Bengollyun Gallery

Completed June 1862; Official No. 44665; Code Letters TWCN.

Bengollyun spent much of her early years trading to & from Australia. In 1862 she was advertised in Sydney as an A1 clipper ship.

Owners: McKinnon, Frew & Co, Liverpool; 1871 Matheau & Co, Nantes-renamed Noumea; 1876 Dubois & Burguerie, Nantes; 1880 (bought for £6832) Samuel Potter & Co (Joseph B Foley & Co mgr/owner) London-renamed Bengollyun.

Masters: 1862 McKinnon; 1862 William Watson; 1862 Carl GF Blix; 1863-65 William Watson; 1866 McKinnon; 1867-69 Sellar; 1870-71 Mc Alley; 1871-81 A Rabreau; 1881 WT Johnson; 1882 P Hansen; 1883-85 W Brown; 1885 James Shearing; 1887-89 George Begg Webster (C.N. 81166).

Miscellaneous: December 1862 William Watson, master, was accused of raping Elizabeth Lewis, stewardess on Bengollyun, on a voyage from England. He was not accused until a month after the ship had arrived at Sydney which appeared rather strange. Because the accuser did not appear at court the case was left open & Watson was free to leave. Due to Watson’s arrest Carl Blix was appointed as master. Watson returned to England in May 1863 as 2nd officer aboard the ship Kosciusko; Christmas Day 1862, while at Sydney, John Jack, able seaman, drowned while under the influence of drink. It was assumed he had tried to board his ship but had fallen through a part of the quayside that was under repair. He was 27 & from Aberdeen; January 1863 at Sydney, Blix, master, pleaded guilty to failing to exhibit a constant bright light at the masthead of his vessel & also for neglecting to have a watch in charge of the deck; January 1863 at Sydney, John Sails & William Perry were sentenced to four weeks hard labour for desertion; February 1863 at Sydney, William Bohn, John Davis & Joseph McKay were charged with desertion & sentenced to four weeks hard labour; April 1863 Arthur Russell & George Jackson were sentenced to four weeks hard labour for desertion.

Voyages: 27 November 1862 arrived at Sydney, NSW from London with a general cargo including 20 pure French Merino rams.

Bengollyun sailed from Garston Dock on 20 March 1889 bound for Iquique with 1,514 tons of coal, 10 tons of stores, 40 tons of gunny bags & a crew of 24 including the master. She was towed out of the River Mersey by the tug Cruiser. After she had cast off at about 4.30pm the tug had to later seek shelter in Holyhead as a hurricane blew up at about 10pm. The vessel was last seen at about 6.20pm between the Orme’s Head & the Northwest lightship. Over the next few days wreckage was cast up on the coast of Anglesey. This included a lifeboat & lifebuoy with the vessel’s name on them & also wreckage from another vessel. This evidence pointed to the probability that she had been in collision but this was pure conjecture & her fate remained unknown. More wreckage, including seamen’s chests, later washed up on the coast of North Wales.

Crew November 1862: