The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-22 00:00:00

DREADFUL SHIPWRECK IN

THE CHANNEL.

LOSS OF THE DALHOUSIE AND SIXTY

LIVES.

Much regret pervaded the City yesterday at the
announcement of the foundering of the well-known
ship Dalhousie, Captain Butterworth, commander,
in the Channel, off Beachy Head, and the loss of
all souls on board, one only surviving to tell the
melancholy tale.
The circumstances of the loss are of an unusual
character. The Dalhousie was a fine Indian teak-
built ship, of nearly 800 tons. She was launched
at Moulmein in 1848, and was threfore a first-class
vessel, in good and sound condition. She was the
property of Mr. Allan, the shipowner of Leaden-
hall-street, and, we believe, was chartered to
Messrs. Fry Davison, of Fenchurch-street, as one
of the " White Horse Line of Australian Passen-
ger Ships," but previous to being put on she un-
derwent a thorough overhaul in Mr. Young's dock,
at Limehouse. She went into the East India
Doeks to load for Sydney, and, happily, on this
occasion she was more devoted to the conveyance
of freight than passengers. Her crew amounted to
about sixty-one, and her cargo, comprising everyde-
scription of merchandise, was estimated at upwards
of 100,0001. Her master, Captain Butterworth,
is said to have been a most experienced navigator,
and to have passed many years in the owners'
service.

She cleared from the docks at Blackwall on the
12th, and proceeded down the river to Gravesend.
.Her passengers were confined to chief-cabin class,
and the reporter was informed by Mr. Davison
'that not more than twenty berths in all had been
43 ecured. Of these there went on board at Graves-
end Mr. and Mrs. Underwood and three children,
Mrs. Simpson and three children, and Miss Rail-
ford ; and the following expressed their intention
of joining the ship at Plymouth, where she had to
'touch :—Major Hawks, Captain R. Daniel, Mr. J.
Baldwin, Miss Macintosh and her maid, Mrs. Hill,
and Miss A. M. Castles. Mrs. Butterworth being
anxious to accompany her husband, Captain But-
terworth,to Plymouth, where she would leave, she
went on board with three of her sons for the trip
dowa Channel. The eldest, however, on the ship
reaching the Downs, went ashore with the pilot at
-Deal, to return to school, which is in the neigh-
bourhood. On the 18th the ship's departure from
the Downs was telegraphed at Lloyd's ; and the
next that was heard of her was about five o'clock
on the following afternoon, when a boat reached
3over from the brig Mitchel Grove, which was
lying off in the roadstead, reporting the appalling
loss of the ship, and landing the only survivor,
Joseph Reed, a seaman, every soul on board having
perished with the vessel.

