The Glen Park wreck

The 3-masted, steel ship Glen Park (or Glenpark*) was wrecked at ‘Nor ‘Nor East Rock off Wedge Island on 1^st February 1901. The ship had been built by A Roger and Co. in Glasgow, Scotland in 1897. Its dimensions are given as 265.8 x 40 x 23.6 feet in “Wrecks on the South Australian Coast” by Jack Loney. (1799-tons in “South Australian Shipwrecks – A Data Base (1802-1989)”, 1959-tons in “Wrecks on the South Australian Coast”.)

According to Garry Keywood in “Wedge Island – An Unexpected History”, the barque Elda (eventually) picked up 26 shipwrecked sailors from the Glen Park on 1^st February 1901. The Glen Park had been wrecked off Nor’ Nor’ East Rock at Wedge Island about 8am that same morning. There were no casualties as all the crew were saved. They were all landed at Port Victoria.

Garry also sent me these photos of the wrecking of the Glen Park: -

The Glen Park  had been sailing under its master Captain Hugh Griffiths from Port Pirie to Guam with a cargo of almost 29,000 bags of wheat (figures vary) when it was wrecked at Wedge Island. According to “Wrecks on the South Australian Coast”, the Glenpark struck a rock about 6 km off Wedge Island and sank rapidly. The crew had little time to escape the ship.

According to Garry Keywood, “The Glen Park was beating slowly southwards in southerly winds, hence having to continually tack throughout the night of the 31^st January 1901, & as early morning came there was a light mist obscuring visibility. At 5am, with no warning, the vessel struck Nor’ Nor’ East Rock near Wedge Island. The crew abandoned ship. Within a day, the Glen Park Had slipped off the rocky ledge  into 12 metres of water.”

Further, “George Lawrie was 8 years old when the Glen Park was wrecked off Wedge Island in 1901. He stated that “when the boat broke up, a lot of it floated (NW) to the Bolingbroke Shore …. “ According to the South Australian Maritime Museum’s Facebook page, “In the days following, parts of the wreck washed ashore along the coastline south of Tumby Bay”.

George Lawrie and his brother later found the figurehead of the Glen Park and their father used a team of horses to take the figurehead back to their home. The figurehead was eventually given to the Mortlock family who displayed it at the entrance to their Coffin Bay property. It is now on display at the South Australian Maritime Museum in Port Adelaide.

* (The Glen Park is listed in “South Australian Shipwrecks – A Data Base (1802-1989)” by Peter Christopher as ‘Glenpark’ (just one word). The same is repeated in “Wrecks on the South Australian Coast”. The South Australian Maritime Museum’s Facebook page, however, uses two words, even though their figureheads web page uses just the one word.)