Friday 17 December 2021

Spotlight on ... My Family Connection to the "Father of Bowen".

I'm a small town girl, born and bred in the coastal town of Bowen, north Queensland, and even though I only spent the first sixteen years of my life there, I still feel a deep connection to that place.  

Memories of Bowen from the 1960s-1970s
(the Bowen I remember from my youth)


Until recently, I had thought my family connection to Bowen only went back as far as my maternal Grandfather James O'Donnell and Grandmother Sarah McCane.  Both my grandparents were the children of immigrants.  James O'Donnell was the son of Irish born Edmond O'Donnell and Bridget Burke.  Sarah McCane was the daughter of Irish born Owen McCane (Muckian) and English born Margaret Farrell.  


My grandfather James was born in Toowoomba and initially moved to Kyburra (near Armstrong Creek), outside Bowen, where he established a small farm.  

My grandmother Sarah was born in Charters Towers and then moved with her parents and siblings to Molongle Creek, outside Bowen, where her parents also established a small farm.  

My grandparents spent around the first 21 years of their marriage living on Grandad's farm at Kyburra, before moving into the town of Bowen.  That is where my mother and father married and began their married life, and where my brother and I were born.


I therefore grew up with that history of our family's connection with Bowen, and no inkling of anything different.


Throughout my childhood I became increasingly aware of the history of the town itself of course, and there were names I became familiar with -


Henry Daniel Sinclair, who discovered the harbour in 1859 and named it Port Denison, after the Governor of New South Wales at the time.


George Elphinstone Dalrymple, who founded a settlement at the harbour just two years later, and named it Bowen after the first Governor of the newly declared state of Queensland, Sir George Bowen.



I've only just recently found that there is a connection that links my grandmother's brother to the man who is referred to as the "father of Bowen" - Captain Henry Daniel Sinclair. 

Starting with my grandmother I'll explain this connection:

My grandmother Sarah O'Donnell nee McCane was one of six siblings - one sister and five brothers.  Her youngest brother was Edward Joseph McCane, my Grand Uncle.

When Edward Joseph McCane married, a family connection was created to an ancestral line that leads directly back to Henry Daniel Sinclair.

My Grand Uncle's wife, Alice Maud Wilson was Captain Sinclair's great granddaughter.


From Alice Maud McCane nee Wilson, the ancestral connection to Captain Sinclair is through her female line -
great granddaughter Alice Maud Wilson  >  Alice's mother, Maud Sophia Nash Emmerson  >  Alice's grandmother, Amelia Hollis Sinclair  >  and then Alice's great grandfather, Captain Henry Daniel Thomas Sinclair.

Alice Maud McCane nee Wilson
(photos sourced from Jessica Watters)

Captain Sinclair's great granddaughter, Alice Maud Wilson, was born in 1911 in Bowen, Queensland.  She had a half-sister and two brothers, although one of her brothers died when he was only 2 years old.  Alice married my grand Uncle when she was 22 years old.  Their married life began close to the McCane family farm at Broadlands outside Bowen, but they made the move to Bowen just a couple of years later.  They lived on Thomas Street where they raised their two children. 


Maud Sophia Nash Wilson nee Emmerson
(photo sourced from Jessica Watters)

Captain Sinclair's granddaughter (Alice's mother) was Maud Sophia Nash Emmerson.  She was born in 1875 on Pretty Bend Station, near Bowen, and was the oldest of eight children born to Joseph Emmerson and Amelia Hollis Sinclair.  She spent her childhood and many of her adult years living on her family's property, Amelia Vale Station, near Proserpine in Queensland.  

Maud married Richard Hugh Wilson in 1909 when she was 34 years old and they lived for many years either on their farm near Eurie Creek, Merinda, or at Gumlu, before moving to Bowen in their latter years. 

When Maud passed away in 1949, mention was made in her obituary that she was the "granddaughter of Captain H.D. Sinclair, the discoverer of Port Denison."



Transcript:

Bowen Independent (Qld.: 1911 - 1954),

OBITUARY

MAUD SOPHIA NASH WILSON

"Another link with the past was severed when Mrs. Maud Sophia Nash Wilson died on May 27th at Bowen. The late Mrs. Wilson was a member of the well-known Emerson family of Amelia Vale, who were noted throughout the district for their hospitality.

