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White Wings Vol II. Founding Of The Provinces And Old-Time Shipping. Passenger Ships From 1840 To 1885

The Ballochmyle

page 181

The Ballochmyle.

Some of the early immigrant ships were crowded, to say the least of it. There were 502 people on board the Ballochmyle when she left London on February 25th, 1874, under charter to the New Zealand Shipping Company, her destination being Lyttelton. She was a fine ship of 1,438 tons, under the command of Captain Lunden. The emigrants came aboard at Plymouth, and the ship took her final departure from Start Point on March 4th. The Cape was rounded on March 18th, and the Snares were passed on May 27th, the ship having taken 84 days from Plymouth. Port was reached on June 1st. There were five deaths and three births during the voyage. The Ballochmyle was the first vessel to berth at the breastwork, now known as Gladstone Pier. When she was taking her departure from Lyttelton, being towed out by the steamer Beautiful Star, the line parted and kicked back viciously. The end of the line struck Captain Hart, of the Beautiful Star, breaking both legs. Captain Hart was carried on to Dunedin, where the steamer was bound, but died before reaching port. A Southern paper, in noticing the death of Mr. Thomas Carter, the old pilot, in 1926, said it was Captain Lunden, of the Ballochmyle, who met with the accident, but the victim was Captain Hart.