1881 Georgian Bay Shipwreck Found with Corpses

On November 25, 1881 the ship "Jane Miller" was reported missing on a passage between Collingwood Ontario and Manitoulin Island. The wreck of that ship has just been found - mostly intact - and with human remains.

Here is one of several newspaper announcements at the time

 

Markdale Standard (Markdale, Ont.1880 ), 9 Dec 1881, p. 2

Names from the newspaper article: 

Crew: A. Port, R. Port, F. Port, J. Christian, Alex. Seales, Gilbert Corbet + 3 deckhands

Passengers: J. B. Hallock, S. Thompson, J. Walker, Mr. Jestin, L. Vader, J. Gillespie, Capt. Malcolm McLeod, M. Hill, L. Butchart and wife + 10 labourers

Another newspaper account provides these names of the lost:

A Port, owner, R. D. Port, captain,.F. Port purser, all of Wiarton. J. Christison engineer, Red Bay; Alex. Scales, wheelsman, Keppel; Gilbert Corbet, fireman, Owen Sound; four deck hands, names unknown, J. Jestin, Port Elgin; J. Holeek, S. Thompson, of Meaford, I Hutshart and wife, Tobermorry; R. Gillespie; Jas. Hope, Sydenham; Capt. McLeod, Goderich; Mr. Hill, Collingwood Township. 

The names of the others are not known but they were a number of labourers engaged in work at Watt's mill, Lion's Head and McLandress shanty Tobennorry.  [Source: http://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/59542/data]

Continue reading the full story on The National Post's story: Georgian Bay shipwreck from 1881 found mostly intact with possible human remains on board

1803 shipwreck discovered in Great Lakes

The second-oldest confirmed shipwreck in the Great Lakes, an American-built, Canadian-owned sloop that sank in Lake Ontario more than 200 years ago, has been found, a team of underwater explorers said Wednesday.

The sloop Washington was built on Lake Erie in Pennsylvania in 1798 and was used to transport people and goods between western New York, Pennsylvania and Ontario. In 1802 it was hauled across land to Lake Ontario after being sold to Canadian merchants.

The Washington set sail from Kingston, Ontario, for Niagara, Ontario on November 6, 1803. The vessel was caught in a fierce storm and sank.At least three crew members and two merchants were on the sloop. All aboard died. 

Read the full story and watch the video at 1803 shipwreck discovered in Great Lakes - This is a Great One

Sinking of The Empress of Ireland 1914

On 29 May 1914 the Empress of Ireland collided with another ship in the St. Lawrence River. It sank with 1,477 passengers on board. It sank in less than 15 minutes and an estimated  1,032 people died.

See a partial passenger list and photos at Empress of Ireland - Canada's Titantic.



Credit: Image Empress of Ireland from Library and Archives Canada, PA-116389 /

Bones of Children Fleeing Ireland on The Carricks in 1847 Found

Anthropologists working for Parks Canada have been studying 3 partial skeletons  discovered on Quebec’s Gaspé peninsula three years ago.  After there years of study, scientists now believe that the bones are that of 3 young children from Ireland who died in the 1847 shipwreck of The Carricks.

http://gaspesie.quebecheritageweb.com/fr/node/439502

The Carricks carried  Irish immigrants fleeing the potato famine who were sailing to Quebec City in hopes of a new and better life in Canada. After the storm and shipwreck, over 100 bodies washed ashore and the few survivors (estimated to be 48 in number) were taken in by local residents. An Irish newspaper reports that 176 immigrants boarded the Carrick in Sligo Ireland.

There was no passenger list so the names of those who perished was never known. The 3 children whose skeletons were found had clues indicating their ages - two  between 7 and 9 years old, the other 11 or 12 years. A curve in one bone pointed to malnutrition consistent with rickets, a condition caused by vitamin D deficiency.

Their names will almost certainly never be known but they will be given a proper burial. Read more at Human Bones Discovered on Gaspé peninsula ‘witnesses to a tragic event’

Identifying a Loyalist Shipwreck from a Cannon

This is a fascinating archaeological find. A five-foot-long cannon  was recovered from an eighteenth-century shipwreck near the St. Augustine Inlet. 

The ship was part of a huge fleet that evacuated British Loyalists from the colonies near the end of the American Revolution. It sailed from Charleston and was probably carrying both civilians and soldiers who were seeking refuge in St. Augustine. It is hoped that the team can identify the ship and find records of its passengers.

Continue reading at Cannon Could Help Identify Loyalist Shipwreck

U.S.S. Monitor (Sank in 1862) Sailors’ Remains to Be Buried With Honors

Civil War sailors perished in an 1862 storm after making military history.

A funeral service for two unknown sailors who died when the Monitor went down off the coast of North Carolina was held in Arlington Virginia. The Monitor's 63-member crew included sailors born in Wales and Scotland, as well as African-Americans who were former slaves.

 The remains of two sailors, recovered when part of the iconic warship was raised in 2002, were buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery. The faces of the two unknown U.S.S. Monitor sailors were re-created by forensic anthropologists.

 Continue reading and view the forensic reconstruction