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
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 > [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