The Consequences
Four weeks to the day after the 200 ton smack The Earl of Wemyss had been driven ashore at
Brancaster and eleven of her passengers drowned, a public enquiry was opened by order of
the Home Secretary, Lord Melbourne, who had been approached by distraught relatives of the
dead women and children.
On Saturday September 28th, Mr. F. Hare took the chair at the Hare Inn, Docking.
Sitting with him were his fellow magistrates: Rev. J .Hare, Captain Davey, Mr. R
.Hoste, Mr. E. Rolfe and the Rev. D. Hoste.
They had before them the relatives' complaint to Lord Melbourne which had been compiled
with the assistance of one of the surviving passengers. It described the first part
of the voyage from London to Edinburgh, the sudden north-easterly storm and the
catastrophe off Brancaster. Then: "The son-in-law of the Lord of the
Manor, a Mr. Newman Reeve, went on board the vessel the moment he was enabled to do so and
it appears from his own statement that he stripped the bodies of the property which was
found on them. The baggage and many boxes belonging to the passengers were taken by
the populace and opened by them."
There followed a detailed list of the missing property, mainly cash and jewellery, and
a request "to obtain redress for the dreadful sacrifice of life and to make an
example of the party or parties who have been, from ignorance, negligence or perverseness,
the direct cause of melancholy loss." The letter was signed by D. Hamilton, A.
de Roche, F. Chambers and William Pyne.
The Earl of Wemyss had already sailed away from Brancaster, after repairs by Charles
Lubbock, a Wells shipwright, but her captain, Henry Nesbitt and crew had returned to
Norfolk for the enquiry. Captain Nesbitt was the first witness.
"I left London on August 29th with 19 passengers on board. Two days later,
at about six o'clock in the morning, a breeze sprang up from the north east; it
gradually freshened and became a hurricane. I ordered the crew to reef the mainsail
but in doing so the topping lift broke which caused us to drift in a westerly direction
without any sail until about 4 pm when I came to with both anchors in about five fathoms
of water.
"We grounded at about half past ten that night. From that time until two
o'clock on Sunday morning the ship became steadier.
An attempt to launch the ship's boat failed when the boat was smashed.
The next morning, at eight o'clock, he went down to the ladies cabin and told them they
would be able to go ashore in two hours. Then, "In five minutes the ship was
full of water from a leak in her bottom which I have since learned was from the keel
giving way."
After the drownings, the captain had been "too tired" to help
recover the bodies. The captain"s statement was corroborated in every detail by
his mate, David Michael Reid. The next witness was a passenger, Henry Gooch.
According to Gooch the disaster was caused by rotten rigging and
anchors. Then the captain had ordered the women and children not to come on
deck. Gooch had been in the cabin reassuring them when the skylight, which had not
been fastened down, was blown clear away.
"Mrs. Hamilton seized my hand and entreated me not to leave
her. I was in the act of assuring her that I would not when the sea aburied us in
darkness."
"The sea buried you, Mr. Gooch?" asked Ashworth.
"Are you certain?"
"The water came from above. Of that I am certain. I have
no recollection of what took place afterwards, nor how I was saved. I understand I
was drawn through the skylight."
He then secured himself to the mast by a line until it was possible to
walk ashore. "And to what do you attribute this appalling loss of life?"
Ashworth asked.
Gooch's reply was categorical. "To the negligence of those
whose duty it was, particularly when told to do so, to secure the skylights."
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