All that is known, or is likely to be elicited, of
this melancholy loss will be found in the subjoined
statement, the contents of the protest which, by
the permission of Mr. Allan, the owner, the re-
porter was allowed to copy :
" I, Joseph Reed, lately an able seaman on board
the ship Dalhousie' belonging to the port of London,
aohn Butterworth commander, do solemnly and sin-
cerely declare as follows :—On the 13th of October I
set sail in the capacity of an able 'seaman. The ship
Was laden with a general cargo ; her crew consisted of
48 men and officers, and she bad also twelve passengers
.on board, it being intended that she should call at Ply-
"inouth to embark the remainder. She was towed down
the Thames by a steam tug, and on the 15th, at 7 a.m.,
she arrived and was anchored in the Downs, the wind
being contrary. The pilot who had taken her down
from London quitted her in the Downs, and the vessel
lay there, detained by adverse winds and stormy wea-.
tiler, until the 18th. During that interval she rode out
a heavy gale of wind from the S.W., which lasted from
the morning of the 15th till the evening of the 17th, ac-
companied by a very heavy sea ; but the ship rode it
cut easily with a single anchor and chain, being veered
away to upwards of 100 fathoms. At 7 a.m. on the
18th, Captain Butterworth got the ship under weigh,
and proceeded down the English Channel with a fresh
breeze from the N. W. She arrived off Dungeness at
about 10 a.m., when the wind fell light. Captain But-
terworth made the best of his way down Channel under
all sail, with the starboard tack on board, and nothing
snore took place until between 7 and 8 p.m. At that
lime, the vessel being eight or ten miles to the west-
ward of Dungeness, the wind shifted to the S.S.E., and
gradually freshened from that quarter. At 10 p.m.
Captain Butterworth took in the topgallantsails, and at
midnight all hands were called to reef topsails, the wind
increasing rapidly from the southward and eastward,
and a strong sea getting up. The light on Beachy
Head was then in sight, six or eight miles on the star-
board beam, and at 1.30 a.m. the mainsail and jib were
stowed. Al 2 a.m. I took the helm, from which posi-
tion I had the means of observing everything which
took place subsequently, and at 4 a.m. the fore and
maintopsails were double reefed, and the raizentopsail
stowed. The witd was then blowing a gale, aeeempa-
bled by a heavy sea, in which the vessel laboured greatly.
114 to that time she had shown herself, to the best of
toy judgment, a lively, manageable ship, and during the
gale in the Downs she had- b01....ed
pumps had been sounded night and morning, and
e was quite tight, and upon trying them, as usual, at
e. P.m. (previous night), no water (excepting that always
111 the bottom) could be found. Towards 4 a.m. the
Chip began to lurch deeply in the sea, going a long way
over on her broadside, and she seemed unable to recover
herself when she rolled. I began to suspect that there
lona be a considerable quantity of water in her, and I
Mentioned to one of my shipmates that the vessel
seemed like a water-logged ship. Shortly afterwards
'the starboard quarter boat was carried away by a sea ;
and, about 5 a.m. the crew, by the commander's orders,
commenced throwing overboard water casks, sheep pens,
and other lumber, from the deck. While they were so
13ocupied the ship gave a violent lureh to starboard, and
4 heavy sea at the time breaking over her to leeward,
'Washed overboard the long boat, which was full of live
14°0E- The weather was then getting worse, and the ship
Vas kept hauled to the wind on the port tack, under the
double reefed fore and maintopsail, foresail and foretop-
-mast staysail, the foresail being hauled up, and the main-
topsail lowered down on the cap. She continued to lurch
'violently, and at half-past 5 a.m. she rolled right over on
her starboard beam-ends, and remained in that posi-
tion, with her masthead in the water, lying at the mercy
of the sea, which then made a clear breach over her,
Cad washed away the larboard quarter boat. A great
Melly of the crew took refuge in the maintop, and I got
outside the ship on the weather quarter gallery, it being
ilnpossible to stand on deck. A sea broke into the
Paintopsail and carried away the main-topmast with all
,_441 gear, and likewise washed four men out of the main-
rP- Captain Butterworth, the chief and second mate,
the carpenter, cook, and some of the crew joined me on
the weather quarter, and they dragged through the
gallery window four passengers, consisting of a gentle-
then, his wife, and two children, who took refuge with
The declarant and another seaman also succeeded
111 'getting out of the water a young lady who had come
cut of one of the poop cabins, and I lashed her to a
large spar, and placed her with the rest of her party on
the gallery. Immediately afterwards a large sea broke
Over the skip, which washed off the gentleman above
Mentioned, with his wife and children (four in all), and
they perished together. At about this time a schooner
Was observed about half a mile to the eastward, bearing
'lowa upon the wreck. The vessel was at that time
settling fast in the water, and it was evident that she
'could not remain afloat many minutes longer. I cut
the lashings of the spar to which the young lady had
teen made fast, in order to give her a chance for her
-life. As the spar went adrift, Captain Butterworth,
'the second mate, and one or two of the seamen
'quitted the sinking ship, and held on to the spar in
.e hope of saving themselves, declarant being left on
"ae quarter with the cook and carpenter. Many of
the people had by this been drowned, but others
l'emained holding on as they best could, on the weather
side of the wreck. She lay thus for about ten minutes
After Captain Butterworth had left her, and then sank,
going' down head first. I scrambled rom the quarter
to the mizenmast, which I ascended as the ship sank. I
found the surgeon in the mizentop, and we went up
together in the mizentop crosstrees. When we were
submerged I lost sight of the surgeon, and I swam to
Borne deals which were floating about. I got hold of
°lle of them, but shortly afterwards I saw near me one
f the chocks of the long boat, capable of affording me
better support than the deal, which I therefore left, and
placed myself on the chock. The schooner was then
lee-
Ward 'Within shouting distance, being about 100 yards to
of me, and I hailed her, begging her crew to go
about to windward, and afterwards drift down among
'the Dalhousie's people, of whom several were still alive,
and might thus have been picked up and saved, with a
ittle exertion on the schooner's part. The only re-
43P°11se which I could hear from her was given by some
*Person on board, who told me " Swim to her ;" but she
WaS drifting to leeward much faster than any man could
salvZ, and she shortly afterwards stood away to the
1., and left me and my companions struggling in the
Water., I watched her for nearly two hours afterwards,
...Lite she at length disappeared, without having (so far as
though the schooner was close to the Dalhousie when
,foundered, and her crew must have seen her go
assn. In the course of the morning several other vessels
out !leer me, both going up and down Channel, with-
...„ul7eeing us. My companions gradually perished one
7.-Z. the other, and I was repeatedly washed off my
to th snPPert. At about one p.m. the wind veered
h )-, and towards four o'clock a brig hove in
sight to windward, standing down towards where I was
°NZ- I made signals to her with my handkerchief,
both_the bee bray I could, which were fortunately seen on
the brig., and she bore down to me. The wind
Was still bl
set was owing a gale from the south-west, and the
a b ate could
so high as to make it doubtful whether
side a could live. in it. The brig therefore came along-
„Dad:it
fast
having lowered a rope with a bowline in it, I
int° the sea. Although
my body, and sprang from the chock
eve_ a. Although the crew of the brig observed
d 'Jr Precaution in their power, I was unavoidably
.rag, goy under
rd water for a minute or two before I could
u.'eL °u bo , and when I at length reached her deck I
6erreaarlyunei;merrifi senseless. She proved to be the Mitchel
to Rawson master, bound from Littlohampton
nd, with timber. Captain Rawson and his
pit Z.-11 treated me with the greatest kindness and hos-
an
--eo rea -
d at four p.m. on the following day the brig
xlioderme_ ia-D•ver Roads. The weather was then
1;1 CAPtea EarIOD Win leiferod a beat,

