S.S. WAIRARAPA WRECKED MINER’S HEAD, GREAT BARRIER ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND, 12.08 am 30th OCTOBER 1894.

S.S. WAIRARAPA  

WRECKED MINER’S HEAD, GREAT BARRIER ISLAND, 

NEW ZEALAND, 12.08 am 30^th OCTOBER 1894. 

Written from personal research by George W. Randall,

 co-founder in July 1996 and former 

Vice-Chairman Kinloch Castle Friends' Association. 

A full list of references is given at the end of this paper.

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Please read notes at end of this post, thank you!

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Photograph of SS Wairarapa from Album XIV New Zealand in the library at Kinloch Castle,
Isle of Rum, Scotland, commissioned by George Bullough and built 1897 - 1900.
The photograph was taken three days after the accident.

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                                                                                                   (Illustrated London News)
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Captain John S. Macintosh

died when his ship was wrecked on Great Barrier Island.

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Wairarapa was one of several luxury steamers plying the 2,000 mile Tasman Sea 

route between Sydney on Australia's east coat and Auckland, 

on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island.   

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Note: Great Barrier Island is called Otea Island or Cook’s Barrier Island.
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Captain Laura Favall | The Salvation Army

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A breeches buoy was rigged up saving all but two of those still on the ship.

“The distance to the rocks was only a few yards, but the sea was literally a boiling one, 

and the people were tossed to and fro by the rise and fall of the waves as if 

they had been mere straws.”

(Image: Great Barrier Island and the SS Wairarapa shipwreck Conservation.)

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(National Library of New Zealand - Alexander Turnbull Library)

It took almost three days for the world  to learn of the loss of the Wairarapa.

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See :-

at end of blog.

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The Wairarapa Grave Site at Tapuwai Point by Whangapoua Beach, Great Barrier Island,

where Wairarapa’s third officer, William Herbert Johnston, landed prior to crossing the

island to seek the help of the community of Ngati Wai Maori at Katherine Bay.

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Wreck Report for 'Wairarapa', 1895 - PortCities Southampton

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Text transcribed by George W. Randall.

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This magnificent model of SS Wairarapa by Styrotech, CNC, Silverdale, New Zealand,

shows the location of the four mid and two aft lifeboats; three port, three starboard.

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THE  BOOK:

Eight Minutes Past Midnight 

by Steve Locker-Lampson and Ian Francis was published in 1981.

24 October 2024:

Copies available through ABE Books

Author's copy.

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REFERENCES:

Eight Minutes Past Midnight - The Wreck of the SS Wairarapa (book)

The Press - February 1884

The Nautical Magazine Volume 53 – January 1884

Oamaru Mail – March 1884

Waikato Times – February 1884

Evening Star – February 1884

Daily Telegraph – February 1884

The Argus – March, April 1884

Votes and Proceedings Legislative Assembly New South Wales – 1897

The South Australian Chronicle – April 1884

The (Melbourne) Age – March 1884

New Zealand Ship and Marine Society

Victoria University of Wellington

Press Association - 1 November 1894

Hawke’s Bay Herald – 2 November 1884

Illustrated London News

Alexander Turnbull Library

SS Wairarapa and New Zealand photographs at Kinloch Castle
Auckland Museum Collection
Underwater Heritage Group, New Zealand..

Otago Witness – November 1894

World of the Written Word   joan-druett blogspot

George Bullough’s Three Year World Tour – George W. Randall

Official Wreck Report for Wairarapa - Board of Trade, London 8 April 1895

Wreck report for SS Wairarapa - 21 January 1895

Ashburton Guardian - 17 November 1894

New Zealand Herald - 30 November 1894

Great Barrier Island and the SS Wairarapa shipwreck Conservation

New Zealand Diving

maphill - Google Map

The Colonist (NZ) - 26 November 1894

Styrotech cnc, New Zealand  -  Model of Wairarapa

The Electrician - 20 January 1883

Taranaki Herald - 1 November 1894

Temuka Leader - 3 November 1894

Great Barrier Local Board Hazard - Auckland Council - Descent from Disaster

Family Tree Circles
New Zealand History

Wreck Site - People on Board SS Wairarapa

Teara - The Encyclopædia of New Zealand

Wellington Office of Archives New Zealand

Royal Museum, Greenwich, London

The Salvation Army – Captain Laura Favell

The Dominion Post - Inquisition into loss of SS Wairarapa

The Family Atlas - Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge - 1875

The Blue Book -  Minutes of the Proceedings of the Parliament

                                                                        of South Australia - Volume 1  1894

This Post would not have been possible 

without each and every one 

of the above references.

All are most gratefully acknowledged by the author!

Image source: Great Barrier Local Board Hazard - Auckland Council - Descent from Disaster.

The wreck of Wairarapa is scheduled for preservation in the Auckland Unitary Plan, 

it is also protected under the archaeological provisions of the 

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014.

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This article was first posted by George W. Randall on 31 October 2016.

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NOTE AS TO NUMBER OF PASSENGERS 

ON-BOARD:

 

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https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551067101475

Reviewed with added material  -  24 October 2024.

 George W. Randall