Deceased was the eldest daughter of Joseph and Amelia Emerson, and a granddaughter of Captain H. D. Sinclair, the discoverer of Port Denison. Mrs. Wilson was born in Bowen on 22nd January 1875, and spent her girlhood in Bowen, Proserpine and Amelia Vale. Her father died when she was 13 years old, and as a young woman for some time she conducted an agency for the old tea firm of Atcherley & Dawson.

In December 1900 she married Mr. Hugh Wilson, and then lived at Euri Creek for a couple of years, until they moved to Gumlu. There they remained until 1944, when they took up residence in Bowen. They had three children, two daughters and a son, Joseph, who passed away at an early age. The daughters, who survive, are Allee (Mrs. E. McCune, Bowen) and Hollis (Mrs. D. Romano, Innisfail).

Besides her husband and daughters, she has left to mourn her loss, four sisters and one brother, the sisters being Mrs. F. A. C. Smith, Bowen, Mrs. C. Spencer, Bowen, Mrs. F. Watts, Amelia Vale, Proserpine, and Mrs. A. Thompson, Norman Park, Brisbane. The brother is Mr. Canty Emerson, Goorganga Creek, Proserpine. One brother, Joseph, predeceased her. Mrs. Wilson also leaves a step-daughter, Mrs. E. Flecher, Gumlu, and eleven grandchildren. The last sad rites were conducted by Rev. A. D. Thorpe, Holy Trinity Church, and another of the old band of pioneers laid to rest."



Amelia Hollis Emmerson nee Sinclair
(seated with two of her youngest daughters behind her,
Ethel Hollis Gertrude, on the left and Lilly Mabel Patience on the right)
(photos sourced from Dinah Souter)


Captain Sinclair's daughter (Maud's mother) was Amelia Hollis Sinclair.  Amelia had been born at Cook's River, Petersham in New South Wales in the mid 1850s and was one of eight children born to Captain Henry Daniel Thomas Sinclair and his wife, Sophia Jane Paton.   

Amelia was 4 yeas old when she and her mother, the wife of Captain Sinclair, arrived at Port Denison aboard her father's ship, the Santa Barbara, making her one of the first white children to live in the area.

Amelia married Joseph Emmerson in 1874, when she was 16 years old.  They went on to have a family of ten children, and lived for many years on Joseph's father's property Pretty Bend Station, before moving to a property that Joseph had taken up under the first Land Act. He named it 'Amelia Vale', after his wife.  Amelia continued living at Amelia Vale Station until her death in 1943. 

I found this account, given by Amelia in the 1930s, particularly fascinating.  She recounts her childhood and early married life in the Bowen area and her interactions with the indigenous people living there.



Transcript:
Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld.: 1907-1954), Wednesday 11 February 1931, page 5.

MRS. A.H. EMMERSON
PIONEER CHILD AT BOWEN.  DAUGHTER OF CAPTAIN SINCLAIR.

"I was four years of age, when my mother (the wife of Captain Sinclair) landed at Port Denison in the 'Jeannie Dove' 1859, writes Mrs. Emmerson, so I must be a pioneer child of Bowen, a town I loved as a child and do so still.  My life has been spent in its vicinity.  At that time the water for settlers was got from native wells on the beach.  Where Bowen is now was then all wattle scrub.  Back of Zimmerman's is where the native police camp was formed to protect the arrivals on the 'Jeannie Dove' from attacks by the wild blacks, who were not allowed in the township for some years.  Later they were allowed to camp at Miller's Lagoon.  It was part of our Sunday outings to go and see the tribes, and watch the gins digging up bigaroes around the lagoons.

