Here in the Isles of Scilly there is a shipwreck timber standing in the front garden outside of Evergreen cottage but from which local shipwreck did it originate? If you believe what one particular historian has written over the years then you'd be confused-he has written it as being- The Chieftain, The Gilmore, & the Juno. However, here is what I think that timber came from with research shown to me by the divers of Kent who located the wreck using it.
On the north & east side of the Hard lewis lays the wreck of the Steamer Kingcadwallon. If one swims down to the bottom of this wreck, to where the steering quadrant of the stern end of the ship stands proud in the tide, from that position in all but 40meters depth, with a little effort, one can easily come into contact with another wreck. On a day of good underwater visibility, from the aforementioned quadrant one can see over the edge of a sheer cliff of a deep narrow gap. Looking across this precipice one can see the other side where a flat sloping rock denotes the base of the Hard Lewis. Move across away from the Kingcadwallon quadrant and traverse this gap – and go over the sloping rock, moving south, one can then go around the base of the Hard Lewis to traverse back up the other side of the reef. As you traverse the rocky slope upwards on this other side, in about 30m one comes across the scant and scattered remains of another shipwreck. Unlike the goliath steel structure of the King Cadwallon , this other wreck, on the South side of the reef, is denoted nowadays only by a few guns, bits of ironwork and copper nails and timbers; much of which is buried from view. This wreck has had at least three names attributed to it in publications over the years. First it was wrongly identified as the 'Chieftan' a ship that was lost elsewhere. However, more recently its been publicised as being the wreck of the 'Juno' where a possibly misleading report stated a bell of that name was lifted from the site. However, in more recent times the updated version of that same publication has dropped that particular part of this story and reverted back to the site as 'unidentified'. This site has also been quoted as being the 'Gilmore' but again no hard evidence was offered up for this attribute to the wreck either. Due to mere conjecture and a lack of any proper research, the name of this site has naturally become a tad confused over the years. As a result of this confusion, I set about trying to clear it up and so here, with no little help from the divers of Kent, is my offering on the subject of this site and thus the probability from what ship the Evergreen cottage timber originated from. I believe the most likely candidate for this wreck to be the 'Joseph & Betsey' and here is why- An Admiralty court martial relating to a ship of that name being lost in that position exists. And whilst we may never truly know the identity of this wreck- the Court martial papers and narrative to which I refer are the only real evidence yet put forward of a wreck of the correct period that was lost in that same vicinity. The evidence is found in the Admiralty Secretary, Reports of a Court Martial in February 1771 found in the Public Records Office at Kew. The evidence given in this investigation into the disaster roundly blames the Scilly pilots for giving false information to the Commander of the two ships involved- The Admiralty Brig , 'Joseph & Betsey.' & The ship 'Industry' another naval tender that sailed in company with her. The evidence shows that the local pilots guided these two vessels from St Marys Harbour and conveyed them through Crow Sound out to Menawethan. Here off Menawethan the pilots stated that a northerly course would take the ships by Hanjaque and that nothing lay between there and the open sea to St Georges channel where they were bound; and that their course would be a safe route between Scilly and the Seven Stones. The pilots also stated, to some of the ships officers, that one could sail so close to St Martins as to be able to: “throw a biscuit ashore and encounter no danger” -which is somewhat true, however, there are numerous rocks further out from that shore; Hard Lewis being one of them. The records show that the two vessels then parted company with the pilots somewhere just off Menawethan and sailed north passing by the Hanjaque. They later state that the Joseph and Betsey then struck a sunken rock about a mile north of Hanjaque which is roughly where the Hard lewis is. Looking at a chart one can clearly see how a northerly course from Menawethan to a rock of about a mile from Hanjaque leads one to the south side of the Hard Lewis rocks where the mysterious wreck now lies today. Below is the hostorical narrative verbatum and some other evidence presented at the court martial. Note the spelling of the names of the rocks are different from todays- This is often the case with historic documents.
Narrative of the loss of the Admiralty Brig Joseph & Betsey tender Liuetenent Isaac Valliant. Commander on the part of His Majesty & Thomas Forward on the part of the Owner.
On the 30th January 1771, at half past four o'clock in ye afternoon, sailed from ye harbour of St Mary's in Scilly, in company with His Majesty's Tender 'Industry' Liuetenent William Lockhart Commnder, both being bound up St Georges Channel, and both under the then guidence and directions of two profest Scilly Pilots, -John Teniere (Sic). (Trenear maybe? The other pilot is not named). our pilot having conducted us through Crow Sound, he gave notice in the precence of the officers, that ye vessel was then arrived clear of all danger, and that he brought us further than ye man of war or other ships and that as such he had done with the charge of the vessel- I Thomas Forward being Master on the part of the owners, then did call the said pilot down to the cabbin (sic) and did there in the presence of liuetenent Isaac Valliant, and mr nathaniel Ayres, mate, ask him several questions relative to any rocks or shoals that might intecept us between the Island of Scilly and the rocks called the Seven Stones (the passage of which is upwards of 3 leagues over) to all and every of which he gave us the most positive assurance that there was no danger whatever, and that we might sail from the place we then was all along that part of the coast at a distance of a quarter of a mile, there being nothing that distance off Scilly side to the Seven Stones in the way- but in order to be still more certain I had a recourse to Collins's draft and pointing out to the pilot the exact place of ye vessel, he again and again assured us that there was not the least reason to be afraid of attempting that passage with a leading wind as it then was being WSW-and blowing fresh. The pilot was then discharged it being 5 o,clock. ( It was in January so by that time it would already be dark) We then made sail to the Northward but in order to be safer, as the channel to the Seven Stones was upwards of three leagues-we did not approach neigher than two miles off Scilly side.- notwithstanding repeated assurances from the pilot that there was no danger further than a quarter of a mile off. At six o'clock we then being about two miles from where the pilot had left us, and about that distance from St Martins head, we struck upon a sunken rock, and by ye violence of the sea, instantly beat off and struck upon another which beat in the bottom of the vessel and she began to fill very fast, a few seconds after the sea drove us from that rock into deep water, and in two minutes she foundered out of sight and during which short interval of time, we threw overboard the boats, and in a most miraculous manor saved all our lives except one man and by the timely assistance of the 'Industry', Tender, then in company; (which we avoided of sharing the same fate by calling to them) we were taken on board her- and we attest that the sole cause of the loss of the vessel was entirely down to the strong assurances given to us by the pilot, that there was not any danger on that part of the coast, and we further attest that no such accident would have happened if the pilot had given us just account.
