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September 10, 2004
The steamship Great Britain
Preservation efforts offer a glimpse of Jewish life at sea in
the 1850s.
EDGAR ASHER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
In a dry dock in the English port city of Bristol, a group of enthusiastic
and dedicated people are engaged in a unique project to renovate
and conserve the steamship Great Britain. The ship, which was launched
in 1843, was the world's first iron-hulled, screw-propeller passenger
liner. In April 1970, in one of the most ambitious maritime salvage
operations ever carried out, the ship was raised onto a huge floating
pontoon in Sparrow Cove in the Falkland Islands and was towed from
the South Atlantic back to Bristol, where she was originally built.
The restoration and conservation of the ship opened a most unusual
and unexpected window into Jewish life from more than 150 years
ago.
The Great Britain, which is the forerunner of all modern ships,
was conceived and built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Brunel, born
in 1806, was one of Britain's most gifted, creative and versatile
engineers. He had already designed the Great Western, a wooden ship
propelled by steam-driven paddle wheels. In 1838 it crossed from
Bristol to New York by steam power in just 15 days. In 1839, Brunel
was already at work on a successor to the Great Western, the wrought
iron-hulled ship Great Britain.
Dagmar Smeed, marketing and communications manager of the Great
Britain project in Bristol, is full of enthusiasm when she describes
some of the background to the ship's history. "In Victorian
times, when Brunel built his ship, there were already some examples
of vessels built in iron, as well as some experimental ships driven
by a propeller, but there was nothing on the scale of this ship.
It was, at 322 feet [98 metres], some 50 feet longer than the next
biggest ship in the world at the time. For Victorians, it was a
phenomenal concept and sight, it was huge, in fact many people thought
that such a large vessel could not possibly succeed in getting to
New York."
A journey by sea in the mid-19th century could be both perilous
and of long duration. The voyage depended on the vagaries of the
wind and the currents. Some of the passengers would also become
ill on board and some would even die before reaching their destination.
Life and death at sea
In 1852, the 3,675-ton Great Britain started a regular service between
England and Australia and, over the next 24 years, she would make
32 such round trips, averaging 60 days in each direction. During
her Australian service, the ship also carried more than 15,000 emigrants
and it is estimated that 500,000 present-day Australians are descended
from these passengers. On its first Australian voyage, the ship
carried 630 passengers and a crew of 142. This voyage lasted 83
days instead of the scheduled 60 days because of bad weather and
the need to retrace some of the journey to take on more coal for
the engine.
We fortunately know a lot about the Great Britain and her passengers
because it was the habit of many people at the time to write a regular
diary during their long voyage. There was on board one trip a group
of Jewish passengers and it was clear from a letter sent to the
Sydney Morning Herald that they arranged, with the co-operation
of the first officer, to celebrate the High Holy Days on board.
In 1852, all the festivals were celebrated at sea. On Nov. 22, 1852,
the following letter to the Great Britain's first officer, Henry
T. Cox, was published in the Herald. It was dated Nov. 9,
at sea, and signed by 12 passengers:
"Dear Sir,
"We, the undersigned members of the Jewish faith, passengers
on board the Great Britain steamship, from Liverpool to Australia,
approximating towards the close of our journey, desire to express
our warm appreciation of the many acts of kindness we have received
at your hands, and especially the favor that accorded to us the
use of a room for festival purposes on days of solemn import to
us as Jews.... And sir, trusting you will be long spared your health,
to render to the travelling community generally that service you
have rendered us personally."
It is evident from this extract that Cox had gone out of his way
to facilitate the requirements of the Jewish passengers and they
wanted to show their appreciation. One of the signatories, Simeon
Cohen, returned to Liverpool on the Great Britain on Jan. 4, 1853.
He married in England and came back to Australia on the ship's next
voyage, in August 1853, with his new bride Cecilia.
The ship's next round trip to Australia started at Liverpool on
Aug. 11, 1853. The voyage was to last 65 days, but on Oct. 11, just
four days before the ship was due in Melbourne, a passenger, Annie
Hemming, wrote the following extract in her diary: "Mrs.
Cohen is still very ill and Dr. Sicler has been called in to consult
with Dr. Alexander about her. The long talked of ball is to come
off on Thursday if Mrs. Cohen is well enough to render it practicable...."
The next day, Hemming wrote: "On going downstairs to bed
yesterday, we heard that Mrs. Cohen was just dead. No one had an
idea that she was so really ill. She had always complained so when
there was little or nothing the matter that we thought it was the
same now. She was at dinner on Sunday.
"It is terribly sudden and her husband is almost distracted.
He came home from Melbourne by the Great Britain last time on purpose
to bring her out, as they had been engaged before and they were
only married three weeks before we sailed. It was bronchitis she
died of. As we are so near Melbourne she is not to be buried at
sea. She was only 19 and her husband is 21.
"The Jews have been having a service this morning on account
of her death...."