Mr. D. R. Emmerson, my father-in-law, had cattle properties, Eagle Vale and Pretty Bird, where I went to live when I married his son, and where six of my children were born.  We had not so much attention as wives and mothers have nowadays, so we appreciated the help of black gins who became friendly to us.  One blackfellow was made king of Pretty Bend by having his name and title inscribed on a big brass plate to hang on his chest.  His gin Maggie, was always with me, and was delighted when my little ones came into the world.  As well as being a splendid help, she was a great protection.  When any mischief was brewing amongst the blacks, she always came secretly and warned be about their plans.  Her son, who took the name of Willie Emmerson, became a famous horseman, well known throughout the district.  I hold him in great respect, as I have found him sincere and good.

I look back to those times as the brightest and happiest days of my life.  When my husband sold Pretty Bend, we travelled in a bullock dray with a tilt or cover over it, and driven by Jack Gill, then only a boy in years, to Amelia Vale, county my husband had taken up under the first Land Act and given it that name.  From then till now it has been my home.  I am the mother of seven living children, and 22 grand children.  After over 50 years in the bush, I can look back with pleasure to the grand old pioneering days."

(photo sourced from Jessica Watters)

This Sinclair family portrait shows Amelia, seated on the right, with her mother Sophia Jane Sinclair nee Paton (the wife of Captain Sinclair), her daughter Florence Amelia Constance Smith nee Emmerson, and her grandson Hector Smith.


Captain Henry Daniel Thomas Sinclair

Captain Sinclair was born Henry Daniel Thomas Sinclair, in 1817 in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, England.  He was the son of Thomas Sinclair and Amelia Hollis.  Sent to sea at the age of 12, Henry finally earned his Master's Certificate of Service in England, in 1851 at the age of 32.  He emigrated to Australia soon after, and married Sophia Jane Paton in Sydney in 1855, when he was 37 years old.  They went on to have eight children over ten years.

When Captain Henry Sinclair was aged 42, he led the first British expedition to find a port north of what is now known as Rockhampton, in response to a reward offered by the Colony of New South Wales. The then Governor of New South Wales had offered a sizeable bounty for the discovery of a suitable harbour that could be easily accessible by northern settlers.

Captain Sinclair departed Sydney in August of 1859 on his nine-tonne ketch named the 'Santa Barbara'.  He met up with two other partners and a seaman in Rockhampton and the party set sail from Port Alma at Rockhampton, heading northwards.    

There is a fascinating account of Sinclair's discovery that can be viewed on the Trove website:  How Bowen Was Discovered by James Gordon   It tells the tale of a hastily arranged voyage plagued by poor planning and Sinclair's erratic leadership and calls the sighting of Port Denison an 'accidental discovery'.


Gordon, James. 1859, How Bowen was discovered : the cruise of the Santa Barbara, 9 tons, in search of a northern port in the year 1859


Information cited on the ABC television program 'Lateline', aired in 2003, gives a very clear picture of  this time in Captain Henry Sinclair's life.

"The New South Wales Government in 1859 has posted a reward of 2000 pounds to anyone who discovered a suitable harbour north of Port Alma (near Rockhampton).

Spurred on by the prospect of the reward, Captain Henry Daniel Sinclair, his partners James Gordon and Benjamin Poole and seaman William Thomas set sail from Rockhampton in a nine-ton ketch, the Santa Barbara on September 1, 1859.

By September 29, they had sailed as far as Upstart Bay (in the area now known as the Burdekin region) and checked out the shoreline. Heading southwards for the return journey they encountered severe headwinds as they rounded Cape Upstart forcing them to sail through the Gloucester Passage to Edgecumbe Bay, areas previously named by James Cook when he passed by on his epic voyage nearly 90 years earlier.

The Santa Barbara sailed across Edgecumbe Bay on the morning of October 15 passing a couple of islands. Two of them were subsequently named after Poole and Thomas. Behind a third island, later named Stone Island, Sinclair and his crew found what amateur historian Peter Delamothe later described as "a splendid harbour…where ships could remain in perfect safety". They named the harbour Port Denison in honour of the Governor of N.S.W.

The Santa Barbara returned to Rockhampton on October 31 and the three partners then travelled to Sydney to claim the reward. They were interviewed by the N.S.W. Governor, Sir William Denison. At the same time, they were introduced to Sir George Ferguson Bowen, the Governor of Queensland, the name of the new colony approved by Queen Victoria on June 6 of that year.