landed me at Dover. I made application to the owners'
agent, who furnished me with the means of coming to
London, and on the same evening I arrived in London,
and lost no time in reporting the loss of the ship to the
owners. I further declare that when the ship went down
the light on Beachy Head bore from N.E. by E., distant
about sixteen miles, and, to the best of my judgment, in
about twenty fathoms of water. I believe that every
person on board of her, with the exception of myself,
perished. I cannot account for the circumstance of the
ship foundering in the manner she did, otherwise than
upon the presumption that a butt end must have started,
either from her having struck upon a wreck, or from
some other cause unknown to me. And I, the said
Joseph Reed, do conscientiously believe the above state-
ment to be true, &c. (Signed) " JOSEPH REED."
From the ship's Albers deposited at the Shipping-
office, with which we have been favoured by th e
officials, we learn the names of a portion of the
crew : _ _

-- - .. .
Mr. John Butterworth, aged 45, captain, of London.
Mr. William Walter Edge, aged 33, chief mate.
Mr. Charles Fitch, aged 23, second mate, of Little
Hedi ngham.
Mr. Charles Bowditch, aged 20, third mate, of Lon-
don.

William Simpson, aged 20, fourth mate, of
Suffolk.

John Alexander, aged 23, carpenter, of Stromness.
James G. Brotherstone, aged 45, steward, of Dept-
ford.
James Brotherstone (son of above), aged 17, cuddy
servant, of Deptford.
Alfred Scarfflin, aged 23, cook, of Walton-on-Naze.
George Lopers, aged 31, sailmaker, of St. Helena.
James Burley, aged 26, seaman, of Kent.
James Marcus Harris, apprentice,
William Hartshorn, apprentice.
Edward Saxon Kendle, apprentice.