The death of Cecilia Cohen must have made a deep impression on all
the passengers and crew, as is reflected in a diary extract of another
passenger, Richard Saddington. On Wednesday, Oct. 12, 1853, he wrote:
"How true it is that we know not what a day may bring forth.
Since I last wrote in this book at 10 o'clock, Death has been amongst
our company and taken from amongst our number Mrs. Simeon Cohen
of the After Saloon, the young, accomplished and beautiful wife
of Mr. Cohen of Melbourne – this lady has been suffering much
from sea sickness, about Sunday she was attacked with croup, this
was followed by inflammation of the brains and yesterday was succeeded
by inflammation of the lungs, which terminated fatally at 11 o'clock
last evening, notwithstanding the skilful and untiring exertions
of Dr. Alexander and Dr. Sickler.
"Death at all times is appalling, especially so at sea, but
under existing circumstances it is peculiarly affecting - Mr. Cohen,
who is about 21, went to Melbourne on the Great Britain last voyage
and did well in business. He returned to Liverpool in the Great
Britain, contrary to his original intention, and it is thought much
to the detriment of his commercial affairs. His sole purpose however
was to be united to the young lady whose affections he had gained.
It is now just five months since he was married to Miss Cecilia
Woolf of Liverpool, her age was then 17. This early marriage is
the prime cause of her early death – poor fellow, how are his
prospects blighted – his fondest affections destroyed the object
of them thus early snatched from his embrace by the icy hand of
Death – may we all learn from this sad instance of human frailty
to set our affections upon heavenly things which pass not away –
it will not do to dwell too long upon this subject....
"I am thankful to add that we are to be spared the infliction
of witnessing that sad and mournful sight, a burial at sea, the
body will be enclosed in a shell and placed in the quarter boat
until our arrival in Melbourne, when the body will be taken on shore
at Liardets Beach and conveyed to the Jewish cemetery. Had the burial
taken place on board, one of their number would have officiated
and there would have been a few prayers whilst the only ceremony
would have been Cutting the Coat of the nearest male relative...."
The kindness and consideration of Capt. Mathews must have been appreciated
by the Jewish passengers on board. A notice published in the Melbourne
Argus on Dec. 2, 1853, under the column Domestic Intelligence, would
indicate in this excerpt just how much the Melbourne community felt
about Mathews.
"Testimonial to Captain Mathews.
"A large party of merchants and other gentlemen of the Hebrew
persuasion met at the Criterion Hotel yesterday evening, at a complimentary
dinner given by them to Captain Mathews of the Great Britain ...
the bill of fare contained some illusions [sic] to the occasion
such as poisson à la Juive, pommes aux larmes de Rachel,
etc. The immediate object of the compliments was to acknowledge
the kindness shown to some of the fraternity on board and particularly
to a Jewess who was ill and died on the passage out, and whose body
Captain Mathews preserved and brought into port, instead of burying
at sea.
"The testimonial was a piece of silver plate ... [with] ...
the following inscription: 'Presented to Captain B.R. Mathews of
the Great Britain by a few members of the Hebrew persuasion of Melbourne,
Victoria, as token of esteem and respect held by them for his urbanity
and kindness towards their co-religionists. December 1853.' "
Keeping history alive
The Great Britain had a distinguished history as a luxury liner,
emigrant clipper, troop carrier and windjammer. In 1886, the ship,
on its way to San Francisco from Cardiff with a cargo of Welsh coal,
ran into a severe storm off the Falkland Islands and was badly damaged.
Her owners were not prepared to pay for repairs for such an old
vessel and it was decided that the ship would be anchored and used
for coal and wool storage in Port Stanley. In 1937, no longer watertight,
the hulk was towed to nearby Sparrow Cove and sunk in shallow water.
Dr. Ewan Corlett, who was then a leading naval architect, had written
a letter in November 1967 to the Times newspaper. In his
letter, Corlett briefly explained the importance of saving such
a unique example of maritime history for posterity. From here, Corlett
started galvanizing support and managed to interest millionaire
businessman Sir Jack Hayward to become one of the prime financial
backers of the project to bring the ship back to Bristol and conserve
her.
Already the project has cost 11 million pounds (more than $25 million
Cdn) and still just over 1 million pounds more needs to be raised
to complete the project. In July 2005, the newly refurbished dockyard
will be ready, just as the Victorians would have seen it. A new
museum will show visitors the significance of the project and the
ship itself, with the key stages in her long life. On board the
ship, they will be able to see portrayed the different eras in her
history.
The sad and moving story of the death of the young Jewish bride,
all those years ago in the seas off the southern coast of Australia,
will not be forgotten. One of the ship's cabins will be recreated
as Cecilia Cohen's cabin and visitors will be able to hear about
one of the most poignant human episodes in the life of one of the
world's most remarkable and famous ships.
Edgar Asher is director of Isranet news and Media service.
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