THE WARATAH LISTS

1. Passengers on the Waratah's fateful last voyage, departing Durban Monday, 26 July 1909, intended destinations either Cape Town or London. These people were all lost at sea. The list includes those who embarked in Australia as well as passengers who took ship at Durban. Total number of passengers: 92

2. Passengers on the Waratah on the first leg of her voyage from Australia, who disembarked at Durban; 29 in all. They were the lucky ones.

3. Crew on the Waratah's last voyage. All were lost. Total number of crew: 119 including her captain.

Note: as with all such lists there are slight inconsistencies in numbers and in details such as spelling of names, initials etc in various sources.
Main source for the information as presented here: handwritten records of the Natal Immigration Restriction Department.

Where ages, occupations or other details are not included, this reflects gaps in the original records, and not omissions in transcription. The order of names of both passengers and crew as appearing in the original Natal Immigration Dept. records has been retained. In the case of the passengers, the order of names gives an indication of family units.

At the end of the crew list, three names marked * are not shown on the incoming list compiled by the Natal Immigration Dept; these men may have been taken on to the Waratah's crew at Durban.

J Little, General Servant aged 25, is listed as arriving at Durban from Australia, but presumably left the ship before she departed on her final voyage as his name doesn't occur among the list of those who were lost.

The Natal Immigration Restriction Dept. records show that in 1909 an enquiry was made by John Thornton of Salisbury, Rhodesia as to whether his brother Walter appeared on the crew lists of the Waratah. W Thornton is listed as a Trimmer, aged 22.

Rosemary Dixon-Smith