Location
On the West wall of the nave, to the North of the main entrance.
HMS Eurydice - 1873
Photograph courtesy of the
State Library of South Australia
The Last Moments of the Eurydice
From the Illustrated London News
The only survivors from the Eurydice
Photo from "Hurrah for the life of a sailor"
by John Winton.
OFFICERS AND CREW
WHO WERE LOST BY THE FOUNDERING OF
H.M.SHIP "EURYDICE"
OFF DUNNOSE, ISLE OF WIGHT
MARCH 24TH 1878
___________________
16 OFFICERS
268 MEN
26 MARINES
7 MILITARY PASSENGERS
(See full list of names below)
Further Information
[From The Times, 26 March 1878]
'.....The Eurydice was a wooden sailing, fully rigged ship of 921 tons displacement, at one time considered one of the smartest and quickest 26-gun frigates in the service. The Eurydice left Bermuda on the 6th Inst. and nothing was heard of her until she was seen by the coastguard at Bonchurch at 3.30 on Sunday afternoon, bearing for Spithead under all plain sail and with her port stunsails set on the foretopmast and maintopmast, the object being clearly to arrive at the anchorage at Spithead before nightfall.....
.....At ten minutes to four the wind suddenly veered round from the west to the eastward and a gale, accompanied by a blinding fall of snow, came rushing from the high lands down Luccombe Chine, striking the Eurydice just a little before the beam, driving her out of her course, which was heading to the north-east, and turning her bows to the east. This is what seems probable, though from the manner in which the sea was concealed by the snow, nothing was seen of her at the supreme moment when she capsized to Starboard......As soon as anything could be seen, the masts and top hamper of the ship were discerned above the water......Of the whole number of persons aboard, only two persons, as already reported, succeeded in reaching the shore alive.'
The two seamen who survived were Ordinary Seaman Sydney Fletcher and Able Seaman Cuddiford (see photo in left hand column).
For a full account of the sinking see:-
The Times, 26 March 1878
http://www.pdavis.nl/Eurydice.php, or
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-nireland/A853742
There is a biography of Captain Louis Ferrier, a passenger on Eurydice at http://www.members.dca.net/fbl/pferrier.html
Captain Marcus Augustus Stanley Hare RN (Captain of HMS Eurydice) was born in 1839. His father was Captain Marcus Theodore Hare RN and his mother was Lucy Anne Stanley - 1798 - 1869. She was the second daughter of Sir John Thomas Stanley - Baron Stanley of Alderley. Marcus Augustus Stanley Hare married Matilda Jane Tollemache in 1873. Matilda was the granddaughter of Edward Adolphus Seymour 11th Duke of Somerset (First Lord of the Admiralty 1859 - 1866). In the 1861 Census Hare was recorded as serving as a Lieutenant on board HMS Chesapeake which was that year engaged in actions in China. [Information from Bob Bedward]
See also individual memorials in St Ann's to:-
Lieutenant SA Burney
Lieutenant FH Tabor
There is a massive stone memorial (see right) at the Naval Cemetery in Haslar, Gosport. On it are inscribed the names of all those lost in the sinking of the Eurydice.
At Holy Trinity Church Bosham there is a memorial tablet to Lt. Edward Gifford
Inscription (Continued)
|
|||||||||||||||||
| MEN R.N. | |||||||||||||||||
|
ARNELL, ALFRED |
SHIPS COOK 1CL |
 |
DUNN, CHARLES |
ORDY 2CL |
|
MOONEY, MARTIN |
ORDY 2CL |
||||||||||
ROYAL MARINES | |||||||||||||||||
|
GOWLER, HENRY |
COLOR SERGT |
|
HIBBURT, FREDK |
PRIVATE |
|
SMITH, HENRY |
PRIVATE |
||||||||||
MILITARY PASSENGERS | |||||||||||||||||
|
FERRIER, LOVIS |
CAPTAIN RE |
|
LAIRG, HG |
SAPPER, RE |
|
STONE, J |
SAPPER RE |
||||||||||
Additional Information
The wreck of the ship was raised soon after the sinking and the hulk was returned to Portsmouth. It must have still been in a good condition as many artefacts from the ship have since been discovered.
We have been told about a pair of Bibles and a pair of binoculars (see photos).
The Binoculars are owned by Terry Davis the Great Grandson of Frank Davis, the diver who brought the wreck back to Portsmouth. With the binoculars is a wooden block on which is a plaque inscribed "Recovered from the wreck of H M S EURYDICE 1878 by Frank Davis (Diver)".
The Bibles were formerly in the possession of Eileen Heron, who was keen that they should be passed to someone who could put them on display. That person turned out to be Terry Davis.
