The quest for a bright future in the fledgling colony of New Zealand ends in tragedy
In the January of 1988 BFA archives, Pam Blincoe of New Zealand wrote, "A family of Blincowes arrived in New Zealand in 1874 on the 'Cospatrick" but I do not know where they came from. They were John, Emma, Naomi & Elizabeth." This is tragically not so, the family in this case all perished in what was one of the worst immigrant shipping disasters.
NEW ZEALAND DISASTERS & TRAGEDIES
THE SINKING OF THE COSPATRICK
WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 1874
OFF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE
Shortly after midnight on the 18 November 1874 the emigrant ship Cospatrick caught fire and sunk with the loss of almost 500 lives. Two life boats were able to get away but there were only three survivors.
The ‘Costpatrick’ was built of teak, in Burma, in 1856 and was used for sending troops to India before being contracted to carry emigrant passengers to New Zealand. It sank on its second voyage to New Zealand.
The ships records show that John Blincow, a Labourer from Oxfordshire, is onboard, with two daughters Naomi and Elizabeth and his wife Emma.
ASSISTED EMIGRANT FAMILIES
| BLINCOW | John | 29 |
| BLINCOW | Emma | 30 |
| BLINCOW | Naomi | 6 |
| BLINCOW | Elizabeth | 10 mths |
The story of the sinking is indeed tragic and gory in its details, the ship was a way off the coast of South Africa on its way round the Cape of Good Hope bound for New Zealand when a fire started on board. Life boats were loaded up at the stern of the ship with women and children; these capsized before launching and immediately drowned those in the boats. The fire then caught the masts and these became burnt out at the base and crash down on the panicking passengers killing/injuring many. Eventually the ship is on fire completely, breaks up and sinks. Only two boats are able to get away.
Illustrated London News,
January 2, 1875
The details of the surviving boats:
"The two boats kept together for a couple of days. They were then separated by bad weather. The missing boat contained the chief officer, the ship's butcher, five seamen, and twenty-five passengers. She has not since been heard of, but it is hoped that she may have reached the island of Tristan d'Acunha. In Macdonald's boat thirst soon began to be severely felt. One man fell overboard while steering. Three others died after becoming mad. On Nov. 23 four more died. The survivors were then suffering so intensely from hunger and thirst that they drank the blood and ate the livers of two of the dead. Other deaths followed; and when, on the 27th, two more of the men died, one was thrown overboard, but nobody had strength enough to lift the other. Ultimately five men were all who were left alive in the boat and of these two had gone mad. They died soon after being rescued by the ship, British Sceptre.
Who was John Blincow?
John Blincow was baptized in 1844 in Souldern nr Bicester, Oxfordshire. By the 1861 Census the 7 children of William and Elizabeth were orphaned and John, Robert and Eliz were with Uncle Thomas (1814-1856) and Aunt Anne (nee Harrup) and the rest with other relatives or in a workhouse..
By 1871 John had moved to Tipton Staffordshire to work as an Ironworks Labourer where he married Emma Simms and daughters Naomi and Elizabeth were born. John's sister Matilda was visiting at the census time.
Then in 1874 they made the tragic decision to join many new agricultural and labouring workers seek out a new life in New Zealand, sadly this story is not a happy one from beginning to end.
Roger Blinko
NSW
When researching the migration history of Blencowes to the Southern Hemisphere for the Blencowes Down Under website, Roger found this sad tale in this book written by Charles Clark and published by Otago University Press in 2006.
Anne