An interesting but sad family story told, with slides, about a branch member’s grandfather John Cooper being shipwrecked with his first wife and children.
On 8th August 1881 John sailed on the Royal Mail Ship SS Teuton with his wife and 5 children to start a new life in South Africa. Having worked on the Great Western Railway he had accepted a job by the Cape Town Government to help set up a railway out there. The ship sailed from Cape Town on 30th August and about 7.30 that evening it hit a rock and sank. The captain of SS Teuton, Captain Manning, did not make the right decission to try and save the crew and passengers. John Cooper survived but sadly his family did not. Elspeth’s account of his daughter drowning in his arms had several watery eyes in the audience.
The 1891 census revealed that he had returned to the UK and married again. In the 1911 census Elspeth discovered that he and his wife had 7 children.
Elspeth closed her talk by showed memorabilia that John had owned including a bible.
Sandra Marvin
Next Meeting
Friday 7th April 2017 'Which John Curling' by LucyAnn Curling and Clive Boyce