Both governors confirmed the statement by the N.S.W. Premier Sir Charles Cowper that they were entitled to the reward if the harbour was suitable.

Governor Bowen was to proclaim a separation of Queensland from N.S.W. on December 10, 1959. On August 11, 1860, Governor Bowen instructed Joseph W. Smith RN to command the schooner Spitfire to go to Port Denison and confirm Sinclair's reports on the suitability of the harbour. Smith was accompanied by George Elphinstone Dalrymple (who had previously trekked the area by land and had been appointed Lands Commissioner for the proposed Kennedy Pastoral District), surveyor R.P. Stone and botanist Fitzalan.

On September 29, 1860, they entered Port Denison and found the harbour ideal for a port and the site on the coast ideal for a township. According to Delamothe they advised Governor Bowen that "Port Denison among harbours of eastern Australia was only second in beauty to Port Jackson and as the site most suitable for a first settlement and port for the new Kennedy District".

The Kennedy District was opened for pastoral occupation in January 1, 1861, and Port Denison was proclaimed a port of entry in March that year. The town was officially named Bowen.

As Queensland had separated from N.S.W., the N.S.W. Government reneged on its promise to reward Sinclair. Governor Bowen believed the reward should have been paid, but the new colony did not have the money to pay it. Sinclair and Gordon pressed their claim for the reward but without success. Instead Sinclair was offered the job as Harbour Master and Chief Constable at Bowen, while Gordon was fobbed off with the job of Collector Customs.

Bowen, as North Queensland's first settlement and port, was surveyed with a view to it becoming the major centre for the North. Its wide, symmetrically designed streets, as surveyed by Clarendon Stuart, were to accommodate a fast growing town, perhaps a city. But with the opening up of the goldfields in Ravenswood and Charters Towers, as well as the powerful political lobby that favoured the port of Townsville in Cleveland Bay, Bowen's aspirations went unfulfilled. 

Ironically, the discoverer of Port Denison, Captain Henry Daniel Sinclair, accidentally drowned in Cleveland Bay in March 1868 and was buried in the old West End cemetery in Bowen's rival town of Townsville."


So it was to be that, unfortunately, Captain Sinclair was never able to claim the reward offered.  The first  British settlers began arriving at Port Denison in March of 1861 and Sinclair assisted with the transport of these people on board the Santa Barbara.  The settlement was officially proclaimed on April 11th, 1861 and named Bowen.  Sinclair stayed on in Bowen, and lived out the remainder of his life there.

He served as the harbourmaster for a number of years but grew disgruntled with the place, took to drink, and was dismissed.  Tragically, and rather ironically, Captain Sinclair accidentally drowned in Cleveland Bay, at Bowen's rival town of Townsville, just a few years later!!!




Captain Henry Daniel Thomas Sinclair died in March of 1868 at the age of  50.  Sadly, earlier that same year, Sinclair's brother and twelve-year old son drowned during an excursion on Bowen Harbour, and Sinclair followed them to a watery grave in a sailing accident at the St. Patrick's Day Regatta on Townsville's Cleveland Bay.  He was quickly buried in the Townsville Cemetery, which seems like a rather unworthy ending for such a man.

Newspaper Article - Death of Captain Sinclair - Brisbane Courier Mon 13 April 1868 p3.








In 1934, a cairn was unveiled in Santa Barbara Park in Bowen, commemorating the 75th anniversary of Captain Sinclair's discovery.


It still stands, loud and proud, today.














In 2009, another Captain Henry Sinclair monument was erected, commemorating 150 years since Captain Sinclair landed in Port Denison. 























Interestingly, the Sinclair line was the topic of a newspaper article published in the Townsville Daily Bulletin in 1951, on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Federation of Australia.  There was to be a re-enactment of Captain Sinclair's landing as a major part of the events planned in Bowen.  My Grand Uncle's wife, Mrs. Alice McCane is mentioned, along with her two children (my first cousins 1x removed) Mervyn and Merle McCane.



