Victorian Shipwrecks – Peterborough

So many ships have been lost along this coast, sometimes several in the same area, there are many that have never been found, and some can only be seen by diving. We visited these areas, well as many as we could find and I will arrange my posts by area covered and not individual wrecks as such. So this week’s post is the Peterborough area.

This plaque and monument can be found in the car park of the main beach at Peterborough, the site for 3 shipwrecks;

Young Australian, 1864 – 1877
 The young Australian was travelling from Queensland to Adelaide with a cargo of sugar and rum when severe storms damaged the ship’s rigging and forced it ashore.  Why then has it supposedly never found?

Schomberg, 1855 – 1855
The Schomberg was one of the most magnificent sailing ships built (for the time) and was Captained by Bully Forbes. It was rumoured among other ideas that he was actually entertaining a young lady below decks when the ship was blown off course and crashed ashore at Curdies Inlet, both ship and the Captain’s careers were completed wrecked (Oops).

 

 Newfield, 1889 – 1892
Poor weather conditions and faulty navigational equipment is thought to be the cause for the loss of the Baroque Newfield while on a voyage from Scotland to Brisbane. The ship was blown ashore at Peterborough with the loss of nine lives.

 

Falls of Halladale, 1886 – 1908

Just down the road at the Bay of Matyrs, and a almost 4WD track (unmarked) to find this wreck, the anchor is in Peterborough, as is the plaque, and there is another plaque on a cliff top overlooking where the wreck happened. It was on it’s final leg of it’s voyage from New York to Melbourne when it’s Captain became lost and confused, due to sea mist. Under full sail, it struck one of the many reefs and became a total loss.

-Julz

 

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