Trove Tuesday – The Schomberg

Inspired by Merron’s TroveTuesday today about the wreck of the SS Casino off Port Fairy and my parents attending the commemoration she mentions in her blog, here are some bits and pieces from Trove about a shipwreck my ancestors were involved in – the Schomberg on 26 Dec 1855.

My 3x great grandmother Mary Elizabeth LEWIS nee BLACKMORE (c1812 – 1898) was on the Schomberg with seven of her children, including my 2x great grandmother Louisa LEWIS aged 9. They were coming out to join their husband and father Robert LEWIS (1808 – 1871) who had arrived in Melbourne a couple of years earlier.

The story passed down was that when the shipwreck happened and they all had to get off the ship, they weren’t allowed to take anything with them. So my 3x great grandmother told all her children to put on ALL their clothes. I remember when I first saw this photo (from mum’s collection), I thought that it looked like she still had all her clothes on!

There are so many articles in Trove about the Schomberg wreck because it was a high profile ship attempting a record-breaking voyage and followed by a high profile court case.

Here are a few ‘different’ finds from Trove related to the wreck.

  

Ship's bell from the Schomberg. According to the Trove entry, the bell is
now located in the Warrnambool Museum in Victoria.

Indicates the bell was later
used as a church bell

I wonder if my 3x great grandmother went to this function.
At least she should have had clothes to wear!

An interesting slant on marketing

Passenger list of 'other than first class' passengers
Did you have an ancestor on it too?