DRAMA OFF GREAT PATERNOSTERS REEF IN 1876
and WILLIAM MITCHELL'S STORY

ST LAWRENCE

On 14 November 1876 the front page of the Cape Times carried Messrs Jones and Co's advertisement for the public auction that day of "the wrecked steamer St Lawrence ... the vessel will be sold as she lies on the Great Paternosters, with all her Masts, Sails, Ropes, Spars, Anchors, Chains, Engines and Boilers etc ... also stores belonging to the vessel ..."

The St Lawrence, an iron steamer of 2 220 tons, had been under charter to the British Government as a troopship, leaving England for Cape Town some five weeks before the disaster occurred, and passing Madeira on 14 September. She then steamed south until 7 November against strong headwinds. On board were the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Buffs (3rd Regiment of Foot), and though statistics vary in contemporary reports, passengers numbered over 400 men, women and children, many of the officers being accompanied by their wives and families. There was also a crew of 67 souls. In her hold were a thousand pounds worth of Government stores, including 9 mountain guns and fifty pounds of gunpowder.

Her captain, HYDE, was not well and lying fully-clothed on his bed when at 3 a.m. on the morning of the 8 November his chief officer, SHELTON, reported to him that the morning was fine and that land was in sight afar off. A few minutes later the officer returned to say that the land was not as distant as he had initially believed and that he had seen a light on shore (this later proved to have been a star). The captain immediately went on deck, and, the look-out reporting something ahead, Hyde ordered the instant stopping and reversing of engines. It was too late: the ship struck the reef and her bow firmly settled down, water rapidly filling her compartments.

Hyde reported to the colonel in command of the troops that the ship was ashore and that the men should go to quarters while the crew cleared away the boats. All was done speedily and calmly, with no panic or confusion; the women and children went into the boats first, followed by the men. The passengers were gradually landed safely, and the boats returned to the ship to take off provisions - beef, bread and water. A Captain WYLDE was commissioned to ride for Cape Town with news of the wreck; his journey was accomplished in eighteen and a half hours. Meanwhile, courageous attempts were made by captain and crew, who remained on board, to re-float the ship by setting her sails and reversing engines at top speed, but it was clear that she could not be saved and would eventually become a total wreck. 100 tons of coal had been thrown overboard in an effort to lighten the ship. Sails were sent for use as tents on the barren shore, arms, ammunition and baggage were taken off, and the crew, with provisions and blankets, were at last ordered to the boats which were made fast to the stern of the vessel.

When Wylde's report was received at the Castle, the news was telegraphed to the Naval Authorities at Simon's Bay, and the Spitfire and Spartan dispatched to convey the shipwrecked soldiers and others to Cape Town. Other vessels involved in the rescue were the Donald Currie steamer Koodoo, the steamer Gnu and HMS Active.

A ROYAL ENGINEER ON BOARD

William MITCHELL of the Royal Engineers, his wife and family, are believed by his descendants to have been on board the St Lawrence at the time of the wreck. William's son Frederick Mitchell, who was then aged 2, in later life wrote the following account:

"Joining at Canterbury and finding it the Depot of the Buffs, I recalled the fact that in my early youth I had been a companion in misfortune with the Regiment as a very diminutive passenger on board the ship which carried them to South Africa in 1876 and was wrecked about 90 miles north of Cape Town.

A few details of the matter may after the lapse of time be of interest to past and present members of the Regiment which I am able to abstract from records still in possession of my family.

The hired transport SS St Lawrence, commanded by Capt Hyde RNR, left Dublin on 4 October 1876 with the following troops: 2nd Battn, 3rd Buffs, including 14 officers, 4 ladies, 3 children, 462 NCOs and Men, 39 women and 73 children. Other units, 1 officer, 10 NCOs and Men, 5 women and 8 children."

Frederick Mitchell goes on to list the officers of the 3rd Buffs who were on board and then continues:

"The St Lawrence, which had only been launched 2 years, was 303 feet in length and developed 230 horsepower, but was a good sample of her class in those days. She arrived at St Vincent on 17th October 1876 and after leaving there no land was sighted until the time of the wreck. There was plenty of room on board and the weather on the whole being pretty favourable the voyage had been a pleasant one.

