SS Florence
The Sailor with five lives
In September 1898 the steam ship Florence was travelling from Liverpool to Belfast with a cargo of coal, but after encountering severe weather and heavy seas, the ship sank rapidly. Some would say she was overloaded. The Captain and nine crew lost their lives, only one sailor lived to tell the tale.
This was the fifth shipwreck that William O’Neill had survived…
Map showing SS Florence's probable location. The black dots are other wrecks or obstructions on the seabed
Even though this incident happened 126 years ago we we will demonstrate the amount of information which can be found online about our shipwreck survivor. Many of these resources are free with your library membership.
Newspaper headlines about the sinking of SS Florence, 1898
Finding a shipwreck survivor in your library
It is through newspaper reports that we can first learn more about William O’Neill, that he was born in Cork, Ireland and in the year that the Florence sank he was 43 years of age, and lived in Briar Street, Liverpool. This information is useful for accessing census records with confidence knowing that we have the correct person [1] . The newspaper reports and census records can all be accessed online, for free, with your library membership.
News reports about the sinking of SS Florence include detailed interviews with William O'Neill where he recounts his dramatic survival, and rescue. He had been at sea for three days without food or drink before he was rescued. He also listed the four other shipwrecks that he had survived, those vessel names are the Italian, the Era, the Hoopoe and the Rallus. Information about these ships can be accessed for free online at the Lloyd's Register Foundation and Wrecksite.
Crew lists and shipping agreements can also be viewed online like this one for SS Rallus where we actually get to see O'Neill's signature (image below).
William O'Neill's signature can be seen on this crew list & shipping agreement for the SS Rallus in 1873
The Kindness of Strangers
Newspapers can be an excellent source of detail of what happens surrounding an event. For example, in the case of William O’Neill we can learn how he was generously assisted by others.
When O'Neill was rescued and brought on board the King Orry, an Isle of Man steampacket ship, the passengers collected a total of £2.8s for him [2] . Later, when he was well enough to travel home, O'Neill received free passage to his home in Liverpool on the SS Snaefell where passengers collected a further £5 for him [3] . This would have been equivalent to over £700 today, a very useful sum of money to return home with [4] .
It was reported in the Liverpool Mercury on 28 September 1898 that the high bailiff of Douglas had provided O’Neill with “a felt hat, black coat and vest, fashionable striped pants, a print collar and black tie”. And although he had been offered a new pair of boots O’Neill said that he would “prefer to go home in his old slippers”, he told reporters that "everybody had been very kind to me” [5] .
Men's fashions 1894 - striped trousers can be seen as were gifted to William O'Neill
There is no further detail about the life of our shipwrecked sailor in the newspapers but as we do have his age, and the street where he lived, we can locate William O'Neill and his family in the census records.
Eighteen years before surviving the SS Florence shipwreck, William O’Neill was recorded in the 1881 census working as a Dock Gateman. He is living at 61 Heriot Street, Liverpool with his wife Ann, a dressmaker, their daughter, Margaret age 11, and a son, John age 10. They were all born in Cork, Ireland. They also had a lodger, John Dixon of Scotland who was a marine engineer.
By using Google Street view we can see that although Heriot Street still exists the original houses have since been demolished and replaced with new houses, but it has been possible to find a photo of the Heriot Arms, a public house which was located at 51 Heriot street. Just a few doors away from William O'Neill's house, he may very well have visited this establishment.
Heriot Steet Arms, Heriot Street, Liverpool. On the street where William O'Neill lived.
Census record for 1891 William O'Neill and family at 12 Briar Street, Kirkdale, Liverpool.
Ten years later, the 1891 census shows that the family have moved to 12 Briar Street, Kirkdale, Liverpool. O'Neill's occupation is listed as Seaman; his son John, who is now 20 years of age, is listed as a carpenters apprentice. Their daughter Margaret has a change of surname to O'Sullivan, perhaps her husband is also a sailor and away at sea? His name does not appear on the census record with the rest of the family.
The house at 12 Briar Street, Liverpool is still standing, and we can see from historic maps that this would have been a relatively new house at that time [6] . It was close to a school, a hospital and churches and just a short walk from the docks. Historic maps are available to browse for free on the National Library of Scotland website and with these you can see the development of neighbourhoods over time.
The home of William O'Neill & family in 1891. 12 Briar Street, Liverpool as it is today
Two years after the Florence shipwreck in 1900, William and Ann O’Neill are no longer living at 12 Briar Street. Their name are not listed as living at this address in a Liverpool street directory for 1900 [7] nor are they in listed anywhere in the 1901 census. Perhaps they had left the country? But, we do know from the 1901 census that William O'Neill's son John was still in Liverpool and had followed in his father’s footsteps to sea and was working as a ship’s carpenter on the SS Rowanmore.
Hopefully he did not experience as many shipwrecks as his father had!
Princes Dock, Landing Stage, Liverpool, 1899
As can be seen from our collection of storymaps there are many different topics and hidden stories which can be unearthed when investigating a shipwreck.
Whether researching your family history, a historic event, the name of a ship, the story of the crew or the cargo, your research can be enriched with the free resources mentioned in this article as well as many more martitime resources which are available online and physically in museums and archives across the country.
Follow the links below to begin your own voyage of discovery.
And what of SS Florence today?
Survey data confirms the hypothesis that this wreck is the SS Florence. Her built measurements of 45m by 7m correlate with the dimensions of this wreck which is located approximately 10 miles south of the Calf of Man. The ship's bell has been recovered and is inscribed with 'Florence 1882'. Remains of the cargo of coal has been observed within the holds by author and diver, Adrian Corkhill [8] .
Site plan of SS Florence which sank in 1898, UKHO reference 7391
For a full account of the loss of SS Florence and the survival and rescue of William O'Neill visit the Isle of Man ‘Arches’ portal (link is at the end of this page) or request a copy of Adrian Corkill’s 2004 book ‘Shipwrecks of the Isle of Man’ from your library.
For more stories like this visit: https://unpathdwaters.org.uk/science-and-the-sea/
References:
[1] Cumberland Pacquet, and Ware's Whitehaven Advertiser - 26 September 1889, "Loss of a Liverpool Steamer off the Calf of Man".
[2] Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough - 21 September 1889, "Four days in an open boat. Loss of a crew of 10"
[3] The Liverpool Mercury - 25 September 1889, "The Wreck of the Steamer Florence. Narrative of the Sole Survivor. Important Corrections".
[4] Bank of England Inflation calculator https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator
[5] The Liverpool Mercury - 25 September 1898, "The Wreck of the Steamer Florence. Narrative of the Sole Survivor. Important Corrections".
[7] Gore's Directory of Liverpool & Birkenhead, 1900. [Part 1: Street List & Street Directory] https://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/288714
[8] Corkhill, A, 2004. Shipwrecks of the Isle of Man, Tempus Publishing Ltd. Stroud. pp. 77-80
Further Information:
