Capt. George Clapham

Captain George Clapham was the master of the Sydney-based "Tamar", which was engaged in deep sea whaling east of New Zealand between 1835 and 1837. He is thought to have bought land on the Waitapu Inlet at Whangaroa in 1836. He and Hannah lived first at Te Puna, then at Okura near Kerikeri. George traded in the area with the schooner "Jane". When Heke's war broke out in 1845, George took the family to Auckland and then to Sydney, from where he carried on seafaring.

LOSS OF THE "BRITISH SOVEREIGN," AND MURDER OF HER CREW. Intelligence of the total wreck of the above vessel, together with the murder of Captain W. H. Jones and crew by the natives at the New Hebrides, reached Sydney on Monday last by the Isabella Anna. The melancholy news was communicated by one of the unfortunate vessel's crew, named Tommy Weir, a native of Britannia Island, to Captain Jones, of the Isabella Anna, who succeeded in making his escape by swimming off to this vessel while beating into one of the harbours on the north-west side of the Islands. The British Sovereign was the property of Messrs. Boyd and Co., and left Sydney on the 8th of January last for the South Sea Islands, via New Zealand, on a sandalwood expedition, with the following crew: W. H. Jones, master; George Clapham, first mate; Evan Lloyd, second mate; John Gustavus, carpenter; John Peterson, cooper; John Stroud, steward; John Williams, cook; and the following seamen: Joseph J. Plater, Joseph Dunn, Brockman Bont, Mathew Robinson, Thomas Griffis, Charles A. Bald-win, Charles Lucas, Charles Chesoit, W. Rinnell, John Jones, Charles Bennett, Joseph Carbowe, and three natives of the Islands. The following are the particulars connected with this sad catastrophe, collected from statements made by the native, Tommy Weir:- On the 10th of May last the Isabella Anna, whilst beating into a harbour on the north-west side of Sandwich Island, picked up a native of Britannia Island, or Weir, who swam off to the vessel from the shore. On reaching the deck he reported himself as Tommy Weir, of the British Sovereign and he stated that he had escaped from the wreck of that vessel, which had occurred on the eastern side of the island, about sixteen or seventeen days previously; and that he had seen nearly all hands murdered by the natives. The following particulars of the disastrous occurrences were then gathered from him: - The British Sovereign, it appears, in the course of her voyage, called at the island of Tanna, and shipped about twenty of the natives to assist in pro-curing sandal wood. Thence she went to Erro-manga, where she remained about ten days, lying off and on; and not obtaining much wood there, the captain determined to proceed to Sandwich, first, however, sending back to Tanna the long-boat with the chief officer, three of the ship's company, and seven of the Tanna natives, with instructions to land the natives, and then to proceed to New Caledonia to ascertain whether any wood could be procured there. The ship left Erromanga in the evening, and at daybreak the next morning she was found to be close in upon the eastern coast of Sandwich. She was immediately hauled on a wind, and two boats were lowered for the purpose of towing her off the land: but being within the influence of the ground swell, the boats had no effect upon her, and she presently struck on a rock about a cable's length from the shore. She then fell over on her side, and the masts were cut away without relieving her; she very quickly bilged and filled with water. The captain then ordered the two boats to go ashore, as they could not get alongside the ship in consequence of the heavy sea that was breaking over her; one of the boats got stove in landing, and two men having been left in the other to keep her out of the surf, made sail and stood away to the northward. The captain and the rest of the people, with the ex-ception of the cooper, who was drowned alongside the ship, contrived to land by means of a rope which the Tanna natives took ashore. The vessel very soon began to break up, and there was nothing saved from the wreck. Three muskets and some harpoons and lances, were however got out of the boats. At the spot where they landed the natives treated them in a friendly manner, and wished them to remain but it was considered expedient to endeavour to reach the leeward harbour, to which vessels resort in visiting the island. The following morning, therefore, they started to walk round the coast, having with them a little boy, six or seven years of age, named Pond, who had come from Twofold Bay under the care of the captain. After about four days' travelling they came to a bay on the south-south-west side of the island, where they found some natives, who appeared perfectly friendly, giving them cocoanuts and sugarcane to eat. The chief carried the little boy to his hut, accompanied by Captain Jones, and it seems that the shipwrecked party was entirely thrown off its guard by this ap-parent kindness and good-will of the natives; how- ever, on returning to the place where the people were assembled, the chief suddenly struck Captain Jones a blow on the head with his club. This was a signal to the rest of the natives - they instantly rushed upon the party, and a massacre commenced. The captain was killed in the water, to which he had retreated; and most of the people were slaughtered before they could offer any resistance. Three of the sailors, whose names were Charles Younger, Charles Bennet, and Ellison, with one Tanna native, and two Weir boys, one of whom was Tommy Weir him-self, managed to effect their escape by swimming to an island in the bay. The three white men and the Tanna native returned to the main island that night, under the apprehension that they had been observed by their enemies, and the following night the two Weir boys also returned to the main. These two continued their journey to the northward, until they reached the bay where the Cape Packet was taken, in crossing the head of which they were again at-tacked by the natives. Tommy Weir succeeded in gaining the bush after receiving several wounds from his assailants. He says he did not again see his companion, or either of the four men who had escaped from the first attack. He thinks they must have been all killed. He conceives that the natives would not hurt the little boy Pond, as they had taken him to the hut before the attack commenced. On the 12th May, the chief officer of the Isabella Anna started in the long-boat round the island, taking the Weir boy with him, to endeavour to gain further intelligence, and to rescue, if possible, any one who may have survived the massacre. The boy pointed out the spot where the ship went ashore, but not a vestige of the wreck appeared. He also pointed out the place where the captain and his people were killed. Owing to the heavy sea that was setting in the long-boat was unable to approach very closely to the shore; two natives, however, came off in a canoe, but accidentally perceiving arms in the boat, precipitately retreated before it was pos-sible to secure them. Whilst the Isabella Anna was lying in the north-west harbour, the natives of the southern side of the bay made an attempt to capture her. A large number of canoes bore down in fighting order, but a round shot or two falling pretty close to them, caused them to waver a little, and then the appearance of the ship getting under sail, seemed to decide them upon making a retreat. The ship then went to a bay more to the northward, where she remained until she was rejoined by the long-boat. She then took her departure from the island. The longboat was absent four days without obtaining any further information connected with the British Sovereign; neither could any intelligence be obtained from the natives who held communication with the Isabella Anna. A white man who was living with the natives on the northern part of the island, also declared that he had never heard of the occurrence. Source: Sydney Chronicle (NSW : 1846 - 1848), Wednesday 18 August 1847, page 2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/31753033#