Reported in the Twillingate Sun
13 October 1881
On Friday, Sept 30, [1881] writes our Randon correspondent – the schr. Llewellyn, left St. John’s for home. She had her usual crew and some passengers. All went on well ‘till they reached the North side of Trinity Bay when, unfortunately, they ran on the Shag Rock, near Ireland’s Eye, and in less than ten minutes the schooner was completely under water. The passengers and crew – nine altogether – escaped with their lives and nothing more. The night was very dark and a stiff breeze blowing. The schooner was hired by William Cooper & Sons, of North West Arm, Random, who lost their winter’s fit-out, which they had just bought. Perhaps the saddest part of the affair is in connection with the Rev. James Lumsden, Methodist Minister, who had only arrived from England by the last home boat, and was on his way to the Random Mission.
He lost everything he had, and barely escaped without either a hat or a boot. He is now left nearly destitute of clothing. To him the loss is considerable, not only with regard to clothing; for he had a splendid collection of books, many of them being present from friends when leaving home. He had also a number of other presents. Few, upon the commencement of their missionary career in Newfoundland have met with such a disheartening incident. The unfortunate affair has elicited the unmistakable sympathy of the people. Mrs. Toope and others in Ireland’s Eye treated the shipwrecked men with great consideration, and did their utmost to assist them in reaching their homes. The schooner was insured, but the poor man who owned her has lost heavily, as he had a large quantity of fishing gear on board at the time.
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Transcribed by Wanda Garrett, November 2014
These transcriptions may contain human errors. As always, confirm these as you would any other source material.