Lived 10 Years In Hulk

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31352, 24 April 1967, Page 2

Lived 10 Years In Hulk

“How would you all like to live aboard a ship?”

When English-born John Pryor Eames fired this question at his Lyttelton - born wife at Lyttelton in 1896 she showed no marked enthusiasm.

Nevertheless Mr and Mrs Eames and their three daughters, one of whom now lives at 7 Coleridge terrace, overlooking the harbour, left their home on the Lyttelton slopes and spent 10 years aboard a coal hulk In the inner harbour. Mr Eames, a former seaman, was in charge of the craft Last week at Lyttelton Mrs Emily Lydia Harvey, a very active octogenarian who lives in a charming two-storeyed house alone with a budgeriger, spoke of her girlhood aboard the Westport Coal Company’s hulk Darra. Mrs Harvey was nine years old when the family took up residence aboard the converted hulk, once an Orient Line barque in the United King-dom-Australia passenger trade. The forebodings of friends, who questioned the wisdom of bringing up three young girls aboard a coal hulk in Lyttelton Harbour, were groundless. Mrs Harvey said her life was full, satisfying and happy. Moveable Home

After leaving the Lyttelton Borough School she worked at John Bates's china shop in Christchurch. Sometimes when she returned from school or work she had to look for her home because the Darra was shifted wherever ships required coal bunkering. The hulk’s main berth, however, was at No. 3 East berth, which was fairly central.

In storm weather, the hulk would show considerable movement Mrs Harvey was the only one affected by seasickness. To circumvent it she sometimes left for school at 6 a.m., and waited ashore until it opened. At other times she and her sisters would have to climb aboard the hulk from every angle. Sometimes workmen or seamen would pass them down the rigging to the hulk’s deck.

Mrs Harvey said the men Included plenty of “real hard

cases.” They worked, dranl and played hard but not onc< was she embarrassed by bat language or affronted by them When the girls were about the men used to hush eacl other until they passed out ol earshot

“I don’t think, even if there were coal hulks about now, a family like ours could live aboard ship in that enviroment today,” Mrs Harvey said. “The pressures are too great. Times have changed,” she said. “Our lives were full and overflowing. We really lived. We inet people from all over the world.- We had discipline and love in the home. Our quarters aft, formerly the officers’ quarters, were clean, spacious and tastefully furnished. Remember that the Darra, which was gutted by Are in Sydney before spending 50 years as a coal hulk, was once a fine sailing vessel. This teak table is the one we had aboard,” she said as she pointed to a huge varnished dining table. Music Aboard “We had musical evenings round the piano. Officers and seamen from the various ships used to visit us. They brought their musical instruments sometimes. On Sunday evenings, we always took our visitors to church and after we returned, we had a sing song and supper aboard. Regular visit-

ors aboard the Darra were the local clergymen and the sisters from St. Joseph’s Convent at Lyttelton. The sisters used to play the piano to us,” said Mrs Harper, who is a staunch supporter of the Methodist Church.

Mrs Harper who has an attractive garden, said that she loved flowers and was keenly interested in all horticultural work.

Aboard the Darra, they grew flowers the best way they could. Once when she and her sister grew violets in an old iron bath rats ate them before they bloomed, she said. Rats never came near the living quarters, however. Yard Arm Laundry

Washing clothes presented no difficulty as these were hung in the lower rigging and the men would hoist them aloft on a yard arm tackle if required, Mrs Harvey said. The 999-ton Darra was only one of a group of vessels serving as hulks at Lyttelton. Mrs Harvey recalled the names of many famous visiting vessels, including the Antartic ones, such as the Terra Nova, Nimrod, Morning and Discovery. “They all needed coal then,” she said. “Then there was the Indian training ship Dalhousie and again the Argentine training ship Presidente Sarmiento. I had afternoon tea aboard the President Sarmiento.

“We coaled many warships too,” she said. The Darra played the part of the Charlotte Jane for the province’s centennial celebrations in 1950. She was now sunk beyond Quail Island, Mrs Harvey said. Mrs Harvey married an Australian when she was 25 and had been living ashore several years. Her husband an artillery and cavalry instructor, died 17 months later after being thrown from a horse at Nelson while he was giving tuition to Nelson College boys. For 18 years Mrs Harvey was an usher at the Harbour Light Theatre. She had also taken an active part in the work of the Methodist Church, the Country Women’s Institute, several horticultural societies, the Nurse Maud and other organisations. Rare China In her home, where she has lived most of her widowhood, she has a commanding view of the harbour she knows better than many. Her china collection includes several precious Dresden pieces and a rare wine glass from the Antarctic vessel Discovery. Mrs Harvey does not play much now but she is fond of music and in her drawing room she has a Metzler piano with an organo tremolo pedal. Mrs Harvey has many friends and relatives but prefers to live alone.