of the witnesses, he was of opinion that both were drowned but that the boat struck the deceased John Wilson, accelerating his death by drowning. The verdict of the jury, in accordance with the medical opinion, was accidental drowning. John Graham johngrah@ozemail.com.au GENEALOGY FROM GERRINGONG http://www.ozemail.com.au/~johngrah/