Hi Ted, How marvellous that you were able to find out for me! I am thrilled, and it is very moving to see the details. It is a great short cut to finding out other things now! These were not my ancestors, but I have followed the family closely for sometime now and they would have known my great grandfather probably, so it seems like they are my family. So it wasn't a monsoon at all, which shows how embroidered second- hand stories can be. I now have further questions, which I hope someone may pick up for me? First, is that the total of the entry in the Dictionary of Disasters at Sea? How can I find out what sort of cargo it was carrying (which I presume it was), and/or what was the ship's purpose? What sort of ship was it? If it was built for Watts, Milburn & Co. London, were they the owners in 1975? Or might it have been acquired by Jardine Mathesons? Where can I find out more about Watts, Milburn & Co? Many many thanks, you have helped me so much already! Sally On 17 Oct 2008, at 16:06, Ted Finch wrote: > Hi Sally, > > The steamship HONG KONG left Gravesend on 24th Jan.1875 bound for > Japan and reached Port Said on 10th Feb. On leaving Port Said, she > had on board 49 persons, of whom 9 were passengers. On the morning > of 22nd Feb.she struck a submerged uncharted rock and foundered > near Socotra off the Horn of Africa. The lifeboats were launched > and everyone safely transferred to them when the Chief Officer's > boat capsized drowning all 12 occupants including a lady passenger > and her 5 children. The rest of the survivors landed safely > (Dictionary of Disasters at Sea 1824-1962 by C. Hocking) > The ship was 1,881 gross tons and was built in 1871 for Watts, > Milburn & Co, London. > > Hope this helps > Ted > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sally Haden" > <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, October 17, 2008 3:14 PM > Subject: [TSL] Hong Kong (vessel name), passengers drowned 1875, > Far East > > >> Hi folks >> >> I am new to the list and hope that someone will be able to help me >> find out more about the fate of a vessel somewhere in the Far East in >> 1875. >> >> On 22nd February 1875 an English woman and her five young children >> drowned at sea somewhere en route to Japan. Her name was Jane >> WALTON. She was to join her husband Thomas in Japan, who was there >> on contract in a British-Japanese project to build Japan's first >> industrial glass factory. I am writing a book about the project >> because my great grandfather was there too. >> >> This was not emigration. >> >> Jane and her children were on board the "Hong Kong" (registration >> number 65570). I have read an anecdote related many years later by a >> friend of Thomas Walton which said that the ship was in a monsoon at >> the time of the drowning. I don't know if the ship was lost, or just >> some of the passengers. >> >> As the glass factory project was probably financed by the big >> merchant company Jardine Matheson & Co. it is quite possible that the >> ship was owned by Jardine Matheson & Co. >> >> I don't know where the ship was registered and I don't know where to >> look. The ship might have departed from Britain, or it might have >> been a smaller more local vessel which ran between, say Hong Kong, >> Nagasaki and Shanghai. Jardines had big interests in all those >> places. >> >> All I have is the GRO "deaths at sea" record which, as I understand >> it, is the record made by the GRO when they received the information >> from the Register General of Shipping and Seamen (RGSS). It says the >> registration was received 24th June 1875, which is four months after >> the event. >> >> I have not yet found any newspaper reports, but haven't searched very >> thoroughally yet. >> >> I would really appreciate any advice about this! >> >> Cheers! >> >> Sally >> in England >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> visit TheShipsList Website >> http://www.theshipslist.com/ >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to THESHIPSLIST- >> [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------- > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com > Version: 8.0.173 / Virus Database: 270.8.1/1728 - Release Date: > 16/10/2008 07:38 > >