On a side note ... During my childhood, I lived on a street named Denison Street in Bowen.  I went to a school named Santa Barbara Infant School which was on Sinclair Street. My grandparents lived on Dalrymple Street. Small town living!  At the time I was unaware of the significance of any of these names.


I'm joining Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2021 Challenge.


This time I'm catching up with the prompt for Week 50 of 2021 - ''Lines".

You can join by blogging or posting on social media with the tag #52Ancestors.

Check out Amy's FB pages:  Generations Cafe  or  Amy Johnson Crow

Saturday 11 December 2021

Spotlight on .... Shipwreck! Townsville's Titanic.

The subject of this post was sparked by a very recent discovery linked to my maternal line and to one of Australia's worst peacetime maritime disasters - the sinking of the SS Yongala.  

The reference to the Titanic was used 
in the title of a book about the
sinking of the SS Yongala.
Author:  Max Gleeson
Published:  2000

The mysterious disappearance of the SS Yongala happened a year before the sinking of the Titanic, but in the decade or so after the tragic event, newspapers dubbed the disaster, "Townsville's Titanic", and turned the whole tragic story into a homemade version of that famous disastrous sinking.  

The wreck of the SS Yongala is not far from where I live, and is now considered one of Australia's best wreck dives.  The sinking of this ship is a familiar story to all who live here in the city of Townsville, north Queensland, and whilst I have heard the stories over and over again since I moved here many moons ago, I had no idea of any personal connection to that event until just a couple of days ago.  This is exactly why I love my time spent on family tree research ... you can uncover the most amazing stories!

SS Yongala
Creator unknown., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

One hundred and ten years ago, the steam ship SS Yongala sank in a cyclone off Cape Bowling Green, near Townsville.  The Yongala was a passenger and cargo ship that was en route from Melbourne to Cairns when she steamed straight into a cyclone and sank off the coast south of Townsville.  All lives were lost and the wreck of the ship lay undiscovered for nearly 50 years!  

The Yongala was named after a tiny pastoral town in South Australia, and its name meant "broad water" in the local Ngadjuri language.  The ship had spent its lifetime ferrying cargo and travellers around Australia.  Its last fateful voyage was its 99th run, begun on March 14th, 1911, at the port of Melbourne, in Victoria.  By the time it left Mackay central Queensland, it was carrying 49 passengers,  73 crew members and a race horse named Moonshine, and was headed to Townsville.

One of the passengers aboard that fateful voyage was the husband of my maternal great grand-aunt, Helen Ann Davies nee Farrell (my Grandmother Sarah McCane nee Farrell's aunty).  Helen Ann (known as Annie most of her life) had married David Davies in Charters Towers in 1890.  She was aged 19 and David (who had been born in Victoria) was 28 years old.

David Davies had been born in 1861, the son of David Davies and Catherine Jones.  At the age of 21, he had moved to New South Wales, presumably in search of work, and then when he was about 25 years old he moved to Charters Towers in Queensland.  He was an iron moulder by trade, like his father before him, but had moved to Charters Towers to work in the gold mining industry which was booming at that time.

After their marriage in August of 1890, Helen Ann and David went on to have 9 children over a period of 18 years. By the time their 7th child was born however, they were living in Cairns, north Queensland, presumably because David found work that could better support his large family.  Unfortunately David had to move once more for work, but this time, he was on his own.  By early 1911, then aged 49, David was living and working in Brisbane, whilst his wife Helen Ann (Annie) and their eight children remained in Cairns. Sadly their 7th child had died soon after her birth, back in 1903.

Argus, Saturday, March 18, 1911 p19.                



According to a newspaper article (written a month or so after the tragic event and included at the bottom of this post), it seems that David had likely read newspaper reports, such as this one on the left, of a severe cyclone that had hit Cairns earlier, on March 16th.  


The cyclone had actually made landfall at Port Douglas, to the north of Cairns, but had impacted the coastal area including Mossman and Cairns.  


David would have read that it had caused widespread damage, leaving around 100 people homeless in Cairns and two fatalities and it seems that David had also read a statement containing a spelling error, which resulted in a catastrophic change to the life of his family.  


