The Thames, from the Downs 28th May, reports the Meridian, for this port, from London, in lat. 35' 50" S , on the 29th July. Dr. Lang was a passenger by the Thames, but was unavoidably compelled to leave the vessel at Gravesend, and forfeit his passage.
SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. (1853, September 28). The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW : 1843 - 1893), p. 2.
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The Palembang is 117 days from England; she reports the Meridian, for Sydney, having passed through the Downs June 5th.
SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. (1853, October 8). The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW : 1843 - 1893), p. 2.
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THOMAS WARLTERS. - If this should meet the eye of the above-named person, who left Gravesend on the 29th April, 1852, in the Meridian for Moreton Bay, and intended to proceed to Port Macquarie, he, no doubt, will be glad to hear that his cousin, Thomas Jefferson Lloyd, has a situation in the Herald Office, where he cm always hear of him.
Advertising (1853, October 11). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 5.
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The Meridian-This vessel sailed from England on the 3rd of June. She was spoken by the Thames on the 29th of July in lat. 35 50 S, and about the same time she was also spoken by the Gipsy Queen. As those vessels have been in port six weeks considerable apprehension as to the safety of the Meridian has been entertained, and we regret to find that those fears have not been groundless. All the information we have at present is contained in a letter from one of the passengers to his brother, a gentleman residing in Sydney, dated Mauritius September 28.
The following is an extract: "The Newspaper I have sent tells a sad tale. We have lost everything but our trunks are insured for £350. Our sufferings have been fearful. A vessel leaves for Port Phillip to-day. I will write again as soon as posilble. We are very comfortable here; the people are kind beyond description. We will leave for Sydney us soon as possible. We are all recovered and in good health.
Kind respects to all. I will write you all particulars." The newspaper mentioned above has not yet arrived. Besides a number of other passengers, there was the Rev. Mr. Voller and family, a gentleman who is coming out as the pastor of the Baptist Church in Bathurst-street; Mr. Robert Anderson, a brother of Mr. James Anderson, of Queen's-place, with his family, was also on board.
SHIPS' MAILS. (1853, November 15). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 2.
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Loss OF THE SHIP MERIDIAN, FROM LONDON TO SYDNEY.
The Captain of the Franklyn, thirty-eight days from the Mauritius, "reports the loss of the Meridian, bound from London to Sydney, on a reef of rocks on the south-west part of the island of Amsterdam, on the 24th of last August. Her commander, Hernaman, Thomas George, Cook, and a Swiss passenger named Pfan, were washed from the deck, and drowned. On the 29th August, the passengers and crew, consisting of twenty-nine chief cabin, fifty-eight second cabin passengers, including children, and the officers and crew, amounting to twenty-one, were relieved by Captain Ludlow, of the American whaling ship Monmouth, whose conduct towards the sufferers was highly spoken of and appreciated, and who landed them all in safety at the Mauritius.
NEWS OF THE WEEK. (1853, November 19). Illustrated Sydney News (NSW : 1853 - 1872), p. 2.
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WRECK OF THE MERIDIAN.
As many persons in Sydney are variously interested the calamitous wreck of the Meridian, on her passage from London to this port, and as no full account of the disaster has yet been published in the colony, we extract from a Mauritius paper, October 18th, the following particulars, with a correct list of the names of all the passengers.
We have to report a most destructive shipwreck, which has occurred on the Island of Amsterdam, whereby the British barque Meridian, of and from London to Sydney, and her cargo, have been totally lost. News of the disaster was brought here by the American whaler Monmouth, which picked up the whole of her crew and passengers who were on the Island, amounting to one hundred and five in all. We regret to state that her captain, cook, and a Swiss passenger named Pfau, were drowned.
The greatest sympathy has been excited here by the distressed condition of the passengers, who have lost their all ; and the most laudable exertions are being made for their relief. A meeting of the shipwreck passengers has been held since their arrival here at which resolutions were passed expressing their grateful sense of the noble and humane conduct of their preserver, Captain Ludlow, of the Monmouth, as well as of the generosity with which they have been treated by the Government and people of the Island. A large sum has been subscribed in their aid; and the Chamber of Commerce have contributed about £130, to be remitted to London by Messrs. Bligh, Brothers, and Co., the agents of the Monmouth, for the purpose of procuring a piece of plate, with a suitable inscription, which will be forwarded to Captain Ludlow's family, in America, as a mark of their appreciation of his brave and generous conduct, in rescuing so many of our unfortunate countrymen from a horrible death.
