S.S. WAIRARAPA
WRECKED MINER’S HEAD, GREAT BARRIER ISLAND,
NEW ZEALAND, 12.08 am 30th 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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| 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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Wairarapa was one of several luxury steamers plying the 2,000 mile Tasman Sea 
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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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| 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 :-  * 
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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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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. At this time (25 February 2024) ONLY ONE COPY WAS AVAILABLE THROUGH ABE BOOKS priced at 31 UK pounds (US$40) from bookshop in New Zealand. |
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
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
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!
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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. * This article was first posted by George W. Randall on 31 October 2016.   * NOTE AS TO NUMBERS ON-BOARD:                    *   Reviewed with added material - 25 FEBRUARY 2024. George W. Randall |
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