The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-11-15 00:00:00

y last, an

r landing some of the officers, was
) land the 91st. She was a splendid

as a transport

About seven

ley Sir G. Napier arm,
. animated appearance, every officer not
esides those of the 91st who had ob-
gore. The vessel having been driven
,er, we soon were able to communicate
..cough this fine ship will become a total
de was lost, and every soldier was landed dur-

ri-, and the b(

'esent, bi

gh WBti

About 300 yards from the Abercrombie Robinson was the
convict-ship Waterloo, which had arrived during the week,
for the purpose of provisioning on her way to Sydney, with
about 240 male convicts, a guard of 30 soldiers, five women,
Ind 43 children, with the crew, about 320 souls. She lay in
• She was within a few yards of
out it was thought she might hold on until the
.er moderated, when she might be turned off. Under
impression the vast multitude which had assembled on
the spot began to separate. About ten o'clock, however,
the Waterloo gave a sudden lurch, and parted from all her
anchors, and came broadside in among the breakers. The
scene which now took place I shall remember to the day of
my death. After two or three heavy rolls, her three masts
went over the side with a dreadful crash. The hatches were
now opened, and the convicts rushed on deck. The sea was
making a clean breach over her. Immediately on the con-
victs arriving on deck, about fifty jumped overboard ; about
15 or 20 gained the shore ; the remainder were drowned.
The cries of the poor wretches on deck were now heart-
breaking. Each sea, as it made a breach over the unfortu-
nate vessel, carried a dozen or so into the water, who, of
course, were drowned. Thousands of people were on the
beach, but could render not the least assistance. Oh I it was
a dreadful sight. There, within a stone-throw, lay 200 or
300 of our fellow creatures being drowned before our eyes.
" But now comes the awful part of my tale. About 11
o'clock, within half an hour after she struck, the Waterloo
parted in two. They who had never thought of their God,
or who, if they had, it was only to take His name in vain and
break His laws, were now seen with their hands clasped, and
beard loudly calling upon Him to save them. Soldiers'
—"re seen clasping their little ones to their bosoms in
One woman I shall never forget; she was holding
on with one hand to a piece of plank, with the other she
held, pressed to her bosom, a little infant ; her cries were
At last a sea came and washed ti"

very preel
le breaker:

!arious situation

little one off

ey were

woman and

seen no more

water was

now full of the struggling and the dead. A boat was em-
ployed to pick up all it could. It could not approach the
wreck on account of the heavy sea. I have neither time nor
ther particulars. I saw one man embrace
one; then jump into the boiling surf. lie
•-- I could repeat hundreds of similar occur-
rences ; suffice it to say, that within one hour and a half of
the Waterloo striking, not a particle of her was to be seen.
She had literally gone to pieces ; and, horrible to relate, out
of 330 souls, 250 have met a watery grave.
The military escort was composed of a detachment of the
99th Regiment, under the command of Lieutenant Hest, of
the 4th, and Ensign C. Leigh, of the 99th Regiments, and
amounted, including the officers, to 51 individuals ; of these
32 were lost, and 19 saved. The crew consisted of 33 officers
and men, of whom 14 were lost, and 19 saved ; and there
were 219 convicts on board, of whom 143 were drowned, and
76 saved. The persons who were drowned belonging to the
escort were—Sergeant Smith, his wife, and three children ;
Corporal Mulvaney and child ; Corporal Madden ' • private
Nestor, his wife, and one child; private Greenless, his wife,
and three children ; privates Ahern, Muir, Askey, Barnacle,
Byrne, Beaumont, Reynolds, Vincent, Warburton, and Whit-
more;. and Mrs. Armstrong and five children. The boat-
swain, sailmaker, and carpenter, and eleven seamen, of the
Waterloo, were lost; Capt. Agar, the master, Mr. Jackson,
chief mate, Mr. Gunner, second mate, Mr. Gill, third mate,
and fifteen of the crew, were saved. The following were the
convicts who perished on the occasion :—Thelwall, Serrat,
Mills. Taylor, Jackson, Harnman, Goddard, Howard, North,
Marsh, Stone, Newton, Rigden, Mepsted, Thorn, Adcock,
Proctor, Clark, Williams, Alexander, Aldridge, Scatebard,
Woodward, Wightwick, Atwood, Saint, Davis, Cunningham,
Lloyd, Wells, Barnes, Thisselton, Nash, Hill, Stamps, Low,
Garner, Bradbury, Johnson, Green, Dawes, Edmonds, Jones,
Esson, Elliot, Fairfax, Hewitt, Taylor, Flint, W. Jones,
Holyland, Short, Harris, Brown, Bulmore, Parker, Jacks,
Hamlet, Moore, Brooks, Armitage, Blyth, Hancock, Cryer,
Stuart, flicks, Balaam, Robinson, Birch, Bamber, Wilks,
Carson, Workman, Parsons, Curry, Cowley, Craig, Win-
stanley, Goulding, Marriot, Peacock, Felix, Curry, Hether-
ington, Wyles, Gregory,Wilson, J. Jones, Barnes, M4Kinnon,
Ledingham, Smedly, Reynolds, Hawkins, Birch, Ellis,
Duncan, Barker, Pearman, Bertrand, Edmonds, Barnsley,,l
Clark, Hill, Wilding, Greenham, Campbell, Knott, Newton,
Joblin, Thompson, Broomfield, Voss, Parkinson, Smalley,
Giles, Powuall, Morgan, Wright, Lovatt, Biggs, Boswell,
Kirwan, Murphy, Nowlan, Gyoury, Jenkins, Waltham, J.
Hewitt, Xing, G. Williams, Brookes, Purser, White, J.
Rosser, G. Rosser James Rosser, Thomas Hewitt, Martin,
Osburn, Barlow, Jones, Packer, and Crane.
The 76 convicts who were saved were in the Cape Town
prison.
On the same night the Abercrombie Robinson transport,
with 454 rank and file of the 91st Regiment, with 36 women,
and 48 children, and 32 rank and file, 2 women, and 1 child,
of the 27th Regiment on board, was also driven on shore,
but happily, although the ship was lost, all hands on board

heart to w

were saved.
During a heavy gale on the 9th of September, several ships
lying at Table-bay, were driven on shore. The American
bark Fairfield, the ship John Bagshaw, the brigs Reform
and Henry Hoyle, the schooner Ghika, and the cutter Alba-
tross, were the vessels which were stranded, but no lives were
lost.
We have been favoured with the copy of the following letter
from the master to the owner of the Abercrombie Robin-

" Cape of Good Hope, Aug. 31

ontinue

)re to liv