Geffrard (1875/06/12)

Quindalup

Geffrard was built at Jersey in the Channel Islands, having one deck, a square stern, and a male figurehead. It was copper fastened and sheathed with felt and yellow metal. The brig had undergone replacement of the keelson in 1862 and major repairs in 1866. From launching until 1862 it was owned by Pirchet & Co., and from 1862 until 1873 the owner was Orange & Co., of Jersey. In 1873 the brig was sold and re-registered in Melbourne, afterwards sailing mainly from that port to Shanghai, but occasionally calling at Western Australian ports en route.
On 12 June 1875 the Geffrard had taken on board a full cargo of timber for Adelaide and was anchored in 4½ fathoms (8.2 m) of water about 1½ miles (2.8 km) from the Quindalup Jetty, which bore SW by W½W. Captain S. Munday went ashore that evening to complete the ship’s business with Henry Yelverton, the supplier of his cargo.
There are two dates given for the loss of the Geffrard. The evidence at the Court of Inquiry indicated Sunday 13 June (quoted in Henderson, 1988: 162), while a newspaper reported the brig as being lost on Tuesday 15 June (Inquirer, 23 June 1875: 2d).
THE LOSS
At 6.00 a.m. on the morning of 13 June a fresh breeze blew up from the north, quickly reaching gale force. At 7.30 p.m. an anchor chain on the Geffrard parted, and the mate George Allen, who had been left in charge while the captain was ashore, immediately let go the starboard bower anchor, paying out 45 fathoms (83 m) of cable. This cable also parted and the fore topmast staysail and the main lower topsail were then set in an effort to save the vessel. The Geffrard however continued to drift and, because it was drawing 0.6 m more at the stern than the bow, first struck the bottom with the aft end of the keel.
To help hold the vessel steady (by this time it was lying on its port bilge) the mate kept the topsail set. The Geffrard was still being pushed by the wind and waves, and finally came to rest, according to a newspaper report, some 2.5 km east of the jetty. A report by the police constable at Quindalup stated that the vessel was on a sandbank about half a mile (800 m) offshore.
INQUIRY
On 21 June 1875 a Preliminary Court of Inquiry into the loss of the Geffrard was held at the police station at Quindalup. This was followed by a Court of Inquiry held at Busselton on 7 July 1875. It found that there was no blame attached to Captain Munday, although it was considered that he was imprudent in not laying to two anchors as was local practice. In his defence, Captain Munday said that he had found that the barometer on board indicated the approach of bad weather when it read 29.60 inches or less. When he had left the brig to go ashore, it had shown 29.90 inches, by which he felt that the weather would remain fair.
INITIAL SALVAGE
On 17 July 1875 an advertisement calling for tenders to unload the cargo of timber from the wreck of the Geffrard was followed on 28 July 1875 by the following advertisement in the Inquirer:
Wreck and Cargo of brig Geffrard,
Quindalup, Geographe Bay
Messrs. L. Samson & Son,
(Government Auctioneers)
Are instructed to sell by public auction at their Rooms, Fremantle, on WEDNESDAY, the 4th day of August, 1875, at noon, and for the benefit of all concerned:-
Lot 1.—The CARGO of TIMBER now in the said wreck of the said brig Geffrard.
Lot 2.—The HULL of the said wreck.
Any further particulars can be obtained on application to Captain Munday, Fremantle; or Wallace Bickley, Esq., Lloyd’s Agent there.
TO FOLLOW!!!
A number of Sails, Running Gear, Wire Rigging, Coir Rope, and a variety of Sundries
ALSO
1 chronometer and a compass.
Terms at Time of Sale.
Fremantle, July 27, 1875.
At the auction the hull of the Geffrard was sold to Elias Solomon for £200 and the cargo to William Silas Pearse for £413 (Inquirer, 11 August 1875: 2b). The timber merchant Henry Yelverton bought all the fittings from the wreck of the Geffrard. The ship’s bell hung outside his office for many years and was used to call his employees to work. It was eventually donated to the Busselton Primary School.
SITE LOCATION
Two expeditions by archaeologists from the Department of Maritime Archaeology, Western Australian Museum, in 2009 and 2011 found wreckage consisting of iron knees, copper bolts and timber at a site about half way between the wreck marked on Archdeacon’s 1876 chart (see page 169) and the shore to the south. This is almost certainly the wreck of the Geffrard. The bank in this area was still known to older residents as Geffrard Bank in the 1940s and 1950s, although the name never received official recognition.
EXCAVATION AND ARTEFACTS
The ship’s bell from the Geffrard is still at the Busselton Primary School.