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Kōrero: Shipwrecks

Wreck of the Wairarapa

Wreck of the <em>Wairarapa</em>

The third greatest loss of life in New Zealand waters was the wreck of the Union Steam Ship Company steamer Wairarapa. This montage by David Alexander De Maus records the event. Superimposed on a painting by E. B. Hayward are photographs of three stewardesses who died and an image of the memorial erected by stewardesses of the Union Company. Bound for Auckland from Sydney, the ship ran onto rocks at Great Barrier Island on 29 October 1894. There was a heavy sea and thick fog. Lifeboats and rafts were launched, but many people were swept off the decks by the waves. The next morning a steward swam a line to shore and passengers were hauled through the water. Survivors huddled on the rocks for over 30 hours before being rescued by Māori. In all, 101 of the 186 passengers and 20 of the crew of 65 died.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Alexander Turnbull Library, D. A. De Maus Collection (PAColl-3035)

Reference: 1/2-016394;G

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/photograph/7287/wreck-of-the-wairarapa (accessed 4 June 2026).

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

Comments

Sandy Austin
26 October 2024
James Charles White, born in Jaffna, Ceylon in 1809. His first wife was Elizabeth Hoddle, only child of Robert Hoddle who, as Surveyor General of New South Wales, laid out the city of Melbourne. James White and Elizabeth Hoddle had four children, Jack, William, Charley, and Tottie. In 1894 aged 85 years, James Charles White died a hero's death when the steamship Wairarapa founded off the coast of New Zealand. He refused to leave the sinking vessel before all the women and children had been saved and going down with the ship.