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Kōrero: Shipwrecks

Wreck of the Tararua

d-8550-enz.pdf

The second greatest loss of life in New Zealand waters came in 1881 when 131 people died in the wreck of the Tararua. On a voyage from Port Chalmers to Melbourne, the ship struck a reef off Waipapa Point, Southland, at 5 a.m. on 29 April. A passenger swam ashore to raise the alarm, but the rough sea made it too dangerous to take people off. The ship began to break up, and the passengers climbed the rigging. They hung on until 2.35 a.m. the next morning, when those on the beach heard piercing shrieks. By daybreak the ship had sunk, and bodies were floating ashore. Only 20 of the crew and passengers were saved. Six weeks after the Tararua sank, the papers were still full of some of the strange stories resulting from the event.

Download the document to read an extract from the Illustrated New Zealand Herald of 16 June 1881, which includes some tragic and interesting accounts (63 KB).

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Alexander Turnbull Library, Making New Zealand Centennial Collection (PAColl-3060)

Reference: PUBL-0047-1881-0003

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Gerard Hutching, Shipwrecks – Perils of the sea: 19th century, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/document/7286/wreck-of-the-tararua (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Gerard Hutching, i tāngia i te 2 March 2009.

Comments

Jeff Johnston
30 August 2012
My great-great grandfather, Robert Shaw Bushell Marsh, a druggist/pharmacist had boarded the Tararua at Wellington and according to family llore was returning to England to renew his pharmacist's licence. I finally found his death recorded at Otira and wondered why he was there as he lived at Halcombe, Rangitikei. I went to visit the memorial and was very moved and horrified looking at the reef. The story is apparently gruesome-- apparently crew heard waves breaking but were ignored by the Captain, who had turned the ship to Bluff. Last year I found my great great grandmother and her son, my great grandfather, buried at Halton, Ontario, Canada. They apparently went back to England after the tragedy and then to join family in Canada. Fortunately, my grandmother, raised by Gower relatives, carried the Bushell name! Thank goodness for lighthouses. Great having this resource and others online. Cheers, Jeff Johnston