 | ||
The barque Maria sank with the loss of 28 lives on 23 July 1851 near Cape Terawhiti on the North Island of New Zealand. Only two crew members survived.
Contents
Description of ship
The Maria was originally a 420 ton barque built at Yarmouth in 1836 and originally owned by J Somes to 1838, then Gardiner and Co. Her Masters were Humble to 1838, Black to 1839, Johnstone to 1845, and Stevenson 1846. In 1839, 1844 and 1947 she was sheathed with yellow metal. Her weight was 460 tons when returned to service in 1849.
Captain Plank
Plank was an English sea captain. His earlier vessel was the Paragon. In 1844 he was transporting mahogany from Hondurus to England. In 1849 he was Captain of the Maria.
Voyages
The Maria was originally used on the England to Bombay run in the 1830s.
On 23 March 1849 the Maria under Captain Plank sailed from England to Hobart with 156 female convicts. She arrived on 23 July.
She then sailed via Sydney and Honolulu to California with 170 passengers, arriving at Honolulu on 17 December, The journey having taken 66 days from Sydney. She returned to Sydney from San Francisco via Tahiti.
She made another voyage to California in 1850, returning to Sydney in July after an eventful voyage with 28 passengers and 20 shipwrecked sailors. She had sailed via Tahiti, the Navigators, and Horn Island. Two days after leaving the Navigators Nortoa, the second mate had stabbed two men and then jumped overboard. Attempts to rescue him were unsuccessful. In September she again sailed from Sydney to San Francisco, reaching there on 4 January 1851.
The Maria had come to Wellington, New Zealand from California in April 1851 with a 260 tons of coal, having sailed on 22 February. While there she was chartered by Charles Clifford to convey stock to the Canterbury settlement. Two shipments were taken to Lyttelton, the first in May and the second in June.
Final voyage
The Maria sailed under Captain Plank from Lyttelton for Wellington on 20 July 1851. She had 22 crew and six passengers. At 6am on 23 August at Cape Terawhiti near Karori Stream she struck a submerged rock. The Maria broke in two about 400m from shore.
The passengers and crew attempted to lower the ships boat but the lowering mechanism broke killing several. The survivors then tried to reach shore using salvaged material as a raft. The raft was dashed into the rocks near the shore killing almost all the occupants. Only two crewmen survived; a Malay and Stewart, an ordinary seaman who had been at the wheel at the time of the accident. In all twenty-six lives were lost.
Among the dead were two Canterbury settlers, G.P. Wallace of Wellington and William Deans of Riccarton. William and his brother John Deans had established Homebush, a sheep and cattle station near Darfield.
Outcome
As a result of this accident there was a strong call upon the government to construct a lighthouse, possibly at Pencarrow Head. A public meeting was held calling for action.