Maggie Gollan (1898/04/02)

Off Cossack, Butcher Inlet

Sank at Cossack wharf with full cargo of goods for Condon during severe storm, was blown ashore when lines snapped and totally wrecked.

Details:
Name: Maggie Gollan
Official number: ON 073296
Registered: Sydney 21st July 1875 (62/1875)
Type: Ketch
Length: 71.4 ft
Length of keel: 67 ft
Beam: 18.7 ft
Draft: 6.9 ft
Builder: Hector Gollan
Keel laid: Towards the middle of 1874
Launched: 17th May 1875
Gross Register: 58 tons
Registered: Fremantle 5/1895
Unique number : 1397

Owner 1: H and J Gollan - Manning River NSW.
Owner 2: James Francis Tiffany - Cossack WA.
Captain: Angus McLeod/ Hector Gollan/ McDonald/ McRae

Launched :
“She was built on land at the junction of Milbai Creek and a small stream running north through Mondrook” (Tinonee NSW.)
A large crowd gathered when she was christened by Miss Christina Gollan, the youngest daughter of the builder, who later married Mr William James Ellis.” (Tinonee Memories)

MANNING RIVER. : Monday May 17th 1875
"Messrs. H. and T. Gollan launched from their ship-building yard, a little above Tinonee, their maiden vessel. Her dimensions are: length on keel, 67 feet; depth of hold, 7 feet; length overall, 80 feet; beam 18 feet. She was named the Maggie Gollan, is to be ketch rigged, and is intended for the Manning trade". Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW) Saturday 22nd May 1875

Maiden voyage:
After being rigged out, the Maggie Gollan left the Manning River and arrived in Sydney on the 16th July 1875.
Hector Gollan sailed on her as part of the crew for a number of years before gaining his Certificate of Competency as a Master on the 9th of April 1878.

Captain Gollan's Pilot Certificate allowed him to pilot vessels under 100 tons, trading from the ports of Sydney, Newcastle, and the Manning River. He successfully did so for eight years, and reportedly had the distinction of being the first skipper to bring a ship over the Manning River bar at night. This was reputably accomplished in a calm sea with a flood tide, broadside on and with a good knowledge of the channel and landmarks.

Collision : 1888
On the 1st June 1888 the Maggie Gollan was inbound to Sydney off South Head at around 8.15 pm, when she came into collision with the outbound steamer Platypus.
The steamer Platypus was on a voyage from Sydney to Newcastle when she struck the Maggie Gollan on the starboard quarter, causing considerable damage to the ketch.
The Board of Inquiry found that the collision was due to a wrongful act by the master of the Platypus, breaching the navigational steering rules.

Sold :
The Maggie Gollan continued trading along the NSW Coast until March 1895 when she was sold to Mr J. F. Tiffany of Cossack, Western Australia (date of sale unconfirmed).

Ketch in a storm : 1895
On the 9th April 1895 the Maggie Gollan left Sydney, bound for Cossack WA, loaded with timber and dynamite.
Two days into the voyage the ketch was subjected to heavy seas and easterly gale force winds for almost forty hours.
During the buffeting one extra large swell came on board shaking her from stem to stern, taking out portion of her steering gear.
Adding to the awkwardness of the situation the main sail was shredded, and as a result, Captain Franks was forced to bring her head before the wind, during which one of the crew was swept over board. With some difficulty he was safely rescued and the Maggie Gollan managed to make the port of Williamstown. Evening News (Sydney, NSW) - Friday 19 April 1895.

The ketch, Maggie Gollan, which called into this port for a consignment of explosives for conveyance to West Australia, underwent examination by the shipping inspector, Captain Deary, who found that the mainmast of the vessel was sprung, and he would not sanction the craft's departure until this spar was replaced. It will he remembered that whilst coming from Sydney the Maggie Gollan encountered some particularly heavy weather, and probably during its continuance after the accident to the mast occurred. A portion of the explosives intended to be conveyed by the craft had been placed on board before the inspector boarded the vessel. These were again discharged into the powder hulk, and the whole consignment will be placed on hoard the steamer Melbourne, which vessel proceeds to West Australia immediately on its receipt on board. The work of supplying a new mast for the Maggie Gollan has been entrusted to Mr. W. S. Knights, of the Patent Slip, Williams town. The Age (Melbourne, Vic.) - Monday 22 April 1895

Willie Willie at Condon in 1896
THE RECENT "WILLY-WILLY" AT CONDON.
FULL PARTICULARS OF THE STORM.
By the steamer Albany, which arrived at Fremantle from the North-West on Sunday afternoon, full particulars are to hand respecting the terrific hurricane which passed over the township of Condon on Friday, 27th alt.
The schooner Maggie Gollan arrived on Monday, having experienced a dreadful voyage, one man being washed overboard. The telegraph line was blown almost flat for miles, and the country is flooded. The total rainfall for Friday was 9 20 inches. Western Mail (Perth, WA) - Friday 10 April 1896

Wreck of the Maggie Gollan at Cossack WA 1898
The Maggie Gollan finally ended her days in Cossack, W.A.
THE HURRICANE IN THE NOR-WEST. COSSACK IN RUINS.
SHIPS WRECKED, AND BUILDINGS AND WORKS DESTROYED.
THE COUNTRY DEVASTATED.
Cossack, April 5.
The effects of Saturday's hurricane [April 2nd] at Cossack are indescribable. The town is bestrewn with wreckage of boats and the in cargoes and the ruins of houses. The ketch Maggie Gollan sank alongside the jetty, and afterwards all the lines snapped and the vessel was washed ashore and smashed up completely. She had a full cargo aboard for Condon, Wreckage and merchandise are strewn along the main street. The West Australian (Perth, WA) - Wednesday 6 April 1898

This article graphically describes the event: "On the morning of the 2nd April 1898 a hurricane developed off the coast of Cossack WA, leaving a path of destruction behind. “Fearful damage has been done to shipping. The S.S.Beagle is piled up on the rocks on the South side of the jetty, in front of the Weld Hotel, with her stern resting on the fallen walls of the jetty and her bows on the rocks. The schooner Maggie Gollan is a total wreck on the beach, towards Japtown.” The West Australian (Perth, WA -Tuesday 5 April 1898.

The news was also reported on the Manning River.
"WRECK OF THE MAGGIE GOLLAN — News of the loss of the ketch Maggie Gollan, a vessel well-known on this coast, having been built by Capt. Gollan at Tinonee in 1875, and run between Sydney and the Manning for many years, was received in Sydney on Monday last. The vessel was trading on the West Australian coast, and during a recent hurricane she was driven ashore, and became a total wreck. The Maggie Gollan was a vessel of 58 tons. She was sold to Mr. J. F. Tiffany, of Fremantle." The Manning River Times and Advocate for the Northern Coast Districts of New South Wales (Taree, NSW) - Saturday 30 April 1898.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/glmrsnsw/21458645736