Gananoque (ship) explained

Gananoque was a wood-hulled clipper ship of 785 tons, built in Quebec in 1857, that made a number of emigrant voyages to New Zealand. She had two serious collisions with icebergs in the North Atlantic, the second of which caused her loss.

History

Gananoque was built at Lauzon, Quebec in 1857 by George T Davie & Sons and sold the following year to Thomas Bailey of Newcastle upon Tyne. In May 1858 he sold a one-eighth share in the ship to Archibald Morris who became her commander.^[1]

New Zealand trade

She made four voyages to New Zealand in the 1860s under contract to the provincial governments.^[2] The ship was first chartered by Willis, Gann & Company for a voyage from London to New Zealand in 1860 and then for three more by Shaw, Savill and Company. The first three carried government immigrants; the fourth voyage was solely with cargo:

• 9 February 1860 departing London, arriving Lyttelton on 9 May 1860.^[3]
• 7 July 1861 departing London, arriving Auckland on 18 October 1861.^[4]
• 7 December 1862 departing London, arriving Port Chalmers, Otago on 12 March 1863.^[5]
• 16 May 1864 departing London, arriving Port of Bluff on 5 September 1864.^[6]

Later history

In 1867 Gananoque was sold to William Johnson of Newcastle upon Tyne. On 11 July 1874, on a voyage from Quebec to Newcastle, she struck an iceberg off Cape Race. Crew abandoned ship and all but one were rescued.^{[7] [8]} However, the ship did not sink, was found abandoned and taken derelict to St John's, Newfoundland,^[9]

She was subsequently repaired, re-sheathed and re-rigged as a barque, and was offered for sale in 1876.^[10]

Gananoque again collided with an iceberg on 10 May 1881 four miles off Bird Rocks, Magdalen Islands on a voyage from Belfast to Miramichi and sank quickly.^[11] The crew landed on Bird Rocks, and were picked up from there on 12 May.

Case law

The first voyage to New Zealand resulted in a High Court of Admiralty case "The Gananoque", a dispute between the ship's captain Archibald Morris and the other owners over contract payment terms. The judgement was "The law will presume that the terms of a master's engagement for one voyage extent to a succeeding voyage performed without a new agreement express or clearly implied."

Further reading

• Book: Lansley, Belinda . The Voyages of the Gananoque – New Zealand Immigration Ship 1860–1864 . Dornie Publishing . 2013.

Notes and References

1. Book: Lushington, Vernon . Reports of cases decided in the High Court of Admiralty of England, and on appeal to the Privy Council : 1859–1862 . 1 . Great Britain. High Court of Admiralty . Butterworths . London . 1864 . 448 . 2012-12-27.
2. Book: Brett, Henry . White Wings Fifty Years of Sail in the New Zealand Trade, 1850 to 1900 . 1 . The Brett Printing Company Limited . Auckland, New Zealand . 1924 . 154 . 2012-12-26.
3. News: Shipping News . . 13 . 783 . 12 May 1860 . 2012-12-26.
4. News: Port of Raglan . . 17 . 1446 . 22 October 1861 . 2012-12-26.
5. News: Shipping Intelligence . . 383 . 13 March 1863 . 2012-12-26.
6. News: Shipping Summary . . 1 . 47 . 17 September 1864 . 2012-12-26.
7. News: Title unknown . . 6 . 6 August 1874 . 2012-12-27.
8. Web site: Ship Collisions . Institute for Ocean Technology, Canada . 2012-12-27 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120315031947/http://www.icedata.ca/Pages/ShipCollisions/ShipCol_OnlineSearch.php . 2012-03-15 .
9. News: Title unknown . . 7 . 23 July 1874 . 2012-12-27.
10. News: Advertisements & Notices . . 8 . 23 November 1876 . 2012-12-27 . [auction] ...The Barque GANANOQUE, 785 tons register. Built at Quebec under special survey in 1857, and classed seven years A1 at Lloyd's sheathed with yellow metal in 1874; is well found in stores, carries a good cargo, and requires very little ballast. Dimensions: Length, 158.2 feet; breadth, 32.8 feet; depth, ... [transcription].
11. News: Title unknown . . 7 . 19 May 1881 . 2012-12-27.