The Ship ‘Cospatrick’

Calvert, Samuel, ca 1828-1913: The burning of the emigrant ship ‘Cospatrick’ off the Cape of Good Hope [1874]. Auckland, Illustrated New Zealand Herald, 1875. Reference No: PUBL-0047-1875-09.

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand, must be obtained before any re-use of this image

The burning of the Cospatrick

The ship ‘Cospatrick’ sailed from London bound for Auckland on September 11th 1874. On board were 429 passengers, a crew of 44 and general cargo. By Tuesday, November 17th, the ‘Cospatrick’ was 250 miles south-west of the Cape of Good Hope. About midnight, the alarm was sounded and a bucket brigade organised. It was a losing battle with a slight head wind fanning the flames. Attempts were made to turn the ship so that the wind would come from the stern. However, the ship lost steerage and came around with its head to the wind, which forced the fire back into the ship and its flammable cargo. The lifeboats were insufficient and difficult to access, and there was a lack of fire drills. Panic broke out. The main and mizzen masts crashed to the deck, an explosion blew the stern away and the ship finally sank. Only two lifeboats got away from the ship. Each boat carried about 30 survivors, neither boat had food, water, masts or sails. The boats became separated and one was never seen again. People on the lifeboat died of thirst, hunger and delirium and remaining survivors resorted to cannibalism. They were picked up by the ‘British Sceptre’ 10 days later and only 3 survived.

The tragedy—described by the Daily Southern Cross in Auckland as the "most lamentable disaster, both as regards the loss of life and the horrors that attended the sacrifice that has ever occurred in connection with immigration to these colonies"— continued to have a profound and abiding effect on the migrants. Indeed, it has been cited as one of the factors that led to a sharp decline in migrant numbers after 1874 because it emphasised one of New Zealand’s biggest disadvantages in the competition to attract good people: the length of the voyage and the increased perils this involved.

Source: Hastings, D. Over the mountains of the sea: Life on immigrant ships 1870-1885. New Zealand: Auckland University Press, 2006: 68-72.

The STRONG family were booked to travel on this last voyage of the ‘Cospatrick’ , but they cancelled due to an outbreak of sickness amongst some of the children. They then left Plymouth in the ‘Baron Aberdare’ on 14 Dec 1874 as assisted emigrants. Had the news of this disaster reached London by this time? The ‘British Sceptre’ had just picked up the ‘Cospatrick’ survivors on 27 Nov 1874. If the STRONGs knew about the ‘Cospatrick’ when they sailed on the ‘Baron Aberdare’, they must have had a very compelling reason for emigration!

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