It appears that David had read that the house the 'Davies' family lived in had been completely destroyed.  He was likely convinced this was the house of his own family.  Instead, it was actually the house of the 'Davis' family and there had been an error in the spelling of the published family name.


As a result of this error, David decided to purchase a ticket and make the trip home to Cairns from Brisbane, instead of just sending his pay cheque, which is what should have happened.  He boarded the ship, intending to go home and check on his family, but he never arrived in Cairns.    

The SS Yongala left Mackay for Townsville on the afternoon of March the 23rd.  Other ships had sighted flag signals or received wireless signals from a signal station just outside Mackay about a cyclone that was brewing between Mackay and Townsville, and took shelter at Mackay or nearby.  Unfortunately, the Yongala did not see the signal flags and had no wireless equipment.  It was last sighted by the lighthouse keeper at Dent Island, five hours after departing Mackay, still heading north into badly deteriorating weather.  It never reached Townsville, let alone Cairns.


According to information sourced by Wikipedia:  

The lack of Yongala's arrival in Townsville did not immediately cause concern, with the assumption that the ship had taken shelter from the cyclone.  After three other ships arrived in Townsville, Yongala was listed as missing on 26 March, with the note that she may have been lost as early as 23 March.


Queensland Premier Digby Denham turned all of the state's resources over to search efforts, including seven vessels operated by the public service, police and shipping.  Wreckage was found washed up on beaches from Hinchinbrook Island to Bowen, but there was no sign of the ship or those aboard.  The only body found was of the racehorse Moonshine, which washed up at the mouth of Gordon Creek.  A £1,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of the ship was offered by the Queensland government, but this was withdrawn after no useful information came forward.


Several theories were offered for the ship's disappearance. Some speculated that Yongala had fallen victim to the cyclone; the high winds would have come from perpendicular to the ship's course and overpowered the vessel.  Others  thought she had grounded on a submerged reef between Flinders Passage and Keeper Reef, run into Nares Rock or struck Cape Upstart.


SS Yongala at Fremantle in the 1900s


The Marine Board of Queensland investigated the loss of Yongala from 8 to 20 June 1911.  With no witnesses to the ship's fate, the inquiry considered the ship's stability, equipment and seaworthiness, together with consideration of Captain William Knight's capabilities as a ship's master.  



After finding no fault with the condition of the ship (based on design specifications supplied by the Adelaide Steamship Company, along with data from sea trials and seven years of uneventful operation) or with Knight's abilities (his reputation as one of Adelaide Steamship Company's most capable men, and 14 years' service without incident) the Board concluded that "the fate of the Yongala passes beyond human ken into the realms of conjecture, to add one more to the mysteries of the sea".  


The Board did note the increased risk of navigating the Great Barrier Reef during tropical cyclone season was risky, and that the safest option was to secure the best anchorage available and ride the storm out.

A "Yongala distress fund" was set up in March 1911, with money raised used for the relief of families of those aboard.  The fund was closed on 30 September 1914, with the £900 remaining credited to the Queensland Shipwreck Society.



The ship's disappearance remained a mystery for decades.  I can't imagine how this uncertainty played on my great aunt Helen Ann or her children.  How do you live with never knowing what happened to your husband / father?  No body was ever found or buried.  No answers were found until after Helen Ann (Annie) had died, and seven of her children were well into their 50s or 60s.


Interestingly, mention was made of Helen Ann and her children in a newspaper article in the Cairns Post, related to the "Yongala distress fund", dated April 10th, 1911.  Previously, I mentioned this article because it had provided some detail about why David was on the Yongala.  Whether or not the information is totally correct is of course almost impossible to prove, but I am hopeful that the reporter had indeed respectfully spoken to Helen Ann and published a true account of the details of the final day or so of David's life.

Ironically, the family name Davies was misspelt in this article as Davis!

Cairns Post, Monday April 10, 1911 p4.

Transcript of that article:

Cairns Post (Qld.: 1909 - 1954), Monday 10 April 1911, page 4


THE POST

MONDAY, APRIL 10, 1910.

FOR the Widow and Orphans

Cairns Yongala Fund.

