Special thanks is extended to Mr. Steven McLachlan, Shades Arcade Stamp Centre, Christchurch, for use of this image.

Recorded on this granite obelisk is the

following… Alexander Livingstone

drowned in the S.S. Taraua 29 April 1881.

Recorded on this damaged granite headstone is the following…

In loving memory of

John Oliver EvaDunedin

Who was lost in the steamship Tararua

At Otara Reef NZ29th April 1881Aged 39 years

Both these headstones mention the same event. What happened?

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1

2

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Alexander Livingston was a member of the crew on the S.S. Tararua and John Eva was a passenger.

John Eva Block 101 Plot 3.

Alexander Livingston Block 2 Plot 16

Recorded on this large marble headstone is the

following… Francis George Garrard

Master of the S.S.Tararua

Who perished at the wreck of his vessel on

the Otara reef30th April 1881Aged 29 years.

The headstone can be seen just inside the lych gate of the Cemetery.

The S. S. Tararua sailed from Port Chalmers at 5pm on April 28,1881 bound for Melbourne via Bluff. The night was dark but clear and at 4am the vessel was off the southern most point of the South Island. At 5am the vessel struck the Otara reef at Waipapa point about ¾ of a mile from shore.

The ship quickly filled with water. At 5.40am a boat with the second mate in charge was lowered to find a landing place and about halfway to the shore a Mr. G Lawrence dived overboard and swam to call for help at a house ½ a mile away. Charles Gibb rode 35 miles by horseback to the nearest telegraph office at Wyndham to raise the alarm.By noon the ship was being washed by heavy seas. Six strong swimmers attempted to swim to shore. Three were drowned. Two boats were washed out of their davits.An attempt was made to land on the reef but again several strong swimmers were washed off and three more strong swimmers were drowned.

North Island

South Island

Christchurch

Port Chalmers

Waipapa Point Otara Reef

Dunedin

The distance travelled by the S. S. TararuaInvercargill

Map of New Zealand showing the location of the Port Chalmers, Otara Reef, Waipapa Point and Fortrose.

Fortrose

The second mate tried to return the boat to the Tararua but the seas were now too strong and he stood out to sea to intercept any passing vessels for help. A boat in charge of the chief officer tried to get a line to shore but the boat capsized. Eight people reached shore safely. A young lad was drowned.By 2pm the Tararua began to break up. Heavy seas washing overboard swept about 20 people to their deaths. Only the chief cook reached the shore. By evening the survivors had only the rigging to cling to and by 2.30am the last screams were heard from the Tararua. By the time help arrived by daylight on the 30th with the arrival of the S.S. Hawea only the bowsprit and the mizzen mast could be seen above water. Of 151 persons on board, 131 lost their lives. Only 20 men were saved 12 members of the crew and 8 steerage passengers. 105 men, 12 women and 14 children lost their lives in New Zealand’s second worst shipping disaster.

Special thanks is extended to Mr. Steven McLachlan,Shades Arcade Stamp Centre, Christchurch, for use of this image.

The line of rocks known as Otara reef can be clearly seen in this photo taken from the Waipapa Point lighthouse. The reef extends out to sea for seven miles.

Otago Witness 7 May 1881

Looking towards Waipapa Point from about where the Taraua was wrecked

Several of those drowned were identified and claimed by relatives but many victims could not be identified.

Ground for a cemetery was allocated behind the sand hills beyond the beach where the Tararua came a ground.

Above: View of the cemetery from the sand hills today.

Below: Approach across the paddocks.

Only one individual headstone remains. The headstone belongs to William Bell…

In Loving remembrance of William Bell of AucklandLost on the S.S.Tararua

29th April 1891In his 29th year

Above: This cairn was set over the largest plot in 1967. The cairn was funded by the Department of Internal Affairs.

The children of Fortrose and surrounding district schools raised money for a marble headstone to commemorate the victims who were unmarked except for wooden picket fence grave surrounds.

The collections for the headstones must have gone on for many years. Many older folk even in the1970s remembered taking their threepenny contributions to the school.(Joan MacIntosh*).

The memorial inscriptions reads…Erected

by the children of Fortrose School

Assisted by other district schools In memory of

those who perished by the wreck of the S.S.Tararua

29th April 1881

The Fortrose cemetery also contains a memorial placed over the site of a smaller number of victims, that was paid for by the children of the school and surrounding districts.

For many years the children assembled on the anniversary of the wreck and laid flowers on the graves of the victims. The older boys kept the small plot in the cemetery neat and tidy. One visitor was so impressed by the boys’ care that he sent them a round football.

When the football became shabby Mr Miilard, the headmaster, suggested it was time to work at the cemetery. As long as Mr Millard worked at the school, a new football arrived every year for the boys.This inscription is the same as

the children’s memorial at the Tararua Acre Cemetery.

The Memorial for the Tararua victims is not the only shipwreck recorded at Fortrose.

On a neighbouring grave there is a headstone for David Lindsay who was drowned when the William Ackers was wrecked on Waipapa Point in 1876.

As a result of the Tararua disaster this lighthouse was erected in 1885.