We refer to the following extract from the Mauritius Reporter, of the 1st instant, for particulars of the wreck, &c. :- " The English barque Meridian, of London, of 570 tons register, on her voyage from London to Sydney, struck on a rock on the S.W. end of the Island of Amsterdam, at about 7 p.m. on the 24th August, 1853. The vessel went to pieces almost immediately after she struck ; and it is miraculous that, under such circumstances, we should have to deplore the loss of only three human beings. There are : Captain Herneman (late commander of the Meridian), Mr. Pfau (a Swiss passenger), and Thomas George, the cook.
"Amsterdam is an arid and desert island, the only vegetation upon it being wild cabbages and a species of reed resembling the bamboo. Providentially enough, an abundance of pure and fresh water existed near the spot where the wreck occurred. Had this not been the case it is frightful to contemplate the horrors that must have ensued. The unfortunate passengers and crew, among whom there were 17 women and 41 children, passed six days on these almost barren rocks, sheltered only by a temporary canvas tent constructed of a sail that had been saved from the wreck ; and they were beginning to experience all the sufferings of famine, when, to their inexprcesible joy, they observed the white sails of a ship. The most agonising anxiety sprung up amongst them, lest their signals of distress should not be perceived ; but it was not of long duration, for they speedily observed that the vessel was bearing down upon the island, and that their signals had been understood. This vessel proved to be the American whaler Monmouth, Captain Ludlow.
Relief, although now certain, could not, however, be immediately tendered, on account of the dangerous and inaccessible nature of the coast at the point where the wreck occurred. Captain Ludlow signalled them that they must pass over to the other side of the island before he could render them any assistance. Then commenced a series of privations and dangers of which no one who was not an actual sharer in them, can form any conception. The almost impenetrable nature of the reeds which cover the island rendered it an undertaking as difficult as it was dangerous to accomplish, it being necessary to pass over on the extreme edge of the precipitous cliffs which surround the island. After a journey of three days they succeeded in reaching the part of the coast indicated by Captain Ludlow, who himself, through prevalence of unfavourable weather, had been compelled to make a tour of the island, and had been more than once blown out to sea before he could reach the spot which he did on the fourth day after first discovering the shipwreck.
"Arrived on board the Monmouth, the most humane and cordial reception it is possible to conceive was given to these people, nor can they speak of it without being affected to tears. As our readers are aware, the Monmouth safely reached this port in the evening of the 26th ultimo, after a passage of 17 days from Amsterdam Island.
" The Chamber of Commerce, vieing with the Masonic Lodges, with the Government, and with the beneficence of private individuals, for whose noble generosity we have too much respect to wound their feelings by blazoning their names in print—each and all of these will offer a suitable testimonial of their admiration and gratitude to this brave and generous sailor. The British Government, and the Royal Humane, and other similar societies in England, will also doubtless recompense this noble salvage of priceless humane freight. But there is a monument raised to Captain Ludlow, which, in our estimation, and we believe we may say in his also, is above all others in price. That monument is erected in the grateful memories and in the hearts of one hundred and five of his fellow-creatures, whom he has saved from almost certain destruction. So long as they live, those one hundred and five human beings will not cease to bless his name. When they shall have gone to their last long home, and repose beneath the sod of the valley, whether in their native or a foreign land, their children and their children's children, will invoke the blessings of Heaven upon him and his; and when this same Captain Ludlow shall himself embark upon that long voyage which leads to the "bourne from whence no traveller returns," his epitaph will have been already prepared, it will be simple and grand, like everything which is beautiful and true. It will be this:—To the memory of Captain Ludlow, an American citizen! He saved from certain death one hundred and five human beings!'
" Memoranda of the wreck of the barque Meridian, of London, on the Island of Amsterdam: "Soon after dark, during a gale from S.W., the ship ran right under the cliff. On bumping the second time, every cabin between decks to leeward fell down, and the ship's bottom on that side was out.
" Under the advice of Mr. Leonard Worthington, one of the mates, whose bearing and cool judgment were beyond all praise, we remained between decks about two hours and a half, supporting as many of my infants in my arms as I could grasp, and holding them up to windward out of the way of the wreck that was washing about between decks, the water at times reaching my shoulders, the ship reclining over at an angle of forty-five degrees or thereabouts. Mother and children calm and still; never dreaming that we should live the night through.
" When it became evident to Mr. Edward Tullock, the second mate of the barque, and to Mr, Worthington, that the vessel must part amidships, they came between deck, and, with the assistance of Charles Snow, one of the seamen, got all the women and children up into the cuddy.
Here we remained, under their advice, and guided by their cool judgment of the strength of the poop of the ship, until daybreak; when these gallant fellows commenced, and during the intervals between the seas, succeeded in getting off and over the wreck to the base of the cliffs, all the passengers who had remained under their advice in the cuddy. A few minutes after all had got from the lower deck, the ship parted, and all but the weather topsides of the once fine barque Meridian, was ground into splinters, and for the most part carried by the draw-back out to sea.
"All our children, of whom I had eight, one of them an infant at the mother's breast, were naked, but God in His mercy provided for us a bale of red surge shirts, part of the cargo, and which, thrown up under the ledge of rocks under the cliff, saved the poor infants from perishing the first night—colder than an English winter's night, and the spray flying right over us. We could not have lived but for this providential supply.
" Once under the cliff, our next serious consideration was, how far the tide rose. A few hours relieved our anxiety, and we felt we were beyond the tide. Three days after, the tide and sea rose over the ledge of rocks that first shattered us; and none of us, had we then remained under the cliff, could have ever troubled the generous and warm-hearted inhabitants of Mauritius for all the kindness we have received from them. May God bless them and preserve them from ever encountering the dangers we have escaped !
" The interval of time between the landing under and the ascent of the cliff, we passed in picking up such things as would serve to sustain life; and the entire quantity secured would have kept us, at the rate of half a biscuit daily, about two weeks.
" Once on the top of the cliff, our first care was to erect a flag-staff and signal; and on Monday, the 29th August last, we wept for joy at seeing a barque which we afterwards found to be the Monmouth, standing to windward of the Island. It blew a gale and rained, and we feared they would not see us. But they did; and when Captain Ludlow dipped his ensign, we knew we were saved if we could only hold out until the gale ceased. All that day, and the next, Captain Ludlow could barely hold his own, much less help us. But on Wednesday, the 31st August, he managed to land one of his crew, Wm. Smith, on the Island, with directions to find us out, and lead us to the only landing place on the Island—which none but a whaler would know,—telling him to cheer us up as best he could, and to reassure us that he would, on the first chance, take us off. Strong gales, however, set in again Immediately after Smith's landing, and again was the Monmouth blown to sea; and, to the great anxiety and grief of her gallant Captain, he could not regain the land until Monday the 5th September.
"During the interval from the 31st August to the day of our reaching the landing place, besides the great labour of our journey across the mountains, which had to be traversed on the extreme edge of the cliff, affording a foot-hold -- 'As dangerous As to o'er-walk a torrent roaring loud On the unsteadfast footing of a spear,' we suffered all the pressure of famine, and, during the last part, want of water.
" During a brief lull of the usual squalls that prevail in this bad-weather region, Captain Ludlow embarked us all in the style of an accomplished seaman, and when we were once on board, doing all kindness in the kindest possible manner, he did everything his head and heart could suggest. The limited means and inventory of a whaler's outfit alone placed any bounds to his efforts and wishes for our recovery.
"I was wrecked a strong man in all respects, Captain Ludlow received me with about the strength of an infant. But he has landed me here again as strong as ever, and, although heavily chastened and humbled, I trust a better man."
"We find much pleasure in stating that the Mr. Worthington mentioned in the preceding narrative is by birth a Creole of this Island, and is the son of Captain Worthington who was for many years a respected resident here. From information we have received from other sources, his conduct as well as that of the 2nd mate, Mr. Tullock, and of the seaman Charles Snow, throughout the above melancholy catastrophe, was beyond all praise. We therefore signal them for special honourable, mention by the Managing Committee of the Subscription Fund in the report which they will feel called upon to make to Government and the Public.
" The following is a correct list of the passengers and officers of the ill fated barque Meridian:—Passengers Mr. and Mrs. Guyton, 3 children, and female servant, Mr. and Mrs. Baxter and 4 children, Mr. Riboulet, and Mr. Delaporte, (French,) Mr. and Mrs. Voller and 3 children, Mrs. Herneman (the Captain's widow) and child, Mr. Lutwyche, Mr. Newbolt, Mr. and Mrs. (Dr.) Nutt and child, Mr. and Mrs. Henderson and 8 children, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, 7 children, and female servant, Mrs. Robertson, Mr. Christian Ried (German,) Mr. and Mrs. Moore, Mr. and Mrs. Stacey, Mr. and Mrs. Medcalf and 6 children, Mr. and Mrs. Scoltock and 3 children, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson and child, Miss Mackenzie, Messrs. Heitz (German) and Dansler (Swiss), Mr. Armstrong, Mr. Dehan (French,) Messrs. Taylor, Burrell, Gande, Belward, Pell, Seaton and Pratt, Mr. and Mrs. Morris and 4 children. OFFICERS—Mr. Lambert, Chief Officer, Mr. Tullock, Second Mate, Mr. Worthington Third Mate.
WRECK OF THE MERIDIAN. (1853, December 13). Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875), p. 2.
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On the 21st. off Cape Otway, and bound for Melbourne, the ship Thomas Colvin, from Mauritius, with the crew and passengers of the wrecked barque Meridian.
MANILA. (1853, December 28). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 4.
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