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SS Georgette and Her Saving Grace
The SS Georgette was a brand new steamship when
she began service on Western Australia’s southwest
coast in 1873.
Though heralding the change from sail to steam
as a product of the Industrial Revolution, Georgette
had a short and ill-starred career.
Her sinking on December 1, 1876 and the drama
surrounding the daring rescue of the survivors from
raging surf, made it one of the most celebrated
shipwrecks in the state’s maritime history, capturing
the imagination of the press around the world.BEGINNINGS
Built in Dumbarton, UK, in 1872, Georgette was a
46-metre 211-tonne single screw-steamer, with a
deadweight tonnage capacity of 460, powered by a
two-cylinder 48 horsepower engine and rigged as a
two-masted topsail schooner.
While still new, Georgette was sold to Thomas
Connor of Fremantle for £14,000 and put to work in
September 1873 as a coastal trader and passenger
vessel between Albany and Geraldton.
On November 29, 1876, Georgette left Fremantle
on what would be her last voyage, bound for
Adelaide carrying 58 passengers and crew and a
cargo of jarrah.
At around midnight on November 30, Georgette
was about 26 nautical miles south-west of Cape
Naturaliste, when she developed a leak.
The ship’s pumps failed and, with water rising
quickly, Captain John Godfrey set passengers and crew
to bailing with buckets while he steered for the coast.
At 6am the boiler room flooded, extinguishing
the engines, leaving Georgette powerless and
drifting on a rising swell in deteriorating weather,
still a long way from shore.TROUBLE STRIKES
Godfrey then gave orders to man the lifeboats.
The first lifeboat was swung out with 20
passengers huddled aboard, but as it was being
lowered a big wave smashed it against the ship's
side, splitting the frail craft in half and casting its
occupants into the water.
Two women and five children drowned; the others
were dragged into a second boat, which then made
for the shore, taking 12 hours to reach land about 24
kilometres south of Cape Naturaliste.
Meanwhile, the Georgette made a desperate run forthe coast under sail and was eventually driven by heavy
surf and wind onto a sandbank in Calgardup Bay, a few
kilometres north of the Margaret River mouth.
Shortly after sunrise on December 2, a third
lifeboat was used to try to take a line ashore, ‘two
ship’s lengths’ away, but the boat was swamped by
two metre waves and capsized.
It was recovered with difficulty and returned to
the steamer, where some of the passengers were
transferred to it, but was again capsized by the surf.
The unfolding catastrophe was seen from the
cliffs by Sam Isaacs, an Aboriginal stockman who
worked for the Bussell family on their Margaret
River property, and he set off for the homestead to
raise the alarm.
The men were away at work and it was 16-year-old
Grace Bussell who rode back with Sam to help the
victims of the stricken ship.
By now, Georgette had begun to break up and
most of the remaining passengers had been crammed
aboard another lifeboat, which was also in danger of
being swamped.
In an act of great courage, Grace and Sam rode
their horses at full pace down the steep cliff and
plunged into the crashing waves.
They made numerous forays into the wild surf,
returning from the ship with survivors clinging
to their horses.
It took four hours to ferry all the ship’s passengers
to the safety of the shore.
Although exhausted, Grace immediately set out for
home to get help for the survivors.
Her father, Alfred Bussell, organised a rescue
party and the survivors were taken back to the
homestead to recuperate after their ordeal.LOCAL HEROES
Grace and Sam were hailed as heroes and awarded
medals for bravery by the Royal Humane Society.
The coastal hamlet of Gracetown, north of
Margaret River, and the wheat belt town of Lake
Grace were named in her honour.
Today, the wreck of the Georgette lies in five metres
of water, about 90 metres off Redgate Beach. The
event is marked by a cairn and plaque on the shore.
The bell from the Georgette is now on display at
the Augusta Historical Museum, along with a number
of small items such as portholes and a steam pipe
from the wreck.CAPE LEEUWIN
The rocky headland of Cape Leeuwin, eight
kilometres south of Augusta, is the most south-
westerly point of the Australian mainland, and
was often the first Australian landfall for ships
in the early days of settlement.
It overlooks the confluence of the Southern
and Indian Oceans, a phenomenon made
evident at certain times of the year, when
opposing currents meet and vie for dominance
in a maelstrom with swirling eddies and
choppy swells.
Southeast of Cape Leeuwin, the St Alouarn
Islands extend into Flinders Bay for a distance
of 11 kilometres from Augusta.
The islands are nature reserves, important
nesting sites for colonies of seabirds and refuges
for New Zealand Fur Seals.
There are a number of wrecks in the vicinity
of these islands, the most notable being the
Cumberland (1830) and the SS Pericles (1910),
both of which foundered on uncharted rocks.
Whale-watching charter boats from Augusta
or Barrack Point tend not to venture among the
islands, but generally stay in Flinders Bay to the
east of them.
On February 11 1945, 10 sailors were lost
overboard when HMAS Nizam was struck by
a rogue wave 11 nautical miles off the Cape, a
tragedy commemorated by a monument near
the lighthouse.
Standing on the cape’s bleak windswept
headland, the Cape Leeuwin light guards one
of the busiest sea lanes on the Australian coast,
an important link in the chain of essential
navigation aids maintained around our shores by
the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
Local limestone was used to construct the
tower and three cottages to accommodate the
lighthouse keepers and their families.
When the lighthouse was officially opened
with great ceremony by the State Premier,
Sir John Forrest, on December 10 1896, he