It is an old saying that charity should begin at home, and it will be admitted that the community should consider it a paramount duty to relieve, primarily, the distress existing in its midst, without in any way interfering with wider or more general movements of a similar nature. This is the opinion of several residents of Cairns, business men and others, who have been considering the case of Mrs. David Davis (surname misspelt!), whose husband was lost on the Yongala, and who has been made a widow and her children orphans by that terrible tragedy of the sea. The matter was mentioned to the "Post" last week, and this Paper has made full inquiries into the circumstances, with the result that it today, with the approbation of the residents above mentioned and the consent of Mrs. Davis and her children; opens a special subscription list in order to provide a sum which will in some measure help to compensate the bereaved ones for the loss of their -------(print was unreadable)------- relieve them, and ensure them against suffering and destitution in the future.

Personal inquiries made by the editor of this paper revealed the following facts - Mrs. Davis resides with her family in a small cottage, which she rents, in Lumley Street. She has eight children, two of whom, a boy and a girl, are apprenticed, earning between them £2 per week. The boy is not in robust health, and the sudden shock following the loss of his father, to whom he was devotedly attached, has not tended to mend matters. The remaining six children are of tender years, the youngest being a little toddler. The husband and father who by trade an iron-moulder. Not being able to get constant work here, he left some little time ago for Brisbane, and his family were delighted to know that he was at last earning good money. He told them he was forwarding a remittance by the mail that would have come probably by the Yongala, but to their surprise he wired them that he was returning to Cairns by that steamer. It is surmised that he read the account of the Cairns cyclone in the Brisbane papers, and as it was mentioned that the house of a Mr. Davis had been blown down in Lumley Street, be naturally thought it was the house in which his family resided, whereas it was the house of another person of the same name.

So that poor David Davis was hurrying back to the relief of his family when he met his death. His arrival was expected on the Sunday and the family dinner was prepared with extra care, the mother and children looking forward to the return of the husband and father with affectionate and pleasurable anticipations. Then came the news that the Yongala was missing, and later the list of the second-class passengers, which included the name of Mr. David Davis.

The sad circumstances surrounding the loss sustained by Mrs. Davis and her family have appealed to many; and after consulting with some of those who sympathise with the widow and orphans, the "Post" today makes an appeal for contributions and opens a subscription list, apart altogether from, and entirely independent of, any movement that may be decided upon in regard to a general relief fund—which will be drawn from the whole of Australia. After personal investigation of the circumstances, the "Post," to whom Mrs. Davis and her family, previously were strangers, assures the public that the object for which this fund is opened is, in the truest sense, deserving. It may be mentioned that already a number of subscriptions are promised but in order that the response may be truly spontaneous and voluntary; these amounts are not mentioned today, the "Post" simply opening the list formally.

Subscriptions will be received at this office and the full list will be published daily until it is finally closed, when it is hoped a sufficient sum will be obtained to provide a permanent and comfortable home for Mrs. Davis and her children, the total amount being vested in trustees to be used to the best advantage on behalf of the widow and orphans.




The SS Yongala lay undiscovered until it was finally positively identified in 1958.  



It has since become a world famous dive site, now covered in coral and home to hundreds of species of marine animals.  It is the largest, at 110 metres in length, and one of the most intact historic shipwrecks in Australian waters.



David Davies' death was registered by his wife Helen Ann two months after the tragic sinking, and his date of death was recorded as the 23rd of March, 1911.


Details on his death certificate state that he died "in wreck of S.S. Yongala near Townsville", aged 49 years and 5 months, and his body was "not recovered" for burial.


To read more about the S.S. Yongala, visit  Australia's Own Titanic: 10 Things You Never Knew About The S.S. Yongala  and the Wikipedia page SS Yongala 


To view the wreck:



Acknowledgement given to the Townsville Maritime Museum for this list of all passengers and crew, from SS Yongala who died on the 23rd, of March 1911. No one survived.

First class saloon for Townsville.

