The Tragedy of the Fairy Queen
Despite the sweet name, the story of the Fairy Queen is not happy or sweet. It was a tragedy.
I will start off by saying that depending on the source, some of the minor details (such as where the survivors were found) are different. Therefore, I went with the sources where I could trace the sources used by the authors.
The Fairy Queen was a steam ship in 1853, owned by James Whitney and Captained by William Belyea, that carried mail and passengers between Charlottetown, PE, and Pictou, NS. It was not exactly a high end ship but it usually did the trick.
By this time, the ship was about 6 years old, had encountered numerous storms and bad trips, and not too long before this fateful trip she had run aground in Shediac. It was also rumoured that the ship's engine had been replaced with the engine from the North America, an older ship. The ship had also been painted and tidied to look sea worthy. This face lift had been done well enough that when the ship was inspected by the Province of Prince Edward Island (to keep their contract for shipping mail and passengers) it passed with barely any actual inspection being completed.
On October 7, 1853, the Fairy Queen was scheduled to leave around 6 AM. Due to bad weather, Captain Belyea delayed the departure. Around noon the water was smoother and Belyea decided they could head out so he went to round up his crew, many of whom decided to pass the time at a tavern. Two were in such bad shape that Belyea decided to leave them behind. The crew of the Fairy Queen were not exactly known for their customer service.
The ship left the Charlottetown Harbour with 13 crew and 13 passengers aboard. At first, the waters were relatively calm, but this first part of the journey was rather sheltered. That is to say it's not"open water". The water became much rougher when they passed Point Prim.
The waves were so bad, they began to wash onto the deck and a gangway gave in, causing some minor damage.
After about 5 hours of struggling to stay on course in a northeast wind, the main tiller rope (a main steering mechanism) snapped. This caused the ship the go sideways into the waves. For those of you who do not know what this means, it is when a ship goes sideways into a wave instead of having the bow (front of the ship) face the waves. If you have ever been in a boat in this position, you may know how rough it can be when it's windy. Now image it in a storm!
Many of the male passengers went to help fix the tiller rope, without it, they couldn't steer the ship. It took them two tries to fix the rope, which they did by splicing it back together.
But, the situation just kept getting worse.
Water, from the waves crashing onto the deck, had found its way to the boiler room and almost put out the boiler fires. These boilers ensured the steamship had steam, which it needed to run the engine. With little steam built up, the Fairy Queen was barely moving. The crew tried to use the jib sail but were unable to get the ship into a position that allowed the sail to catch the wind.
Once again, the passengers rose to the occasion when they heard about the boiler and went to find any wood they could, from stored wood to furniture, to burn! Their efforts paid off for a little bit, but water was seeping under the boilers and water around a boiler is not a good thing. This water eventually put the fires out which caused the engine to seize and stop.
The Captain had the anchor lowered, hoping it would turn the ship into the wind (which would make it possible to use the jib sail). He then gave control to (acting) First Mate Patrick Treanor while he supervised the re-starting of the boilers. However, in the boiler room, the situation was worse then the Captain expected as it became clear the boilers couldn't be re-started, there was too much water and more was coming in.
Passenger Edward Lydiard suggesting running the ship ashore on Pictou Island. While this could damage the ship and cause some injuries, it would be safer than being on the water during this storm. But, he was informed by the First Mate that it wouldn't be possible as there is a small reef near the Island. If they tried to run the boat ashore, this reef would tear the hull apart and they wouldn't make it to safety.
Realizing how bad their situation was, the passengers started to bail out the water in hopes of keeping the ship afloat longer. Some passengers, Edward Lydiard included, claimed they had to "keep after" the crew to continue bailing the water as they were low on energy and hoped by working together they could raise their spirits. At 10 PM, the Captain told them to stop. They had to abandon ship.
This is where the real tragedy of the Fairy Queen starts. The steamer only had two life boats - one that would hold up to 24 people and one that would hold 8-10 people. However, there were only four oars. Total.
With the aid of the ship's clerk (James Turner), Treanor prepped the larger life boat for departure. They lowered the boat and the mail bags were tossed down to them. This did not sit well with passenger Henry Pineo who demanded to know why they were not ensuring the women were taken care of first. He was told by the Captain that the women would be placed on the smaller lifeboat because he worried about how the larger boat would react to the waves.
The women joined them on deck, prepared to abandon ship. The second life boat was lowered but some crew jumped into it. The passengers were not happy with how this procedure was being handled but the Captain assured them that he would go down to the lifeboat and hold it steady so the women could board.
But he didn't. When he got to the boat, he let go of the rope and the lifeboat started to float away from the steamer. Both lifeboats were now floating away full of crew members.
