Fortunes lost and found

by Trevor Percival

THE MADAGASCAR

Whoever finds the wreck of the Madagascar could well be on the way to becoming a multi-millionaire. The treasure is estimated to be worth more than $250 million at today’s gold prices. Underwater adventurer, Ben Cropp, mentions in his book This Rugged Coast, how he located some old wrecks on the Great Detached Reef, Queensland. Cropp at first thought he might have found the treasure ship as one of the mystery ships was approximately the same size and of the same era as the missing Madagascar. The party must have been very excited as they thoroughly searched the remains of the old wreck but unfortunately, all they came away with was a large collection of brass keel bolts.

The 951-ton frigate, Madagascar

The 1200-ton frigate, Madagascar, was built for the Blackwall Line. She was one of numerous sailing ships bringing out the thousands of emigrants to Australia in the early 1850s. Most of the “new chums” headed for the goldfields and many returned to England on the Madagascar after making their fortune, but there were a lot more returning home nearly penniless after paying their fares. The year 1853 was the last time the Madagascar would sail from Australia for England. The McIvor Gold Escort robbery at Kyneton, Victoria, in July 1853, was the cause of the delayed departure of the 16-year-old frigate. On Wednesday the 10th of August, just as she was preparing to sail, police went on board and arrested a bushranger John Francis, who was later found to have been one of those responsible for robbing the gold escort. The next day the police arrested two others, one on board the ship and the other as he was preparing to board. As a result of these arrests Madagascar did not leave Melbourne until Friday the 12th of August 1853. She was carrying 110 passengers and a crew of around 50. Fourteen of her original crew of 60 had jumped ship and headed for the diggings and it is estimated she only managed to sign on three or four replacements Her cargo consisted of wool and rice and the small matter of 68,890 ounces of gold, nine chests of sovereigns, eight chests of silver and a box of specie.

The Madagascar was due back in England for Christmas but by February 1854, relatives and the shipping company became concerned about the length of time the ship was overdue. In July 1854 the Madagascar was officially declared lost at sea with all hands. When the ship became overdue, many theories were floated, including spontaneous combustion of the wool cargo, hitting an iceberg and, most controversially, being seized by criminal elements of the passengers and/or crew and scuttled, with the gold being stolen and the remaining passengers and crew murdered. In 1872 rumours of a supposed death-bed confession by a man who “knew who murdered the captain of the Madagascar” were first published. Over the next century many purely fictional stories based on this rumour have been published. Most 20th-century versions state that the death-bed confession was by a woman passenger who was taken by the mutineers, and by implication raped, and was too ashamed of what had happened to her to confess beforehand.

THE GOTHENBURG GOLD

I first heard about the sinking of the SS Gothenburg from someone who had read about it in Ernestine Hill’s book The Territory. The Gothenburg sank off Cape Cleveland, Queensland, taking a vast amount of gold down with her. Many passengers carried gold on them and one person in particular carried a gladstone bag containing £3,000 worth of gold that he was bringing south from the Pine Creek goldfield in the Northern Territory. On the evening of the 24th of February, 1875, the Gothenburg was still heading south in almost cyclonic conditions with fore, top, and mainsails set and the steam engines running at full speed. Flooding rains lashed the Queensland coast and Captain Robert Pearce reportedly could not see land or sun. About 7pm, and for reasons undetermined, he changed course and shortly afterwards, at full speed (11 to 12 knots), hit a section of the Great Barrier Reef at low tide 50km north-west of Holbourne Island. The Gothenburg struck with such force that she was left high up on the reef.

I wanted to see if I could find out how much gold the Gothenburg was carrying so I went into the Oxley Library in Brisbane and asked the librarian if I could read copies of the Brisbane Courier dated 23rd February to the end of March 1875. She gave me a roll of microfilm that contained photographs of each page of the Courier from February to August 1875. Checking through the film I came across an account of the shipwreck dated Thursday the 11th of March, 1875. According to the report, some 102 lives were lost and there were 22 survivors (12 crew and 10 passengers). All 25 women and children on board and all the officers perished. Edward W. Price, Magistrate and Commissioner Circuit Court of the Northern Territory, who remained behind in Darwin, lost his wife and six children. The Gothenburg lay in three fathoms (5.5m) of water 28 miles (45km) NNE of Cape Upstart.

The most interesting piece of information in the article was that a diver named James Putwain, went to the wreck with his diving apparatus and was successful in finding the gold box that contained 3,500 ounces of gold. He informed the police and handed the gold to a bank. If that gold hadn’t been recovered it would be worth at least $12.3 million today. I have mentioned the Gothenburg wreck as it could be one of the pitfalls in searching for sunken treasure. If you know of a wreck, do a thorough search of available records to make sure the bulk of the treasure has not already been recovered.