Wreck of the Bayard, Ocean Harbour, South Georgia
Pictures Ulf Gustafsson, 2010 - 2011
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The Bayard is a three masted iron hulled sailing ship built in Liverpool in 1864 and wrecked at South Georgia in 1911. Towards the end of her life she was being used as a coaling ship for a whaling station. On the 6th of June 1911, she broke free from her moorings on the north side of Ocean Harbour on the coaling pier. She was blown across the harbour by a northerly gale where she was holed and sank in 3m of water, she remains in almost the exact position and attitude today as the day when she was sunk.
The wooden decks have rotted away and become colonized by tussock grass, blue-eyed shags nest amongst the tussock grass and can be seen on the deck.
The following was received by email from Tony Robinson concerning the history of the Bayard and one of her crew.
... here is an extract from part of my family history that my cousin prepared a few years ago. It refers to Anthony Oram, who became first mate of the Bayard in 1880:
Anthony Oram was Rebecca's brother, and my great
grandfather. He was the ninth and final child, born on 24th
February 1852, at 157 Rotherhithe Street, in Rotherhithe. (By
2001 the property had been converted to 6 flats, oddly named
"Octagon Court' SE 16 5QT)
Anthony was not registered
until April 1st, so appeared in the register for the June quarter
of 1852. His mother, Eliza, registered him and made her mark
on the certificate, as she was unable to write.
In 1861
he was 9 years old, living at 157 Rotherhithe Street with his
father, his mother, four of his sisters and his three brothers.
On leaving school, he was apprenticed to a sail maker. He
went to sea, and sailed 8 times on the India route.
He became a ship's officer and obtained his First Mate's certificate on September 1st 1875, at the age of 23.
At this time he was living at 37, Lower Queen
St, Rotherhithe. Perhaps he shared the house with siblings James,
Rebecca and Harriet when he was not at sea. They were in Lower
Queen Street in 1871.
His first
Mate Certificate reads:
By the Lords of the Committee of
Privy Council for Trade Certificate of Competency As FIRST
MATE
To Anthony Oram
Whereas it has been reported to us
that you have been found Duly qualified to fulfil the duties
of First Mate in the Merchant Service we do hereby in pursuance
of the Merchant Shipping Act 1854 grant you this Certificate
of Competency.
By Order of the Board of Trade
This First
day of September 1875
Registered at the Office of the Registrar
general of Shipping and Seamen.
In addition to the actual Certificate he
received the following grievous warning!
Certificate 10533.
Address of
Owner: 37, Lower Queen St, Rotherhithe S.E.
Date and Place
of Birth: 1852 Rotherhithe Surrey
Signature... Anthony
Oram
This certificate is given upon an Ordinary Examination
passed at London on the thirty first day of August 1875
Every person who makes or procures to be made, or assists
in making any false Representation for the Purpose of obtaining
for himself or for any other Person a Certificate either of
Competency or Service, or who forges, assists in forging or
procures to be forged, or fraudulently alters or assists in
fraudulently altering or procures to be fraudulently altered,
any such Certificate or any Official Copy of any such Certificate
or who fraudulently makes use of any such Certificate or any
Copy of any such Certificate which is forged, altered, cancelled,
suspended, or to which he is not justly entitled, or who fraudulently
lends his Certificate to or allows the same to be used by any
other person, shall for each offence be deemed guilty of a Misdemeanour
and may be summarily punished by imprisonment with or without
hard labour for a period not exceeding six months, or by a penalty
not exceeding £100, and any Master or Mate who fails to deliver
up a Certificate which has been cancelled or suspended is liable
to a penalty not exceeding £50.
NB Any person other than
the owner thereof becoming possessed of this Certificate is
required to transmit it forthwith to the Registrar General of
Shipping and Seamen, Adelaide Place, London Bridge.
Issued
at the PORT of London on the 3rd day of September 1875.
FA Shaw
Well, quite a mouthful! Summarised
as "Misuse at your peril!'
The following year on Dec 12th 1876, he was
made a "Freeman of the Company of Watermen & Lightermen of The
River Thames'.
In 1880, on 5th January, Anthony was in
the Bay of Bengal. He was on his last journey to India and the
ship was becalmed in the bay. While waiting for the wind, he
rowed out with some of his apprentices and caught a large turtle.
The shell was brought home and later made into a fire screen.
[In the 1940s & 50's it was kept at "Littleholme', The
Drive, Longfield, Kent, where his daughter, Adelaide, lived;
In the 1960's, 1970's and part of the 1980's it was at "Yarraglen',
Pescot Avenue, where she moved after the death of her husband,
and on the sale of her house the shell went to Adelaide's daughter,
Vera, at Ross Lyn, Pescot Avenue.]
On that particular
voyage, Anthony was on the "Bayard'.
“The Bayard” The
Bayard was a three masted iron sailing ship of 1319 tons. Each
mast carried a topmast and a topgallant mast – square rigged
on all masts. Vernon Shipbuilders of Liverpool built it in 1864
for Foley & Co. and it was sold to L. Young and Co. for trading
to and from India. It was still on this route in 1880, when
it became becalmed in the Bay of Bengal. It was re-rigged as
a “Barque” in 1886. The yardarms were removed from the mizzen
(after) mast, and replaced with fore and aft sails. In 1900
it was sold to the Norwegians, and registered under the Norwegian
flag at Porsgrund by Acties Fjord (L.Gundersen) [Porsgrund is
on SE coast] It was finally removed from the Lloyds Register
in 1911.
I imagine that the ship was sailing between
India, or possibly China, and London. Information that I have
found on the web seemed to indicate that it was trading into
Liverpool where it was built but I am sure that during Anthony
Oram's time aboard it would have been to London as his home
was always in Rotherhithe close to the docks.
Until I
came across your photos whilst casually searching for any more
about the Bayard we new no more than this last paragraph. I
was absolutely amazed to see that it still existed.
Here
is the shell which I now have as my mother, Vera Robinson, sadly
passed away at the end of October 2011. Also you can seethe
inscription from the rear: "Caught in the bay of Bengal 5th
January 1880 by Anthony Oram Ship Bayard".
Tony Robinson February 2012
Photo; copyright Ulf Gustafsson