Pineo yelled for them to come back and at least take the women but the crew refused. According to the official inquiry, he yelled
A wave broke over the railing and swept Mr. Parker and Dr. MacKenzie overboard. Thankfully, they were saved by the quick thinking and actions of two other passengers or remaining crew (I was unable to find the names of who saved them).
At 2 AM, on October 8, the ship was hit by one last devastating wave which broke the ship apart and turned it over.
Thankfully, part of the deck stayed together and Henry Pineo and Mr. Parker were able to hold on to it. Six others were able to get to them and join them on the raft. Peter Cameron, another passenger, was able to find a smaller piece of wreckage to use as a raft. He claimed he saw three female passengers trying to get to a piece of wreckage but they disappeared. Cameron also saw Thomas McGuigan trying to get to the larger raft but a wave washed him away and he lost sight of him.
It is possible that the three women Cameron saw were Arabella and Alice DeWolfe of Charlottetown and their maid Jane. They were heading to Nova Scotia to see Arabella off to England where she would be marrying a minister who she met the year before. From Pictou she was supposed to go to Halifax and take the America to England.
The large raft washed ashore about 8 hours later in Nova Scotia. Numerous sources say it landed in different areas from Pictou to New Glasgow. The exhausted survivors found the homes of some locals, who were horrified at their story. Some of the passengers insisted on getting a message to the authorities about what happened and demand the crew and Captain be arrested for abandoning them to death. Peter Cameron's raft landed near Big Harbour, NS a few hours later.
The crew, it turned out, had landed safely. The large boat landed in Caribou, NS and the smaller one in Pictou, NS, where, like the abandoned survivors, they were being cared for by the locals.
Local fishermen went out to try to find other survivors but found none.
Right away, there was some suspicion regarding what happened. In the end, only one crew member, Thomas Parker (who had not been on a lifeboat), drowned.
The crew and Captain were arrested and appeared before the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia and indicted for manslaughter. Please note this does not include the crew who did not abandon the passengers.
At the inquiry, passengers claimed the Captain couldn't control his crew and the crew was completely disorganized which led to them not taking the proper steps in the situation. Mr. Turner claimed he suggested a distress signal be sent up but it wasn't. Turner knew the water was too rough for any rescue attempt at that moment but knew it would alert people to their situation and as soon as it was calm enough help would be on its way.
The situation was not looking good for the crew, apparently First Mate Treanor stated he "would not have gone alongside the sinking ship for five hundred pounds, not for all of Pictou." How brave and noble of him.
In the end, the crew got off on a technicality.
People blamed three entities for the tragedy. The first was, obviously, the Captain and crew who abandoned the passengers. The second was James Whitney, the ship's owner, who did not ensure the ship was fit to travel and had adequate supplies. The third was the Province of Prince Edward Island for not ensuring the Fairy Queen was following established regulations and completing a thorough inspection.
At a public meeting held on October 19th in Charlottetown, the crew and Captain were condemned for their "base and inhuman conduct...who treacherously took away the two boats, capable of containing all passengers and crew when the steamer was in a sinking state."
But was there an ominous warning of the ships fate?
On October 7, 1853 in the early morning, hours before the Fairy Queen departed for Pictou, NS, a local Captain heard bells ringing. Thinking they were coming from the wharf, he headed down. Once there, he realized the ringing was coming from the Kirk of St. James in town. He became curious as it was too early for services and headed for the Church. He looked up to the belfry when he arrived, the bell still ringing. He saw three women walk through the belfry door and disappear while a fourth woman looked down. The Church Sexton saw the same thing and rushed to get the keys. They entered and climbed up the tower and found the bell still vibrating.
Later that day, the Fairy Queen departed the Charlottetown Harbour and never made it to its destination. Among the dead were four women, three of whom were members of the Kirk of St. James.
This ghostly event has been memorialized on a Canada Post stamp as well.
Sources
Haunted Canada 3: Postage Paid Postcard - Phantom Bell Ringers. Canada Post. September 2016.
https://www.canadapost.ca/shop/haunted-canada-3/haunted-canada-3-postage-paid-postcard-phantom-bell-ringers-prince-edward-island/p-262454.jsf?execution=e1s1
Watson, Julie V. Ghost Stories and Legends of Prince Edward Island. pg 131-135. New Jersey: Hounslow Press, 1988.
Watson, Julie V. Shipwrecks & Seafaring Tales of Prince Edward Island. 1853: The Loss of the Fairy Queen. pg 74-80. Nimbus Publishing, 2001.
I will start off by saying that depending on the source, some of the minor details (such as where the survivors were found) are different. Therefore, I went with the sources where I could trace the sources used by the authors.
