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The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 5th May 1855 :
“WRECK OF THE MARTHA AND ELIZABETH. - On Thursday night last the schooner Martha and Elizabeth, Anderson, master, bound from Melbourne to Newcastle, was cast away near Jervis’s Bay. Fortunately no lives were lost, but nothing was saved from the ship. Capt. Anderson, who arrived in Sydney about midnight, has furnished us with the following account of the wreck, and of the subsequent occurrences : - ‘April 26th. - At 5.30 p.m. sighted Cape St. George, bearing N. 1/2 E., the wind variable from S.S.E., with rain and thick weather, steered N.E. by N. At 7.30 p.m. wind very variable, with heavy showers of rain, and the current setting very strong to the southward. About 8 p.m., finding the current setting the vessel down upon Point Perpendicular, tacked to the southward. About 8.40 p.m., finding the schooner would not fetch the South Head of Jervis’s Bay, on the port tack, tacked to the N.E. At 8.50 p.m., a calm; the vessel setting in fast to the breakers with a heavy swell from the eastward. At about 9 p.m., finding the vessel close to the cliff, with no possibility of saving her, cleared away, and launched the boat; but owing to the heavy ground swell the boat filled and parted from the ship with one hand (Robert Jellicar) in her, but he fortunately caught a rope’s end aft, and was saved by hauling him over the stern. About 9.39 p.m., as the vessel came stern on, the main boom struck the cliff and she parted amidships. The vessel payed round to starboard, and was driven into a gully in the cliff just large enough to admit her lengthways, and about 10 feet from the line of the coast. Upon entering, the vessel struck instantly abaft, the sea breaking furiously over her. Finding she could not last many minutes, we endeavoured to get a line ashore by means of a small grapling; finding the grapling would not hook the rocks, one of the hands, R. Jellicar, got footing by swimming from the stern, while another, John Rogers, jumped from the bowsprit, which instantly afterwards parted from the vessel, the remaining hands, with the captain’s wife and sister, were slung and hauled ashore from the bows by those ashore and the captain, who was the last to leave the vessel. The crew and the captain’s wife and sister had scarcely any clothing, and not a shoe to their feet; and we had scarcely secured a footing on the slippery rock ere the vessel broke up, and was, at 11 o’clock, in small pieces. After some search in the dark, found a small ledge in the rocks, where we all assembled for the night, which was intensely cold, with s strong easterly wind, and incessant rain through the night, which was one of the most dreary we ever experienced. At daylight the following morning (the 27th instant) there was not a vestige of her but was in small pieces, and nothing to be saved. After ascending the rocks with great difficulty, proceeded through high scrub, trees in some places, while in others up to our waists in swamps, towards Shoalhaven, and having no shoes with scarcely any clothing, made the task most painful. After walking about 18 miles, had the good fortune to fall in with Mr. Kinghorn’s station, where we were most kindly received by that worthy man. After remaining there for the night, proceeded to Shoalhaven, where we were heartily made welcome by Captain Noel, of the steamer Nora Creina, and received from him a passage from thence to Sydney, at which place we arrived at about midnight of the 30th instant, not only grateful for our lives, but to those from whom we have received so much kindness. - Empire, May 1.”
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