The one man lost was ill in his bed at the time of the disaster and so did not make it on deck to escape. The Industry was only half a cables length astern of the Joseph and Betsey but it was enough for it to avoid a greater disaster and further loss of life; and to be present that January night in bad weather to be able to save those who were forced to take to the boats from the sinking Joseph & Betsey. The course of the two ships can be plotted onto a chart and it pretty much leads one to the Hard Lewis. They could not see the rock the Joseph & Betsey struck because it was dark at the time, and, more importantly, it was high tide. The Hard Lewis rock shows at lower states of the tide but around high water it is hidden. Had it been low water the ships would have left St Marys harbour and exited Scilly via St Mary's Sound rather than Crow Sound which would have been to shallow to attempt at low. It is in the questioning of the officers and crew that gives a little more detail of their course and the conditions that evening 30th January 1771; night was upon them and the tide was stated by the witnesses to be at first quarter ebb- so no more than an hour after high water; further concealing the rocks in question. Liuetentent William Lockhart, commander of the Industry who wrote a similar deposition to the court as the one supplied by Isaac Valliant. It is in Lockharts letter stating how the pilots had made the- “throw a biscuit ashore”- remark, Lockhart also wrote that the pilots advice was- “to steer NW by N as soon as we had passed the rock called Meniwithen which they pointed to” Lockharts deposition is also in the same file at Kew as the other narrative above, and he was questioned upon it by the Court then held aboard HMS Royal Oak at Fowey in February 1771: Court: 'did you steer the safe course as the pilots directed?'
Lockhart: 'No, the offing I took was greater than the pilots directed'.
Court: 'Do you think the pilots meant you to sail between the rocks on which the ship was lost?'
Lochart:' Certainly not, nor do I suppose that the pilots themselves knew of such rocks being there'
Court: 'What distance were the rocks on which the Joseph & Bestsey was lost from the nearest visible shore?'
Lockhart: 'About a mile from the rock called Hingate.' (Hanjaque)
So there it is, a course set NW by N from just off Menawethen to strike a rock about a mile from Hanjague. The outer south eastern corner of Hard Lewis is where this mysterious wreck now lays.
As for the other candidates to this wreck, we can rule out that this wreck is the Chieftan as once claimed as she was never wrecked here at Scilly but foundered somewhere out in the Atlantic ocean.. As for it being the Juno - there are 3 references to ships by that name lost around the islands but none state any of these as being lost at the Hard Lewis rocks or even the Eastern Isles or St Martins. The only reference to this wreck being the Juno is that an author once wrote that a bell with that name on it had been lifted by a diver from a site on the Hard Lewis- but this 'evidence' was curiously retracted from an updated version of the same publication. There is evidence that the 450 ton Barque 'Gilmore' was indeed lost in that area. However, she was wrecked there in 1866 and the wreckage in deep water is of an earlier site. Furthermore, the narrative of the Gilmore showed that she was stuck fast on top of one of the rocks thereabouts and thus her remains must be much shallower. As far as I can gather from those who dived the site in deep water and whom lifted the timber in question from the wreck, they state that the salvage was from a wreck around 90 feet underwater close by the south side of the Hard Lewis. Lastly, this author remembers seeing two guns on the site which looked to me to be naval style weapons called carronades and not the sort of thing usually to be found on a merchant vessel of the mid 19th century like Gilmore. The Joseph & Betsey was an admiralty brig and so highly likely to have had such weapons on board. This naval vessel fits the date of the wreckage and the position of the narratives above and its loss also fits the depth of the known wreckage. Liuetenent Valliant wrote that his ship was driven by the sea into deep water and Lockhart stated that the Joseph & Betsey “went straight down with all masts still standing” Straight down & deep water puts her right by the rock and not on top of it like the wrecking of the Gilmore. There is of course many ships lost to these islands and this site could of course be something else entirely. I have just presented some new positive evidence of a wreck lost thereabouts and leave this information to the next wreck hunter or historian to ponder over. However, until then the timber outside Evergreen Cottage I believe should be attributed to the loss of the Admiralty Brig Joseph & Betsey. The discovery of this wreck site should be attributed to divers from Kent many years ago and whom found the wreck using this same historical research which they recently sent over to me. Placing this alongside my own and knowledge of the wrecks here, rightly or wrongly, I have come to the above conclusions.
Todd. Stevens.
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