James McEwan was a Glasgow city merchant with Smith & Sharp in Dunlop Street. He was busy with wine importing business but had sent his wife Elizabeth and family to travel in France where he bought much of his stock. They went on one of the ships regularly used by the company to transport barrels of liquor. But tragedy struck on the return journey.
On the evening of Friday 22nd May 1868 the iron steamship ‘Garrone’ set off on its regular trading passage from Bordeaux to Liverpool. Under her Captain and the mate were two stewards, 17 passengers and a full cargo consisting of brandies and fine wines. Around 11.3Opm the weather turned ‘thick’ and stormy. The Garrone struck on the ‘Bucks’, dangerous rocks lying a mile and a half west of Lamorna Cove off the Cornish coast (this is now a popular spot for wreck diving). Rapidly, the ship began taking in water and within 20 minutes all 499 tons of the iron steamship were lost to the depths of the sea.
The Garrone belonged to Messrs James Moss & Co of Liverpool and was one of their three steamers which regularly traded between that port and Bordeaux.
Included in the list of those who drowned were Elizabeth McEwan and her four young children Mary, Jessie, Daniel, James and the family’s two servants. All the passengers and the entire crew perished that dreadful night.
The family monument can be found in the front right quarter of the Central Section.
On the evening of Friday 22nd May 1868 the iron steamship ‘Garrone’ set off on its regular trading passage from Bordeaux to Liverpool. Under her Captain and the mate were two stewards, 17 passengers and a full cargo consisting of brandies and fine wines. Around 11.3Opm the weather turned ‘thick’ and stormy. The Garrone struck on the ‘Bucks’, dangerous rocks lying a mile and a half west of Lamorna Cove off the Cornish coast (this is now a popular spot for wreck diving). Rapidly, the ship began taking in water and within 20 minutes all 499 tons of the iron steamship were lost to the depths of the sea.
The Garrone belonged to Messrs James Moss & Co of Liverpool and was one of their three steamers which regularly traded between that port and Bordeaux.
Included in the list of those who drowned were Elizabeth McEwan and her four young children Mary, Jessie, Daniel, James and the family’s two servants. All the passengers and the entire crew perished that dreadful night.
The family monument can be found in the front right quarter of the Central Section.
SINKING OF THE “GARRONE”
McEwan Family
(Central Section)
(Central Section)