1. Mr Matthew Rooney
2. Mrs Katherine Rooney
3. Miss Lizzie Rooney
4. Miss Ethel Amy Uhr, Matron, Townsville hospital
5. Miss Jean Buxton, Nurse, Townsville hospital
6. Mr John James Elsdale
7. Mrs Annie Eileen Elsdale
8. Mr Rudolph August Stach
9. Mr Francis Fothergill Viney
10. Miss Mary Josephine Carroll
11. Miss Mona Kathleen Shannon
12. Mr Willie Lin
13. Ms Emily Ada Davis
14. Mr John Campbell
15. Mr Ernest Greenfield
16. Mr Clifford James Hardin O'Brien


For Cairns

17. Mrs Charlotte Louisa Davids
18. Mrs Alice Minna Murray
19. Master Ian Sheppard Murray
20. Miss Alister Sheppard Murray
21. Miss Jean Alexander Murray
22. Miss Ailsa Mary Murray (Infant)
23. Mrs Mary Ann Linedale (Maid)
24. Mr Stephen Symons Reath
25. Mrs Margaret Frances Reath
26. Mr William James Fulton
27. Mr Albert Sutherland Dette
28. Mr T Parton
29. Mr S Manwaring
30. Miss Mary Annie Woodward
31. Mrs Hanora Gertrude Magee


Second class for Townsville

32. Mr O F Thompson
33. Mr Charles Manbey
34. Mrs Mary Ann Manbey
35. Mr W Barklay
36. Mr Octagavina Carrasco
37. Mr Jose Sareras
38. Mr Walter Francis Breckenridge
39. Mr Ernst Schneider
40. Mr Richard Thomas Coade
41. Mr Walter George Coade
42. Mr James John Sutherland
43. Mr Fraser Sutherland
44. Mr William Smith


For Cairns

45. Mr James Dempsey Jolly
46.
Mr David Davies
47. Mr Pianta, Antonia
48. Mr W H Griffiths
49. Mr E E Parkhurst

CREW

50. Mr William Knight
51. Mr Richard Williams
52. Mr Harry Harden
53. Mr D Cameron
54. Mr George H Jarvis
55. Mr A F Hamilton
56. Mr John Donaldson
57. Mr Claude Miller
58. Mr A Lawrance
59. Mr E Mawby
60. Mr G A Harris
61. Mr W D Millar
62. Mr E McKenzie
63. Mr J Roberts
64. Mr S W H Emerson
65. Ms A S English
66. Ms M Lambrick
67. Ms S Andrew
68. Ms A Rentoul
69. Mr J H Shipton
70. Mr G H Reid
71. Mr J Elliott
72. Mr V Cross
73. Mr D Morrison
74. Mr J W Sullivan
75. Mr J Ward
76. Mr J Craig
77. Mr J Finlay
78. Mr A O Armstrong
79. Mr J E Costello
80. Mr F J Wingrove
81. Mr R W Cooks
82. Mr A P W Gordon
83. Mr G H Fox
84. Mr J West
85. Mr R Robertson
86. Mr W H McPherson
87. Mr J Gemmell
88. Mr P McAdle
89. Mr P Rankin
90. Mr T Howard
91. Mr W Houston
92. Mr W D Murray
93. Mr F E Voight
94. Mr A Uggddahl
95. Mr H Todd
96. Mr F Medcalf
97. Mr J Diamond
98. Mr J Grumbledon
99. Mr J Narrie
100. Mr C A Davison
101. Mr A Lillico
102. Mr J F Gallagher
103. Mr E A Rickson
104. Mr J A Reich
105. Mr G Goldsmith
106. Mr J Calvin
107. Mr O V Nelson
108. Mr J McGinnis
109. Mr E O Jones
110. Mr W Boylan
111. Mr R Woods
112. Mr H C Gale
113. Mr E H Freeston
114. Mr P Walsh
115. Mr J Johnston
116. Mr J MacDonald
117. Mr V R McDougall
118. Mr W Paton
119. Mr J L McNamara
120. Mr C S Doyle
121 Mr H Lewis
122 Mr S Donachie



I'm joining Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2021 Challenge.


This time I'm catching up with the prompt for Week 49 of 2021 - ''Homemade".

You can join by blogging or posting on social media with the tag #52Ancestors.

Check out Amy's FB pages:  Generations Cafe  or  Amy Johnson Crow