Few families have even one shipwreck story to pass down through the generations. But Paekakariki woman Sylvie Haisman has two incredible tales of ocean adventure – both she and her pioneering great-great-great grandmother survived wrecks in treacherous seas. In 1875, Fanny Wordsworth was left stranded, with her son Charlie, on a tiny sub-Antarctic island when the ship carrying them from England to a new life in New Zealand went down.
In a strange twist of fate, Fanny’s descendant Sylvie found herself reliving her ancestors’ ordeal, only thistime in Indonesia, when a tourist boat overturned in shark-infested waters. Sylvie (37) was brought up with amazing stories about Fanny, who was a widow of 49 at the time of the sinking. And when Sylvie began investigating what really happened to her ancestor on that fateful voyage, she discovered a tale so inspiring that she has now written a book about it, called This Barren Rock.
Fanny and Charlie (23) were aboard the Strathmore when it hit a rock in a storm and broke apart. Fanny turned down a place on a life raft for women and children – which later capsized, killing everyone on board – to go with her son and 46 other men on another life raft. Fanny and the men washed up on the tiny island of Grande Ile, midway between Antarctica and oadagascar. Presumed lost at sea, they survived for seven months by catching and eating seabirds.
Coincidentally, Sylvie herself faced a similar nightmare at 16, while on holiday in Indonesia.The engine cut out on a large boat that was carrying her family and 16 others, tipping the vessel over in a part of the ocean often frequented by sharks.
Astoundingly, Sylvie says she didn’t feel afraid during the three hours she spent clinging to the hull of the upturned boat before the party was finally rescued. Years later, she felt it was finally time to explore what really happened to Fanny through letters Fanny and Charlie had written to their families in England, who had given them up for dead.
Fanny was already frail from constant seasickness when she was shipwrecked on the island. “She had to eat albatross, penguins and moss,” says Sylvie. “The food was revolting and difficult to digest and there was one point when there was no food at all and they were starving.”
Battered by gale-force winds, icy rain, sleet and snow, the castaways built rough huts from mud and stones and made bird-skin shoes and clothing. At first they huddled together in a group, but later split into many different factions with Fanny and Charlie moving to higher ground and building a little shack they called Penguin Cottage.
As the only woman, Sylvie says that Fanny was always treated with respect by the men, and some of the younger ones looked to her as a mother figure. “The men were very protective of her. one time, when everyone was starving, an old sailor managed to catch a sea duck. He roasted it, and then gave it to Fanny because she was very ill.”
In their letters, Fanny and Charlie spoke of their vivid dreams while on the island – such as eating wholesome meals or a ship rescuing them all. “Dreaming was by far the pleasantest part of our existence on that miserable island,” Charlie later wrote in one of his long letters.
The story of three-year-old Wattie Walker’s experience also struck a chord with Sylvie. “His mother died in theshipwreck and he was stranded with his father. I think his father probably didn’t know how to look after him,” she says. “Young Wattie suffered terribly from malnutrition – he was shrivelled up like a turkey and looked like a little old man.” When a passing ship finally noticed the castaways’ fires and distress signals and changed course to rescue them, Fanny sank to her knees and wept.
The survivors were taken back to England where, soon after, Charlie got back on a ship bound for New Zealand. Four years later, Fanny followed, this time travelling on a steamship, which were considered safer than sailing ships. Sylvie hasn’t included her own water rescue in her book because she believes that, in comparison to her ancestors’ ordeal, it’s not worth a mention.
“No-one died and even the luggage was recovered,” she smiles. Sylvie has recently drawn on theexample of Fanny’s courage to help her get through another ordeal. Just as she was finishing the book, Sylvie was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she’s about to have surgery and radiotherapy.
“It’s good that the book is being published at a time when I’m thinking about survival myself,” she says.”oy ancestors showed extreme bravery by even embarking on that voyage. Fanny’s story is one of survival and I continue to be inspired by her.”
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