At noon on Tuesday 7th November 1876, the position of the vessel was reckoned to be lat 31.17 S, long 16.6 E, and everyone expected to be safely anchored in Table Bay soon after daylight next morning. About 3 am Wednesday 8th November, the Chief Officer reported land in sight and the look-out reported something immediately ahead, which at first was taken for boats, and a few seconds later, 3.30 am, the vessel struck.

Desperate attempts were made to get the vessel off by reversal of engines but she remained stuck fast on the reef ... known as the Paternosters adjacent to St Helena Bay, north of Cape Town.

Everyone was immediately ordered to emergency quarters, the troops fell in and were as steady as the immortal instance of the wreck of the 'Birkenhead'. Armed sentries were posted and the most perfect discipline was observed. Consequently no lives were lost and no accidents occurred. In less than half an hour the women and children commenced to get away in the boats.

After the women and children had been safely landed the troops filed into the boats taking their equipment, and in a short space of time every soul on board had been landed without difficulty. Provisions were next hastily put ashore while the good weather, which fortunately prevailing, remained. Had it been otherwise nothing would have averted a terrible disaster as there was deep water all round the vessel except forward where she struck and despite the fair weather she settled down by the stern 48 hours afterwards and became a total loss.

Very little of the large quantity of military stores, which included guns and ammunition, or personal effects were saved although the troops worked incessantly hard while the ship remained above water.

An encampment was made ashore, which was an arid and desolate part of the coast, sentries being placed on the outskirts. Poles and sails forming temporary shelter for women and children only, but men of all ranks had to sleep in the open and experienced a night of torrential rain. Nevertheless water was very scarce being restricted to a pint per day for 5 men. The discomforts were great. It is said that the men had a bronzed and scorched appearance and some suffered peeling off of their skin due to the exposure and the power of the sun.

News of the wreck was taken overland to Cape Town by Captain Wylde who did the journey ... by means of relays of saddle horses, reaching Cape Town in about 9 hours (sic - newspaper reports mention 18½ hours).

HMS Active from Simons Town and HMS Spartan from Cape Town were immediately dispatched to the spot although both vessels were under repair and hardly in a fit state to proceed to sea. The Active reached the scene of the wreck on Friday and proceeded to take off the women and children, also two companies of the Regiment, leaving the same evening for Table Bay where they arrived safely three days after the St Lawrence was due. The Spartan put in an appearance as the Active left the wreck and returned to Cape Town the following Sunday with the remainder of the Regiment including the Band and a quantity of baggage.

It is recorded that the men looked in a forlorn and pitiable condition, with faces scorched, uniforms torn and every appearance of having endured considerable suffering, several being unable to walk.

It was recalled at the time that the 1st Battalion The Buffs was wrecked on the south coast of Cape Colony in the 'Miles Barton' about ten or eleven years prior to the disaster to the 2nd Battalion. (The Miles Barton was wrecked on the Reef which now bears its name, east of Amiston, on 8 February 1861 while on a voyage from Hong Kong with 320 men of the 3rd Regiment; no lives were lost.)

The photographic reproduction of the wreck is from a sketch made on the spot by a Member of the Regiment." (Unfortunately, this photograph was not attached to Frederick Mitchell's account and presumably hasn't survived.)

In September 1961, at the age of 87, Frederick Mitchell gave another account of the St Lawrence wreck, probably typed by his daughter who was then taking care of him. This gives some additional information about his family:

"My father - William Mitchell, a Staff Clerk of the Royal Engineers with my mother, Emma, with following family William, James, Edward, Emma, Ellen, Frederick and Annie left Dublin in the hired transport St Lawrence in September 1876 for Cape Town. On board in addition to many Details was one battalion of the 3rd Regiment (the Buffs)."

It is certain that William Mitchell was enlisted with the Royal Engineers (1858-1892); his Regimental Number was 5630 and he was holding the rank of Quartermaster Sergeant from 1874-1881. A copy of his service record was obtained by his great great granddaughter, Katy WHEELER. One page of this document mentions: 'No previous medical history sheet belonging to this man being known to exist the present one was prepared at Pembroke Dock ... on 3rd Nov 1873 ... Rec'd at Cape Town 2nd Dec 1876' - this seems to indicate that William Mitchell was in the Cape in December 1876, shortly after the wreck of the St Lawrence. Further investigations are being undertaken to find an official record of a member of this Regiment being among the troops on board the transport.

