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Archiver > SOUTH-AFRICA > 1998-05 > 0894079166


From: Wally & Elrine Greig <>
Subject: Re: Ships from England to South Africa
Date: Fri, 01 May 1998 20:19:26


At 01:36 PM 4/30/98 +0200, you wrote:
>Hi Wally,
>It seems that the ship you are looking fort was called the SS Queen of the
>Thames of the Australian Royal Mail Line. Wrecked at Klippestrand near
>Ryspunt on18 March 1871 while on her maiden voyage from Melbourne to
>Britain. See "Shipwrecks and Salvage in South Africa - 1505 to the Present
>" by Malcolm Turner. If you require more info please let me know.
>Regards Ted Wille.

Hi Ted, thanks for your response. I thought you may like to hear the full
story. Fred is researching one John Wilson, an ancestor of Fred's wife,
Petro. Wilson was born in England and landed up in South Africa. According
to history, passed down the family, over the years, Wilson was on board the
Maid of the Thames when she was wrecked at Ryspunt, East of Arniston in
1848. He earned a living by becoming a fisherman at Skipskop, not far from
Ryspunt. The existence of Wilson at Skipskop, together with his wife and
family, has been authenticated. I found a Dept of Fisheries report, dated
about 1918, confirming that Wilson's sons were still fishing there at the
time. There are also numerous Wilson descedants in the Bredasdorp area today.

When Fred first told me , what I have related, above, I went to the
library, got the book you mention, checked for wrecks close to Arniston,
found the Queen of the Thames, and assummed that the Wilson's had the wrong
ship. However, Wilsom reached South Africa c1848 and the Queen of the
Thames did not even exist then.

With regards to the Queen of the Thames, the Bredasdorp museum has some
magnificent pieces of furniture off her. It is a museum worth seeing. It
also has a photo of a painting of John Wilson.

The question of the Maid Of the Thames, seems to have been a puzzle for a
long time. If anyone can shed any light, please do so.

Sean Brady made the following comment: "but unless the vessel was involved in
some kind of misadventure it seems that little trace of it may exist." Sean
, you seem to have had experience with this problem and I would be keen to
hear anything else you can tell, especially a specific case.
Regards
Wally Greig

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