'Gipsy', 1874

‘Gipsy’, 1874

The 17-metre, 44-ton schooner Gipsy left Sydney on the 25th of July 1874. It was headed to Eden, but was lost at sea. It MAY have foundered on the South Coast.

The ship was built at Ulladulla in 1850 by Warden and Gee and owned by Messrs Barkley of Eden.

This is a report concerning the Gipsy that appeared in the Empire on 5th August 1861:

The coasting traffic - A few weeks ago a vessel arrived at the Moruya Heads, from Twofold Bay, under circumstances with which it is highly advisable that the government authorities should become acquainted.

The vessel referred to was a schooner of some 45 tons register, and, like most others of her
class, had been fitted out with little regard to the requirements of the passenger traffic, in which she was then engaged.

The room below deck was miserably deficient in height as well as in area, to accommodate the crowd of 30 passengers and more who had made the passage from Twofold Bay by this, under the circumstances, very unsafe mode of conveyance.

As if to circumscribe the already scanty room on deck, the vessel carried a punt, which effectively occupied the space between the masts and projected about five feet over either side of the vessel. In the punt was a horse, and turned up over it was what had once been a boat (the only one they had) and now too worn out by age and use,and, as the sequel proved, so leaky, as to require being continually bailed; in fact, there was no standing room on deck for the whole of the passengers and crew at the same time.

The vessel took eight days to reach the Moruya River from Twofold Bay, a passage which is affected under moderately favourable circumstances in from 12 to 18 hours. Nautical men, on whose judgement every reliance may be placed, feel no hesitation in citing that the vessel was not seaworthy, and that had she met with strong winds from the westward, she must have been blown off the land; as it was provisions, fresh water included, had run exceedingly short. When the vessel arrived here, some of the female passengers landed at once, and preferred camping overnight in the bush to returning on board, where their accommodation had been so wretchedly bad.

This statement is not written in the spirit of ill will to any party, but in the hope that it will meet the notice of such as have the power to prevent a recurrence of a transaction which, but for the prevalence at the time of favourable weather, might have resulted in very melancholy circumstances. If the regulation of the Ship Passengers Act do not reach such transactions as the above, it should be surely the duty of a patriotic government to see that when a vessel leaves any of our coastal harbours with passengers on board, sufficient provision should have been previously made to ensure, as far as maybe, their proper accommodation and safety.