The Wreck of 'The Hereward' Maroubra Beach, Sydney

This watercolour, signed lower left by M. Clarke, was painted as the clipper ship Hereward lay on her side stranded on Maroubra Beach. The ship had blown onto soft sand at the northern end of the beach, luckily avoiding two rocky reefs, and the crew of 25 was brought safely ashore. 'The Hereward was a 1513-ton full rigged iron clipper built in Glasgow in 1877. It had a length of 254 feet, beam of 39 feet, and depth of 23 feet. The Hereward was a trader to the colonies making frequent trips from London to Sydney with general cargo. The fateful trip began in the Dutch East Indies port of Sourabaya, bound for Newcastle to load coal for South America. On 5 May 1898 the Hereward was battling up the New South Wales coast in appalling weather, with wind velocities recorded up to 47 miles per hour. The Hereward was flung towards the shore by the winds, and with sails torn to shreds the captain, Captain Gore, was helpless to keep the vessel from the shore.

'The ship, insured for 6000 pounds, was sold a few months after being stranded for 550 pounds to a Mr Cowlishaw who bought the wreck for salvage. Despite several enthusiastic attempts to refloat her the Hereward ended up once more stranded on the beach, with the waves finally managing to break her in two on 9 December 1898. The wreck lay on Maroubra Beach for many years and by 1937 the only visible sign of her was a triangular dorsal fin above the water line. In 1950 Randwick Council feared injury to surfers from the wreck and began blasting the remnants. Further blasting in 1965, and by Navy divers in 1966/7 has removed all trace of the Hereward. As with other wrecks on this part of the coast, thousands of sightseers made the long trek to the then remote south of Sydney to view the wreck' (Randwick City Council records).