The Fairy Queen was a steam ship in 1853, owned by James Whitney and Captained by William Belyea, that carried mail and passengers between Charlottetown, PE, and Pictou, NS. It was not exactly a high end ship but it usually did the trick.
By this time, the ship was about 6 years old, had encountered numerous storms and bad trips, and not too long before this fateful trip she had run aground in Shediac. It was also rumoured that the ship's engine had been replaced with the engine from the North America, an older ship. The ship had also been painted and tidied to look sea worthy. This face lift had been done well enough that when the ship was inspected by the Province of Prince Edward Island (to keep their contract for shipping mail and passengers) it passed with barely any actual inspection being completed.
On October 7, 1853, the Fairy Queen was scheduled to leave around 6 AM. Due to bad weather, Captain Belyea delayed the departure. Around noon the water was smoother and Belyea decided they could head out so he went to round up his crew, many of whom decided to pass the time at a tavern. Two were in such bad shape that Belyea decided to leave them behind. The crew of the Fairy Queen were not exactly known for their customer service.
The ship left the Charlottetown Harbour with 13 crew and 13 passengers aboard. At first, the waters were relatively calm, but this first part of the journey was rather sheltered. That is to say it's not"open water". The water became much rougher when they passed Point Prim.
The waves were so bad, they began to wash onto the deck and a gangway gave in, causing some minor damage.
After about 5 hours of struggling to stay on course in a northeast wind, the main tiller rope (a main steering mechanism) snapped. This caused the ship the go sideways into the waves. For those of you who do not know what this means, it is when a ship goes sideways into a wave instead of having the bow (front of the ship) face the waves. If you have ever been in a boat in this position, you may know how rough it can be when it's windy. Now image it in a storm!
 |
| Rough at Sea at a Jetty By Jacob van Ruisdael, 1650's |
Many of the male passengers went to help fix the tiller rope, without it, they couldn't steer the ship. It took them two tries to fix the rope, which they did by splicing it back together.
But, the situation just kept getting worse.
Water, from the waves crashing onto the deck, had found its way to the boiler room and almost put out the boiler fires. These boilers ensured the steamship had steam, which it needed to run the engine. With little steam built up, the Fairy Queen was barely moving. The crew tried to use the jib sail but were unable to get the ship into a position that allowed the sail to catch the wind.
Once again, the passengers rose to the occasion when they heard about the boiler and went to find any wood they could, from stored wood to furniture, to burn! Their efforts paid off for a little bit, but water was seeping under the boilers and water around a boiler is not a good thing. This water eventually put the fires out which caused the engine to seize and stop.
The Captain had the anchor lowered, hoping it would turn the ship into the wind (which would make it possible to use the jib sail). He then gave control to (acting) First Mate Patrick Treanor while he supervised the re-starting of the boilers. However, in the boiler room, the situation was worse then the Captain expected as it became clear the boilers couldn't be re-started, there was too much water and more was coming in.
Passenger Edward Lydiard suggesting running the ship ashore on Pictou Island. While this could damage the ship and cause some injuries, it would be safer than being on the water during this storm. But, he was informed by the First Mate that it wouldn't be possible as there is a small reef near the Island. If they tried to run the boat ashore, this reef would tear the hull apart and they wouldn't make it to safety.
Realizing how bad their situation was, the passengers started to bail out the water in hopes of keeping the ship afloat longer. Some passengers, Edward Lydiard included, claimed they had to "keep after" the crew to continue bailing the water as they were low on energy and hoped by working together they could raise their spirits. At 10 PM, the Captain told them to stop. They had to abandon ship.
This is where the real tragedy of the Fairy Queen starts. The steamer only had two life boats - one that would hold up to 24 people and one that would hold 8-10 people. However, there were only four oars. Total.
With the aid of the ship's clerk (James Turner), Treanor prepped the larger life boat for departure. They lowered the boat and the mail bags were tossed down to them. This did not sit well with passenger Henry Pineo who demanded to know why they were not ensuring the women were taken care of first. He was told by the Captain that the women would be placed on the smaller lifeboat because he worried about how the larger boat would react to the waves.
The women joined them on deck, prepared to abandon ship. The second life boat was lowered but some crew jumped into it. The passengers were not happy with how this procedure was being handled but the Captain assured them that he would go down to the lifeboat and hold it steady so the women could board.
But he didn't. When he got to the boat, he let go of the rope and the lifeboat started to float away from the steamer. Both lifeboats were now floating away full of crew members.
Pineo yelled for them to come back and at least take the women but the crew refused. According to the official inquiry, he yelled
"You are not going to leave us - I cannot curse you; I hope you may live to repent of your guilt; but if God in his providence should preserve my life, which I feel he will, I will meet you again."This left the 17 people on the steamer in a very dangerous situation. Of these 17 people, 5 were crew members - Edmund and Edward Ingles (cabin boys); Hugh O'Hara (cook); Thomas Parker (steward); and James Wadham (a deck hand).
A wave broke over the railing and swept Mr. Parker and Dr. MacKenzie overboard. Thankfully, they were saved by the quick thinking and actions of two other passengers or remaining crew (I was unable to find the names of who saved them).
At 2 AM, on October 8, the ship was hit by one last devastating wave which broke the ship apart and turned it over.
Thankfully, part of the deck stayed together and Henry Pineo and Mr. Parker were able to hold on to it. Six others were able to get to them and join them on the raft. Peter Cameron, another passenger, was able to find a smaller piece of wreckage to use as a raft. He claimed he saw three female passengers trying to get to a piece of wreckage but they disappeared. Cameron also saw Thomas McGuigan trying to get to the larger raft but a wave washed him away and he lost sight of him.
It is possible that the three women Cameron saw were Arabella and Alice DeWolfe of Charlottetown and their maid Jane. They were heading to Nova Scotia to see Arabella off to England where she would be marrying a minister who she met the year before. From Pictou she was supposed to go to Halifax and take the America to England.
The large raft washed ashore about 8 hours later in Nova Scotia. Numerous sources say it landed in different areas from Pictou to New Glasgow. The exhausted survivors found the homes of some locals, who were horrified at their story. Some of the passengers insisted on getting a message to the authorities about what happened and demand the crew and Captain be arrested for abandoning them to death. Peter Cameron's raft landed near Big Harbour, NS a few hours later.
The crew, it turned out, had landed safely. The large boat landed in Caribou, NS and the smaller one in Pictou, NS, where, like the abandoned survivors, they were being cared for by the locals.
Local fishermen went out to try to find other survivors but found none.
Right away, there was some suspicion regarding what happened. In the end, only one crew member, Thomas Parker (who had not been on a lifeboat), drowned.
The crew and Captain were arrested and appeared before the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia and indicted for manslaughter. Please note this does not include the crew who did not abandon the passengers.
At the inquiry, passengers claimed the Captain couldn't control his crew and the crew was completely disorganized which led to them not taking the proper steps in the situation. Mr. Turner claimed he suggested a distress signal be sent up but it wasn't. Turner knew the water was too rough for any rescue attempt at that moment but knew it would alert people to their situation and as soon as it was calm enough help would be on its way.
The situation was not looking good for the crew, apparently First Mate Treanor stated he "would not have gone alongside the sinking ship for five hundred pounds, not for all of Pictou." How brave and noble of him.
In the end, the crew got off on a technicality.
People blamed three entities for the tragedy. The first was, obviously, the Captain and crew who abandoned the passengers. The second was James Whitney, the ship's owner, who did not ensure the ship was fit to travel and had adequate supplies. The third was the Province of Prince Edward Island for not ensuring the Fairy Queen was following established regulations and completing a thorough inspection.
At a public meeting held on October 19th in Charlottetown, the crew and Captain were condemned for their "base and inhuman conduct...who treacherously took away the two boats, capable of containing all passengers and crew when the steamer was in a sinking state."
But was there an ominous warning of the ships fate?
 |
| Kirk of St. James (Image Credit) |
On October 7, 1853 in the early morning, hours before the Fairy Queen departed for Pictou, NS, a local Captain heard bells ringing. Thinking they were coming from the wharf, he headed down. Once there, he realized the ringing was coming from the Kirk of St. James in town. He became curious as it was too early for services and headed for the Church. He looked up to the belfry when he arrived, the bell still ringing. He saw three women walk through the belfry door and disappear while a fourth woman looked down. The Church Sexton saw the same thing and rushed to get the keys. They entered and climbed up the tower and found the bell still vibrating.
Later that day, the Fairy Queen departed the Charlottetown Harbour and never made it to its destination. Among the dead were four women, three of whom were members of the Kirk of St. James.
This ghostly event has been memorialized on a Canada Post stamp as well.
Sources
Haunted Canada 3: Postage Paid Postcard - Phantom Bell Ringers. Canada Post. September 2016.
https://www.canadapost.ca/shop/haunted-canada-3/haunted-canada-3-postage-paid-postcard-phantom-bell-ringers-prince-edward-island/p-262454.jsf?execution=e1s1
Watson, Julie V. Ghost Stories and Legends of Prince Edward Island. pg 131-135. New Jersey: Hounslow Press, 1988.
Watson, Julie V. Shipwrecks & Seafaring Tales of Prince Edward Island. 1853: The Loss of the Fairy Queen. pg 74-80. Nimbus Publishing, 2001.
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