This is the grave of 25-year-old David Kilpatrick, a victim of the Loch Sloy wrecking on a nearby reef at Kangaroo Island in April 1899. One of the passengers on the Loch Sloy, he was one of the few onboard who made it to shore after the ship was wrecked. The grave is said to be about 600 yards (or 549m) east of Cape Bedout, and 600m inland between Sandy Creek and Breakneck Creek at Maupertuis Bay. The plaque was placed on the grave to replace the original limestone headstone.
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The grave of David Kilpatrick
(Photograph taken by Quentin Chester)
According to https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/87198530 , (Mr E.Hudson from) the Queenscliffe (known as Kingscote since 1940) rocket crew found Kilpatrick’s (badly decomposed) body (on 17th or 18th May 1899). The crew dug a grave on a stony rise close by and buried Kilpatrick there. They carved a headstone (out of limestone) and a footstone for the grave site and carved an inscription into the headstone. A plaque was placed on the grave later on.
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The grave of David Kilpatrick
(Photograph taken by Quentin Chester)
When the 1280-gross ton iron barque Loch Sloy sank in Maupertuis Bay on 24th April 1899, 31 passengers and crew drowned. Only 4 men, including Kilpatrick, made it to shore. Kilpatrick, however, died soon afterwards. Two others, an apprentice called William John Simpson and Able Seaman William Mitchell, were found about 7 miles south of the Cape Borda lighthouse 17 days after the Loch Sloy sank. They, and another Able Seaman named Duncan McMillan, finally made it to safety.
Both “Shipwrecks in South Australia, Book Two, 1876-1899” by (the late) Ronald Parsons and “Kangaroo Island Shipwrecks” (2007) by (the late) Gifford Chapman discuss the death of David Kilpatrick and the wrecking of the Loch Sloy in detail.
The updated version of “Kangaroo Island Shipwrecks”, published by the author in 2007, includes many colour photographs, including a new photo of David Kilpatrick’s grave site (taken by the author), plus these black & white photos of Kilpatrick and the Loch Sloy: -
Photos taken from “Kangaroo Island Shipwrecks” (2007) by Gifford Chapman
Unfortunately, Gifford Chapman passed away on 20th February 2016 and Ronald Parsons died that same year. Our condolences go to their family and friends.
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