“The boats, the last resort of the terror-stricken passengers, were unshipped from the davits, but four or five all except two were swamped. The Captain and his crew and about thirty passengers got into these, the remainder (numbering little less than two hundred souls) being left, from terrible necessity to their fate.” The Hobart Courier, September 22nd, 1853. The captain of the William and Mary told everyone that tragically these 170 or so passengers must have gone down with his ship. News of the tragedy traveled all around the world. It took longer for the news of these lost passengers landing in the Bahamas to arrive, though they had a very interesting story to tell.
Ship Name: William and Mary
Nationality: United States
Year Built: 1851
Tonnage: 500 tons
Ship Type: Barque
Year Wrecked: 1853
Location Wrecked: Bahamas
Reason for Wreck: Ran into a Reef
Lives Lost: 14 During the Voyage, 2 Due to the Wreck
Sources:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4631884?read-now=1&seq=10
https://newspaperarchive.com/nassau-guardian-sep-17-1853-p-1/
https://newspaperarchive.com/bath-eastern-times-jun-02-1853-p-3/
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2247552
Wrecked Emigrant Ships in The Bahamas: The Wreck of the Barque William and Mary by Jim Lawlor
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1853/06/20/87860393.html?pageNumber=1
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18530619.2.12&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1853/05/18/87853839.html?pageNumber=4