Also in the descendant's possession are two photographs of William and Emma Mitchell, taken in 1860, and on the back her great grandfather Frederick Mitchell has written:

"The family down to Annie were shipwrecked in the SS St Lawrence on the Paternoster Rocks, St Helens Bay 7 Nov 1876 whilst on voyage to Cape Town. They lived ashore suffering great hardship until rescued a week later by HMS Active. The glass plates from which these reproductions were made were recovered from the wreck after being submerged."

There's an unusual corollary to the story. William's great great granddaughter, Katy Wheeler, lives in Southampton which is where William and Emma (nee JONES) met - they appear on the 1861 census, living at separate addresses in Southampton. Later that year they were married at Rowde, Wiltshire. Katy's great grandfather Frederick Mitchell's sister, Maud (also reportedly on the St Lawrence) and her husband Douglas BARLEY, were Katy's 'other' great grandparents, which means she is related twice over to William and Emma. If the Mitchell family hadn't survived the shipwreck, Katy wouldn't be among us today.

The military tradition in the family continued through several generations: William's father James was in the 8th Regiment of Foot. William's son Frederick Mitchell was a Captain in the Royal Engineers - photographs show both he and his father in their RE uniforms. William Mitchell joined the Royal Engineers Corps from the Duke of York's Royal Military School in 1856, and retired in 1892. He died on 20 August 1910 at Southsea, of phthisis. Captain Frederick Mitchell, who joined the Corps at Chatham on the 28th January 1889, was commissioned in January 1915 and served overseas at Trincomalee, Simonstown, and Tiensin, and held the following medals: Queen's South African with Cape Colony bar, King's South African, and Long Service and Good Conduct (Edward VII). He retired on 26th January 1929 and died on 28 January 1968, at the age of 93. Note the inscription to 'Maud and Douglas' on Frederick's photo taken in 1912 around the time of his 38th birthday.

Incidentally, Katy's grandfather, another Frederick Mitchell (Captain Frederick Mitchell's son) joined the Air Corps and rose through the ranks to be Air Vice-Marshall by the time he retired in 1957. He received the OBE, the CBE and the CB, and was also awarded the Legion of Merit by the United States of America in 1945. He was among a group of military people sent to Japan to report on the after-effects of the atomic bomb in 1945.

REPORTS OF THE WRECK

The Times, London, carried a report of the wreck of the St Lawrence on 6 December 1876. On 13 December, the same paper mentions that the ship had "some five hundred soldiers on board, chiefly from the 2nd Regiment of the 3rd Buffs" - which lends support to the possible presence of members of other units.

An inquiry into the wreck was held, and The Times of 18 January 1877 stated that "the loss of the ship was attributable to a strong north-easterly current. The master is held to be in default for not coming on deck immediately land was sighted ... The fact that land was sighted so much sooner than expected should have made him aware that the ship was much nearer the land than the reckoning placed her. A cast of the lead would have shown him he was on the bank of soundings and the ship would doubtless have been saved. After the wreck he showed great presence of mind and made admirable arrangements for landing the troops and stores. He did not desert her until all hopes of saving her were gone. His certificate therefore was only suspended for six months. The certificate of Mr Shelton, the chief officer who was in charge, was suspended for twelve months."

Of the 50 tons of gunpowder on board, only 10 tons were recovered. The 9 mountain guns and most of the Government stores were lost.

LIST OF OFFICERS OF THE 3RD BUFFS ON THE ST LAWRENCE
Col C PEARSON
Maj H PARNELL
Capt C J HAMILTON
Capt A W GILSTON
Capt R A HICKSON
Capt A H WYLDE
Lieut R S MOODY
Sub-Lieut C H GORDON
Sub-Lieut D F LEWIS
Sub-Lieut H R KNIGHT
Sub-Lieut D GREEN
Lieut and Adjutant A C JACKSON
Quartermaster W G MORGAN
Attached Surgeon-Major H WALKER
Sergt-Maj P MURPHY
Bandmaster R SWEENEY
Schoolmaster J ECCLES
Quartermaster-Sergt J GROVES
Sergt-Instructor of Musketry T WORBOYS
Paymaster Sergt J FAIRLEY
C R CLERK
J CREELAND
Drum-Maj J GLEESON
Attached Arm-Sergt W WERNHAM
(The above list is taken from the Cape Times, 14 November 1876.)

© Rosemary Dixon-Smith 2005

1861 WILLIAM and EMMA MITCHELL

1912 FREDERICK MITCHELL