John Henry Sturtman, apprentice.
The remainder—thirty-two--were Lascars, who
had been brought from Calcutta on the ship's last
voyage, and whose names are not mentioned in the
ship's papers.
It is stated that the ship and cargo were insured
for a sum amounting to about 70,0001.

PLYMOUTH, FRIDAY EVENING.

The distressing fact of the total loss of the Dal-
housie, at 5 o'clock on Wednesday morning, off
Beachy-head, was telegraphed to Mr. B. Wilcocks,
emigration agent, this afternoon.
The Dalhousie, which left London on Thursday,
the 13th inst., was appointed to call at Plymouth
for passengers, several of whom are waiting here.
Their names are—Major Hawks, of 21, Doughty-
street, Mecklenburgh-square, London ; Mr. Ewart,
of Oldhouse, Crawley, Sussex ; Captain Robert
Daniel, Mr. Beech and wife, of Bath ; Mrs. New-
man and child, of Penzance ; Miss Hills, of Graves-
end; Miss Castle, of Nottingham ; Mr. J. Muir
Dome, of Liverpool ; Miss Macintosh and maid, of
Liverpool ; and John Prottey, servant to Major
Hawks. Captain Daniel had on board property
worth 1,0001., and Major Hawks about 1001. The
others had little of any value in her. Mrs.
Newman is the wife of a master mariner, whom
she is about to join in the, colonies. A special
interposition of Providence seems to have saved
the life of Miss Hills. On Friday, the 14th
instant, she was off Gravesend in a boat, when the
Dalhousie was behind a steamtug going down the
river • the captain would not stop the ship, and
Miss Hills was compelled to come en by land to
Plymouth. She reports that a Mr. Underwood
was, with his wife and two children, in another
boat which followed the Dalhousie. Mr. Under-
wood expressed his determination to employ a tug,
if necessary, to overtake the ship ; and, as nothing
has been heard of him since, it is very probable
that he overtook her, and with his family perished
in her when she foundered. The Dalhousie was
one of Fry and Davison's White Horse line of
packets. She belongs to Mr. John Allan, of Lead-
enhall-street, and was built at Moulmein in 1848,
of 756 tons register, and was commanded by Capt.
Butterworth, whose wife, it is feared, was on board.
In 1850 she left this port with Government emi-
grants for the Cape of Good Hope ; and in April,
1852, she sailed hence for Port Philip with general
passengers. On the present voyage she was laden
with a full general cargo, and bound to Sydney
direct, as she took only poop cabin passengers,
most of whom are at Plymouth. it is computed
that the total loss of life, passengers and crew in-
cluded, will ho about 30 persons.

FEARFUL ACCIDENT ON THE .RIVER

MEDWAY.

A frightful accident occurred on Thursday evening at
Hartlake-bridge on the river Medway, near Tunbridge,
by which it is supposed that nearly 40 persons have
perished. The accounts of the accident are at present
somewhat imperfect, but it appears that, in consequence
of the river Medway having overflowed its banks, the
hoppickers in the employ of Mr. Cox, a large hop-
gi uwor living at Golden-green, in the parish of TTadlow,
near Tunbridge, after having finished their day's work,
were being conveyed through the flood in a waggon,
drawn by three horses, when, on arriving at Hartlake-
tillage, they beeanue alai-tied at the rush of water, and
uttered loud cries. The party consisted of men, women,
and children. The noise made by them alarmed the
horses, and it seems that the animals consequently ran
away, and came in contact with the side of the bridge,
which, being in a dilapidated state, broke down. The
consequence was that the waggon was precipitated into
the river, and all the persons in it were drowned.
Up to yesterday the bodies of two women only had
been recovered, but, according to the best information
that could be obtained upon the spot, no less than 37
persons are missing.
In consequence of the vast body of water which is
now flowing down the river, and the locks being open,
the probability is that the bodies may be washed a con-
siderable distance from the bridge. Numbers of per-
sons are engaged in endeavouring to find them. The
names of the two women whose bodies have been re-
covered are not known. .

