WARATAH SNIPPETS

The following refers to Able Seaman T Newman of the Waratah:
from The Times 18 December 1909:
NEWMAN Lost in the SS Waratah, Thomas, eldest son of the late Richard and Mary Newman, formerly of Devon, England, late of the Civil Service, Tasmania, grandson of the late John Feneran of Kinsale, Ireland, and nephew of the late Revd. TH Newman, M.A. Cantab.

The Times 6 July 1910
carried a report on the claim made against the Blue Anchor Line by the widow of the Waratah's purser, SKAILES. Mrs Harriett M Skailes of Sprowston Road, Forest Gate claimed 300 pounds in damages from the shipping line and from it's managing owners, Messrs W Lund and Sons, for the loss of her husband. The Waratah had by this date been posted at Lloyd's as lost, and 'though Skailes may yet turn up, he must be regarded as dead'. Skailes had left a wife and two children. The case for the plaintiff, i.e. the widow, was successful and she was awarded 300 pounds and costs. [One wonders how the family fared during the ensuing years; 300 pounds was only slightly more than Skailes had earned annually.]

Shipping News The Times 3 March 1910
The Waratah: A Reuter telegram from Cape Town says that a quantity of wreckage has lately been washed ashore at intervals in the neighbourhood of Mossel Bay. A most significant object is a cushion marked 'W', while a hatchway, which was found 3 weeks ago, has been sent to the builders of the missing liner Waratah with a view to identification.