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November 17. Schooner Bonaventure, Charlemagne Arbour, from
Patrick's Hole, put back in distress, having lost an anchor.
Bark Charles and William, Richard Kirby, from Patrick's Hole,
put back with the loss of an anchor and other damages.
Tevierge, the pilot, had his leg broken in two places and
otherwise much bruised on board.
Schooner Good Intent, Jacques Turgeon, from Patrick's Hole, put
back in distress with the loss of two anchors.
Schooner Neptune, Flavien Duhamel, from Patrick's Hole, put
back in distress, lost one anchor and cable.
November 20th. Schooner Victory, Charles Duhamel, from Hare
Island, bound to Portneuf with provisions &c. for the
Banterer, put back in distress with the loss of one anchor.
Saw the government schooner Charlotte, Lambly, off the Brandy
Pot, steering down.
November 21st. Schooner Elizabeth, Joseph April, from Hare
island, with stores &c. saved from the Lady Borringdon, and the
Captain and crew. Captain Robert Wilson, of the Margaret, is
arrived in town and reports that his ship and the Neva are both
at Kamouraska with the loss of anchors and cable.
Thanks to Mike Phillips, the following 'potted history'
supplements our meager knowledge of the wreck of H.M.S. Banterer.
Banterer, 22 guns, 6th rate, built in 18O7 by Temple of South
Shields on the Tyne. 532 tons by builder's measurement, length
118.5 feet with a beam of 31.5 feet. Wrecked 18O8.
18O7, Captain Alexander Shippard, Halifax. In October 18O8,
Banterer sailed up the St. Lawrence River to Quebec. Because of
violent gales, she took on a pilot below the island of Bic, (on
the south bank between Rimouski and Trois Pistoles), and on the
25th she passed between that Island and the shore. When the wind
shifted to the westward, she tacked across towards the north
shore, and at about 4 A.M., ran aground on a shoal.
It transpired at the subsequent court martial, that the
master, Robert Clegram, had not passed on to Lieutenant Stephen
McCurdy, who relieved him in the middle watch, the captain's
orders to keep the lead going and to relieve the forecastle watch
every half hour. Lieutenant McCurdy not only left the deck
between the hours of two and four o'clock but also allowed the
pilot to do so. For a quarter of an hour, he, the pilot's
apprentice, the midshipman and quartermaster of the watch, drank
grog in the gun room.
Captain Shippard immediately ordered the master to sound
around the ship, and once the position of the shoal had been
determined, the stream anchor and cable were got into the launch
and the boats made ready to tow her out into deep water.
Unfortunately, the wind increased to gale force and the boats were
not able to pull ahead so the anchor had to be dropped, only a cable's
length away. The spare topmasts were put over the side to make a raft,
to carry out a bower anchor, but the wind and cold made this
impracticable.
By now the ship was striking very hard, with heavy seas
breaking over her, so the topmasts were cut away. During the
evening, with the water gaining on the pumps, the opportunity was
taken of a favourable tide, to land the sick and a party of
marines and boys with some provisions. When the stream anchor
came home and the wind moderated on the morning of the 2Oth, the
guns and shot were thrown overboard, but when the carpenter found
that the water was above the orlop deck and sand was coming up
with the pumps, they stopped further efforts to get her off. On
the morning of the 31st, the main effort was devoted to landing
stores and all those people who could be spared. During the rest
of the day, the sea ran too high for the boats to return, and
with expectations of the ship breaking up, a raft was
constructed. However in the evening, the boats were able to
come off and the people taken ashore, the captain being the last
to leave the wreck in the jolly boat on November first.
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