colombo

According to the link below, Georgina Pictet was "daughter of Captain Francis Pictet, of the Madras Native Infantry, and Rose Prinsep Mackenzie, Julia Margaret Cameron's niece." (You can just barely see a woman's neck and shoulder in the unfocused background, holding the little one.) The second of the wrecks was in November 1862, at Minicoy Reef off India (the SS Columbo, a ship of the Peninsular & Oriental Company), which dates this photo to 1863 (can't have been taken more than a year since that date). www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/.../ArchiveNo14_BabySectio... Searching around online, items related to the wreck of the Columbo seem to come up for auction occasionally. Fragments of a journal from the wreck are in the National Library of Australia: nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn786942

"The SS Colombo, which was built in 1853, was wrecked on the Minicoy Reef, Laccadive Islands (India) on November 19, 1862. The passengers, many of whom were Australian, and crew spent 11 days on Minicoy or Malacoy before being rescued and given onward passage in the ship 'Ottawa'. Minicoy is the largest island in the 36 islands group southwest of India in the Arabian Sea."

Apparently, hundreds of boxes of mail were rescued from the wreck and delivered in the UK with an understandable delay. Some examples of envelopes stamped "saved from the wreck of the Colombo" is here: www.ballaratgenealogy.org.au/art/ormerod/env-save.jpg www.georgealevizos.com/scans/t70586.jpg www.ballaratgenealogy.org.au/art/ormerod/ormerod.htm

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called La Belle Epoque ca.1890 - ca.1914 incl. ArtDeco and ArtNouveau, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

such a sad photo,i so hope the little one found a loving family to look after her.

See comments and links -

The ship was trying to make up voyage time when she lost the prop. Passenger ships ran to a tight schedule prewar.

An inspiring story from before the War.. www.nytimes.com/2015/07/02/world/europe/nicholas-winton-i... Nicholas Winton, a Briton who said nothing for a half-century about his role in organizing the escape of 669 mostly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II, a righteous deed like those of Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg, died on Wednesday in Maidenhead, England. He was 106.

Appreciate the link to the NY Times article Bill. Thanks :)

The 'Cathay' (P&O, built 1925) was eventually bombed and sunk off North Africa in 1942 - www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=4063 . She lost a propeller / screw in 1933 between Colombo and Freemantle and had to wait in Sydney for a replacement. Trove makes this too easy! Read all about it - SMH 16/12/1933 - trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/17033221 SMH 03/01/1934 - trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/17037291 I have not yet found which dry dock the 'Cathay' was in. Probably Sutherland Dock?

beachcomber australia Thanks again beachcomberaustralia for those articles!

This article says she was in 'Cockatoo Dock', which could be either Fitzroy or Sutherland - trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/17057748

beachcomber australia Thanks beachcomber, if only Flickr recognised Cockatoo Island as a location! It's great to be so precise though. :-)

beachcomber australia Hi Beachcomber, we recently received an email from a gentleman who used to manage CI Dockyard who confirmed that CATHAY was in Sutherland Dry Dock. Mystery solved! :)