The coroner is to hold an inquest upon them to-day
at the Bell Inn, Golden-green, in the parish of Hadlow.

WEST SUSSEX QUARTER SESSIONS.

IGNATIUS FRANCIS COYLE v. THE DUKE OF RICHMOND

AND THE SUSSEX JUSTICES.

The appeal against the conviction by his Grace the
Duke of Richmond, Mr. Bridgeman (the Recorder for
the city of Chichester), and a bench of Sussex jus-
tices, under the Vagrant Act, of the appellant for
an attempt to pick pockets at the late Goodwood
races, having been fixed for this day, the quarter
sessions were invested with a more than ordinary
interest. The notoriety acquired by the appellant
from his having been for many years connected with the
" turf," but more particularly his alleged participation
in the " Running Rein" affair, his trial and conviction
on a charge of forging the name of a sporting nobleman
to a bill of exchange, and his general intimacy with the
" men about town," had not only attracted consider.
able interest to the affair, but rendered the case oRe for
sporting speculation, and, so confident were his friends
of success, that they freely offered two to one that the
conviction would be quashed.
At 11 o'clock Mr. PRIME, M.P., the chairman,
took his seat on the bench, and there were present
a greater number of magistrates than, perhaps, had ever
assembled on a similar occasion.

Mr. Creasey and Mr. Johnson appeared to support
the conviction, and Mr. E. James, Mr. Ballantine, and
Mr. Wyatt were in attendance on behalf of the appellant.
The court throughout the proceedings was crowded
to excess, and many of those present were from London.
The evidence taken at the petty sessions when the
case was first heard was reproduced. Mark Loome, a
sergeant of the metropolitan police force and B division,
distinctly swore that on the 27th of July last, he saw
the appellant attempting to pick pockets in the Good-
wood betting enclosure.
Mr. Cope, the Governor of Newgate, produced a cer-
tificate of the conviction of Coyle at the Central Crimi-
nal Court on the 25th of October, 1851, on a charge of
forgery, and his sentence to 12 months imprisonment.
Sergeants Quinnear and Combe, of the P and L divi-
sions of police, deposed to having seen Coyle in the com-
pany of the swell mob.

The cross-examination of the latter witness by Mr.
Ballantine created considerable laughter in the court.
Other witnesses were called to prove the same facts,
and this closed the case in support of the conviction.
On the part of the appellant, the Earl of Uxbridge
was called and deposed,—That when he asked the officer
why he did not bring forward the persons on whom
the robberies were attempted, he said he could not find
them when he took the accused, and did not mention
a word of that to which be had sworn on that day,—
namely, that one of the old gentlemen had so many
bets on the race that he could not attend. His Lord-
ship also said, that on telling Loome that he thought
he had made some mistake, or had acted under some
personal or vindictive feeling towards Coyle, his reply
was, that this was quite impossible, as he knew nothing
about him.
Mr. Pearce, the superintendent of the F division
of police ; Mr. Field, the late inspector of the
detectives ; Serjeants Langley and Whicher, all actively
employed in police matters for many years, were exa-
mined, and, one and all declared that they had known
the appellant for many years, and that he had never as-
sociated with the members of the swell mob, nor had
they ever heard of his being concerned in or addicted to
picking pockets. The witnesses went further, and said
they must have heard if he had made such attempts.
Mr. James addressed the bench in a most forcible
speech, commenting in severe terms on the conduct of
Loome, the officer. Mr. Creasy also spoke for some
time in reply to the evidence called on the part of the
appellant ; and the Chairman having read over the evi-
dence, the Magistrates deliberated for about 10 minutes,
and then affirmed the conviction.

MONUMENT TO THE LATE LIEUTENANT BELLOT.—
It is stated that Lord John Russell and the Earl of
Ellesmere have requested Sir Roderick Murchison to
place their names on the list of the Committee for
the purpose of furnishing the erection of a monument to
the memory of the late gallant French officer, Lieu-
tenant Bellot, and have authorised him to announce
that they are ready to contribute liberally to the laud-
able object.