Page image

A.—l.

8

respecting the gallant daring of William Jenkins, an old whaler, in bringing ashore, amidst circumstances of the greatest difficulty, upwards of one hundred Avomen and children from the wrecked immigrant ship the "City of Auckland." 2. Not long before Jenkins showed himself so bravely successful in this case, when not a life wras lost, the " Felixstowe," a coal-laden barque, was wrecked upon the same beach, near Otaki, on the south-west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. From her, Jenkins, with a boat's crew consisting of Hector McDonall and three Maoris (named Pitoitoi, Wi Neera, and Maaka), rescued Mrs. Piggott, the wife of the captain. Jenkins's services, in leading and inspiriting his companions on this occasion, have been brought to the notice of the Government by the Coroner and jury who held inquests on the bodies of some of the drowned sailors. 3. The recommendation of the Coroner and jury, that the Government should give a " token of their approbation " to Jenkins and his crew, as well as to a second crew, consisting of Thomas Seymour, John Harvey, F. Skipwith, and James Ransfield, who did gallant service at the wreck of the "Felixstowe," is under consideration. But the Premier believes that His Excellency will have pleasure in being enabled at once to forward to the Secretary of State for the Colonies the accompanying copy of Mr. Speaker's letter and its enclosure, as well as of the recommendation of the Coroner and jury, with a view to the documents being submitted to the Royal Humane Society, in order that that Society may, as it will no doubt desire to do, bestow upon Jenkins and the others concerned such recognition of their services as it may consider to be deserved. Wellington, Ist November, 1878. G. Grey.

Sub-Enclosure 1 to Enclosure in No. 15. The Speaker of the House of Representatives to Sir George Grey. My dear Sir George,— Wellington, 31st October, 1878. I enclose a letter from Mr. Braithwaite, my nephew, a Justice of the Peace, respecting the brave conduct of Jenkins in rescuing the women from the immigrant ship " City of Auckland," wrecked on the beach at Otaki. I thiDk conduct such as this deserving of the medal of the Royal Humane Society. I have, &c, The Hon. Sir George Grey, K.C.B. William Fitzherbert.

Sub-Enclosure 2 to Enclosure in No. 15. Mr. A. Braithwaite to the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Dear Sir William,— Hutt, 29th October, 1878. May I call your attention to the gallant conduct of William Jenkins (and his boat's crew of volunteers, Morgan Carkeek, surveyor, and two half-castes, named Marks and Hammond) at the recent shipwreck on the West Coast ? W Then the "City of Auckland" was discovered on Wednesday morning ashore on the beach of Otaki, William Jenkins went off to the vessel, steering his boat through a very heavy surf and broken sea, and commenced bringing ashore the women; he made several trips, and landed over one hundred women and children, immigrants, without an accident. He began at 9 o'clock a.m., and it was nearly 3 o'clock in the afternoon before they were all ashore. William Jenkins is an old settler, about sixty-five years of age, and the skilful way in which he handled his boat through the heavy surf (being twice washed from his post) was worthy of admiration. The cool daring of the old man gave confidence, and I consider the safe landing of the shipwrecked people from the "City of Auckland" due to the noble conduct of William and his brave crew. I have, &c, Arthur Braithwaite, J.P.

Sub-Enclosure 3 to Enclosure in No. 15. The Coroner and Foreman of the Jury to the Hon. the Minister of Justice. Sir,— Otaki, 16th October, 1878. We, the undersigned, feel it incumbent on us to make honorable mention of William Jenkins, Hector McDonald, Toitoi,* Wi Nayler,f and Mark, J the crew of a boat who succeeded in rescuing Mrs. Piggott, the wife of the captain of the ship " Felixstowe ;" and of Thomas Seymour, John Harvey, F. Skipwith, and James Ransfield, who gallantly and freely exposed their lives to imminent danger with the humane view of trying to save the life of Captain Piggott and his crew; and hope that the Government will in its clemency award them a token of its approbation. Charles Hewson, Coroner. The Hon. the Minister of Justice. W. H. Simcox, Foreman of the Jury.

* Pitoitoi. t Wi Neira. J Maaka.

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert