According to Bing Copilot, “Nestled within the Bay of Islands Coastal Park, Childers Cove echoes a tragic chapter. In 1839, the wooden barque “Children” was shipwrecked after striking nearby reefs.”
This is an anchor from the wreck of the 255-ton wooden barque the Children: -
It is located at the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village who say “It appears to be a Pering’s Improved Anchor, developed at Portsmouth after 1813. The addition of broad curvature to the anchor arms provided a stronger purchase than the pre-existing Admiralty Old Pattern Long Shanked Anchor with straight arms. However, the evidence of hammer-welding the separate pieces of the arms and palms to the central shank (peaked crown and flat palms) suggests the manufacture I before the 1831 Rodger’s Anchor design, (which cast both arms and their flukes as one piece that was then attached to the shank by a bolt through the crown). This identification seems consistent with the date of the Children’s construction in 1824.”
According to https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/5b595d6421ea670d8050a5d2 , “Childers Cove is situated about 15 ks east of Warrnambool in the area known as Mepunga. It is named after the shipwreck of 'The Children.”
According to https://visit12apostles.com.au/explore/shipwrecks-of-the-12-apostles-coast/ , “The wreck occurred in 1839 at Childers Cove, 30km west of Peterborough. The wooden barque was wrecked after striking reefs close to shore at the entrance of Childers Cove. Crew sickness and gale force winds conspired upon this ill-fated passage from Launceston to Portland.”
Further, “In 1951 high tide and rough seas exposed the skeletal remains of a man and child believed to be from the wreck which claimed 17 (?)* lives. The anchor was recovered from the wreck by Flagstaff Hill Divers it is now displayed at the front of Flagstaff Hill reception.”
* (The Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village is currently saying that just “16 passengers and crew perished” – “the captain (Captain H.Browne), 6 men, one woman and 8 children”, and all of the livestock.)
They also name the 4 Flagstaff Hill divers who recovered the anchor from the wreck on 3rd January 1974, adding that the anchor was dragged up the cliffs a week or so later and taken to Warrnambool where it eventually went on display near the entrance to the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village.
The day that the anchor was dragged up the cliffs may well have been about the date for the 135th anniversary of the sinking of the Children on 15th January 1839.
The Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village describes the Children as being a 3-masted wooden barque built in Liverpool, England in 1824. The Children’s measurements were given as Length 92 feet, Beam 25 feet, Depth 17 feet.
The ship sailed from England to Australia to be used for regular coastal trading between Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania), the Port Phillip District of NSW and South Australia. The ship was under the command of Captain H.Browne.
The Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village says that there were 24 passengers on board – the captain, 14 crew and 9 children. It is not clear just who the children belonged to, perhaps the crew members. There was at least one woman on board because a woman was one of the people who perished during the ship’s wrecking.
The Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village also says that the ship’s cargo included livestock, general cargo of beef, pork, tobacco, tripe, lime juice, horsehair, currants, lead-shot, beer and spirits, 5000 house bricks from London and 6 whaling boats with associated whaling gear. The livestock on board comprised of 1500 sheep, 8 bullocks and 7 horses.
The ship became completely destroyed after striking a limestone stack called ‘The Pinnacle’. It had sailed out of Launceston, Van Diemen’s Land on 11th January 1839. “The vessel was battered by gale force north westerly winds shorty after setting out ….. and adverse sailing conditions persisted for the next four days.”
“At 11pm on the 15th of January 1839 …. The Children struck the Pinnacle” and the ship was completely destroyed within half an hour. 16 out of the 24 passengers on board perished, including 8 of the 9 children on board.
I can’t say just why the ship was called the Children at all. It’s probably got nothing to do with it having had 9 children on board. And the location of the wreck at Childers Cove is not a coincidence at all. The cove became known as ‘Childers’ after the wrecking of the Children.
Childers Cove is midway between Warrnambool and Peterborough. A shipwreck called Nirranda lies to the east of Childers Cove, towards Bay of Islands.
My thanks go to Jacqui Gower for her two photos of the anchor and for sending me the information from the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village.
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