A correspondent of the Times furnishes the following additional par-
ticulars relative to the loss of the Earl of Wemyss, Leith smack, which was wrecked in the gale of Saturday last.
Allow me to present the following particulars, which I have upon the authority of an eye-witness (a passenger), and private accounts which may be relied on ; the object of which is to correct some inac- curacies that have appeared in the public papers, and to state circum- stances more fully respecting the melancholy loss of life on board the Earl of Wemyss smack, trading from London to Leith, — Nesbett master, which ran ashore near Brancaster, on the Norfolk coast, on the night of Saturday last, the 31st of August, arid not on Thursday night,
the 29th, as stated in your paper of to-day, and the Courier of yester- day, in a letter signed " Andrew Horsburgh." The same writer also
states that, after four hours' painful anxiety, they were relieved by the the good people of Brancaster; making the time of getting ashore between two and three o'clock on Friday morning, when, in fact, it was between eleven and twelve o'clock on Sunday forenoon. It does not, appear that " Andrew Horsburgh" is correct in ascribing loss of life to the fixing of the cabin-door, as will be hereafter seen. The Earl of Wemyss left the Leith and Berwick Wharf, London, on Thursday, the 29th ult., at twelve o'clock at noon, with a fair wind, which continued till Friday night, when, for a short time, she was becalmed and obliged to lay to, but soon got under weigh with the wind favourable till about four o'clock on Saturday morning, when a gale came on from the N. N. E., which, in a few hours, increased to a hurricane: not a sail could stand,—all was torn to ribbons, and lost.
The vessel, of course, became unmanageable, and drifted. At night she crossed Burnham Flats, towards the shore ; both anchors were cast, but, finding they would not hold, were slipped, and the vessel con- tinued to drift in shore until near midnight, when she struck the beach; unfortunately it was some time after high water. The rudder being rendered useless, she lay broadside to the shore. It was hoped that the passengers and crew would be able to save themselves with the ship's boat at low water, and, though it proved they were not so near land as expected, they attempted it about three o'clock on Sunday morn- ing. The boat was launched, made fast to a hawser, and put off, but if it had been let go in such a sea it must have been at the sacrifice of the lives of the crew, who happily were reshipped. The boat was lost. Their only hope now was the ceasing of the storm, which, with day- light, would have enabled them to get assistance from land, as the ship wore well, or that the tide would drift her higher up, which it did, and it was hoped all would have been saved. From the time the vessel struck she began to fill, from the sea washing over her, and by eight o'clock on Sunday morning, was nearly filled from the hold to her lower decks. About half-past eight o'clock, the Captain left the passengers in the cabin, where he advised them to remain, saying he would give them timely notice to come upon deck, for it was feared the ship would fill that tide. The sea ran in more sudden and violent than was ex- pected, and before the Captain had left them twenty minutes, a heavy sea rolled over her decks. The male passengers rushed from the cabin, and were all saved except one. Some of them would probably have been washed overboard, but for the prompt assistance of the crew, be- fore any relief could be rendered them; the ladies and children then remaining in the cabin. A second sea swept her decks, carrying away skylights, hatchet, and every thing. Some of those on deck scrambled aft, on the first receding of the water from the deck, anxious to learn the fate of those below, when, sad to relate, all was still in death ! The rigging was now the only refuge for passengers and crew, except a female steerage passenger, who was lashed forward a short time previ- ous, and was the only female saved. In this situation they remained till half-past eleven o'clock, when the storm had so far abated, and the tide ebbed, that those on board could wade on store, where they were received with every demonstration of sympathy that benevolence could suggest by the inhabitants of Titchwell and Braficaster, &c. The espe- cial kindness of the Reverend - Brown, Parsonage, Titchwell, will long be remembered by the friends of the poor sufferers. The report of the eleven lives lost agrees with the information I have received,- viz. one gentlemen, six ladies, and four children.
My highly-esteemed friend, Mr. C. Hamilton, Nicholas Lane, by this lamentable occurrence, is bereaved of an affectionate and beloved wife, and his eldest son and daughter.
Previous page
