When you visit the Choir of Paisley Abbey do you ever look down? Following the collapse of the Abbey tower around 1550, and more so following the reformation in 1560 the ruins of the Choir were used as an extension of the Abbey’s graveyard. When the choir was reconstructed in the early 20th century numerous gravestones were raised, and incorporated into the floor of the Choir.
One stone stood out to me just at the tail end of the COVID lockdown when I was able to access the Abbey to photograph all the headstones of the Choir. The stone in question lies partially beneath the fixed Choir pews so a few inches of text are missing.
John Wilson lived in Smithhills in Paisley and was buried within the remains of the Abbey Choir on the 30th July 1835. According to the burial register, he was a Spindle Moulder who would have made wooden spindles for Paisley’s Weaving industry and its developing cotton thread industry. John would have been a passenger onboard the Early Grey at the time of the Boiler explosion and died from injuries on the 25th July.
The “Earl Grey” Steamboat’s history was short-lived. After the boiler explosion, it was again repaired and in 1836 it was sold to Alex Tennant, G. Ord, and H. Price of Glasgow. They operated it until 1842 when it was broken up and its registration was cancelled in November 1843.
The account of the disaster was published in the Greenock Intelligencer but only secondary accounts of the report survive today. I’ve attached a transcript of the report published in “The Colonist”, published in Sydney, New South Wales on the 17th December 1835 below.
The Colonist (Sydney, NSW : 1835 – 1840), Thursday 17 December 1835, page 5
BLOWING UP OF THE EARL GREY STEAMER. [FROM THE GREENOCK INTELLIGENCER.] On Friday evening, July 24, a few minutes before 6 o’clock, a dreadful accident took place, occasioned by the bursting of the boiler of the Earl Grey steamer, while she was lying at the Steam-boat-quay, on her way from Dunoon to Glasgow. The Earl Grey had been moored at the quay about 15 minutes, and was just on the point of starting, the bell having been rung, when an explosion happened of so dreadful a nature that the boiler was rent completely round, the roof forced up into a perpendicular position, the upper flues driven into the cabin, and the lower part of the boiler and under flues removed from their situation, blowing the deck completely off from the funnel to within eight or nine feet of the stern.
The unfortunate persons who were standing on that part of the deck were blown into the air; two of these, Mr. Hugh Watson, shoemaker, Dunoon, and Angus Wilkie, of Tarbert, belonging to the vessel, fell upon the quay, both of whom died immediately after; the rest fell into the sea. The water from the boiler was thrown nearly to the west-end of the Steam-boat quay, over the shed, on board two vessels, the Jean and the Rebecca ; the rope which fastened the steamer’s stern on the quay, was blown on the top of the shed, also camp stools, large pieces of wood, &c. A part of the boiler, six or eight feet square, was driven by the force of the steam a distance of one hundred feet and upwards.
A great number of persons standing on the quay were much injured by the scalding water, pieces of coal, wood, &c., falling on them, it is impossible at present to state the precise number of the sufferers by this dreadful occurrence, as it is believed that some of those thrown into the water have not been found. The steward of the vessel informs us, that before the accident occurred, he counted twenty-seven persons on the quarter-deck, and considers that there were about forty persons on board at the time of the explosion.
The following are the numbers of the persons who have lost their lives and suffered injury :- Killed, 6 ; severely injured, 15 ; slightly wounded, 12.
Mr. Peter Somerville, of Glasgow, one of the passengers, who saved himself by his singular activity and presence of mind, described to us in the following manner the circumstances connected with the blowing up of the vessel, as far as his own observation had extended. He had gone on board the Earl Grey at Gourock, with the intention of proceeding to Glasgow, and on the vessel’s arriving at Greenock, he had stepped ashore for a few minutes. On his return to the quay, he found the steamer preparing to start, and he went on board and descended to the cabin just as the vessel was about to leave the port. On entering the cabin, he found only one individual in it –a gentleman, who was sitting, apparently asleep, at the end of the cabin nearest the engine. Mr. Somerville was surprised at perceiving the cabin so full of steam, and, becoming apprehensive that some-thing was wrong, he advanced to the furthest end, where he had only had time to lay down his hat and umbrella, when a hissing noise which he had heard convinced him that an explosion was about to take place, and he sprang suddenly out at one of the cabin windows, breaking the glass, a pane about fourteen inches square. Instantaneously as this was done, the explosion occurred before his legs were quite out of the window, and his feet were scalded by the hot water or steam rushing into the cabin. Fortunately, Mr. Somerville succeeded in catching hold of an iron rod projecting from the stern, by which he hung until the stern boat had been lowered, when he was drawn up to the deck of the vessel. While thus hanging by the steamer’s stern, Mr. Somerville looked down into the water, in which he thinks he observed about thirty persons, many of whom appeared to have been hurt by the explosion and were streaming with blood. He saw six or seven couples clinging to each other, as if resolved to be saved or lost together. On being hauled up to the stern Mr. Somerville found that the greater part of the deck had been torn up. On the only portion of it which now remained-namely, a few feet at the stern, he observed an old gentleman evidently much hurt, and a lady about forty years of age, who was either dead or had swooned. All the other cabin passengers appeared to have been blown off the deck by the violence of the explosion.
The quay at which the vessel was lying at the time of the accident was in an incredibly short time crowded by persons of all descriptions, and the alarm having been spread by the people running to call medical assistance and by the appearance of the young man McNie running homeward along the streets, with only a rug thrown round his body, his clothes having been torn off in order to relieve him from garments which were completely saturated with the hot water from the boiler. The excitement was also much increased by the wounded sufferers being borne along the streets to the infirmary and various other places. The steam-boat quay, about seven o’clock, presented a scene of horror happily never before witnessed here ; mangled and bleeding bodies carried to places where aid could be administered ; the boats employed in trawling for the bodies, rowing backwards and forwards, anxiously watched by the spectators whenever the man aboard hauled up the creepers, to which, in almost every case, were hanging pieces of clothes, shirts, handkerchiefs, &c. But the most fearful spectacle of all, was the vessel herself ; the roof of the ponderous boiler poised in mid-air, over which the funnel lay crushed and broken, the uptorn decks exposing the cabin, into which the upper flues of the boiler had forced their way ; while hats and portions of male and female attire were strewn around, telling too truly of the fearful destruction that had taken place. It may be consoling to the friends of those who were injured to know that everything which humanity and skill could devise was done to alleviate the agonies of the unhappy sufferers. Great praise is due to the medical gentlemen of this town for the activity and zeal they displayed in rendering assistance, and it is but justice to mention, that Dr. McNaught, of Helensburgh, who was on board the Clarence steamer, which was lying at the quay at the time of the accident, was the first to give assistance to those who were hurt, and that his active exertions in relieving the sufferings of the injured excited the admiration of all present. We understand that before returning to Helensburgh he left his address at the Tontine Inn, with instructions to the landlord to attend to the wants of some of the sufferers who were left there, and that he would be accountable for any expense which might be incurred.
Citation:
1835 ‘English Extracts.’, The Colonist (Sydney, NSW : 1835 – 1840), 17 December, p. 5. , viewed 10 Aug 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31717389
Information Sources
https://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?a1PageSize=50&ship_listPage=19&a1Order=yard_number&a1Dir=ASC&a1Page=5&ref=5493&vessel=EARL+GREY
ScotlandsPeople – Old Parish Registers Deaths 559/ Abbey Page 31 of 328, 1835 WIL