The Beginning:
The Ship Bombay was commissioned by George Dorman Tyser in 1860 to the Ship Builders Mr John H Vaux & Co. Ltd, for the grand price of £30,000. A princely sum, and difficult to equate into modern standards, although a useful comparison could be a made to the sale of a pleasant house in Holland Park, a (now) wealthy suburb in London for a cost of £10 pounds, in the same year.
John Vaux had recently leased the Royal Naval Yards (1) in the coastal town of Harwich, Essex, England for the purposes of ship building, something that his son will continue to do after John Snr’s death in 1874. The Yard, formally known as the King Yard had a long tradition of boat building and was particularly active in the 17th and 18th Century’s for the construction of Royal Navy Warships, including HMS Resolution, Centurion and Conqueror to name a few. Below is a photo of the present-day location of the Yard, still in active operation as a working Dock, operating cargo vessels to Belgium and Scandinavia (2).
The Bombay was the first Ship built by the Vaux family, launching in January 1861 and completing the fit out the following month. The family will earn a fine reputation for boat building, and will construct many fine Schooners, Barges and of course larger sailing Ships like the Bombay. The last recorded vessel built in the Yard by the Vaux’s was the Barge Dunkerque in 1894 (3). But the last known survival of a Ship built by the family would be the Auto Da Fe, meaning Act of Faith, she was used as a fishing boat up to 1953, almost 70 odd years, before becoming a vessel of pleasure, where she would become well known for her speed, winning several Regattas. Below is the Auto Da Fe, Pictured in 1999 in Ipswich, England (4).
Construction:
The Bombay on completion of building in 1861 was given the Registration Number 29383 and is listed in the Lloyd’s Register of British Shipping for that year. It was listed as fully rigged Sailing Ship of English Oak and Teak, Copper fastened of 937 Gross Weight Tonnage, with a length of 186 Feet, a breadth of 33.4 Feet and a depth of 20.9 Feet. It was of modern design and features including being fitted with Martin Anchors, a new design that prevented fouling, was much easier to stow and of less weight than other Anchors, and the newly patented William H Graveleys Condensing Apparatus manufactured by Winchester and Co. Able to produce 500 gallons of drinking water per day and aide cooking for 400 people. The Bombay also had a steam winch for cargo and fire extinguisher powered from the steam condenser (5).
Below is a caption of the Bombay’s listing in the Register (6).
Cargo:
Below is a list of the known cargo that the Bombay shipped from London to New Zealand on the 1864 journey, besides commercial cargo, the ship also carried military stores and the worldly possessions of the immigrants.
Military and Government:
Army Department: 27 Case of Rifles and Military Uniforms.
Army Medical Stores, Officer In Charge: 5 Packages.
20 Bales, 4 Cases, 3 Packages. 12th regiment.
Captain Heron: 1 Package.
Major Speedy: 1 Box.
Quartermaster Gallagher. 1 Package.
Auckland Gas Company: 50 Cases.
Hon. Colonial Secretary: 37 Cases, 156 Packages.
General Cargo:
Arch. Clark & Son. 300 Cases and Bales. Located on Shortland Street, Auckland. Gold and General Merchandise.
Black, J: 10 Cases.
Blunt, S S P: 4 Packages.
Braithwaite, J: 1 Package.
Brown & Campbell: 25 Bales.
Brown, S: 10 Packages.
Bucholz & Co: 40 Packages of Iron, 500 Packages, 4 Cases.
Buddle, Reverend. 3 Packages.
Burnside & Co: 21 Packages.
Chapman, C E: 1 Package.
Clark & Sons: 18 Cases, 127 Packages, 1 Box.
Collings, Gheet: 1 Package.
Cooke, T H: 4 Packages.
Creighton & Scales: 3 Packages.
Cruikshank, Smart & Co: 843 Packages, 1 Case.
Davis, C: 7 Cases.
Edward Porter: 182 Packages.
Elam, J E: 1 Cask.
Evitt & Sons. 2 Quarter Cases. Located on Upper Queen Street, Auckland. Cases contained Martells’s 1863 Brandy
Ford, F: 2 Boxes.
Graham & Co: 118 Packages.
Graham, W: 54 Tanks, 2 Cases.
Grihllan & Co: 2 Packages.
Hall, T H: 1 Case of Books. Located on Queen Street, Auckland
Harris & Turner: 1 Pianoforte. (Made by G Legg in London).
Harris, J: 10 Packages.
Harrop, I W: 24 packages, 1 Case, 1 Box.
Hobbs, R: 12 Packages.
Hobson, H: 25 Bundles of Spades.
Isaacs, E & H 165 packages, 18 trunks.
Jervis, H M: 20 Quarter Cases, 7 cases, 156 Tonnes of Coal. (Delivery contested in Auckland Court due to alleged incorrect amount revived, claim of only 140 Tonnes delivered).
Keesing, Doitch and Keesing: 16 Packages, 3 Cases of General Merchandise. Located at Canada Building, Queen Street, Auckland.
Kelly, W Henry. 1 Package.
Legg, Edward: 1 Package.
Legg, George: 1 Cases.
Lewissons Watch Repository: Silver Watches. Located on Queen Street, Auckland.
Lyewall & Rattery: 2 Packages
Mackay & Co: 5 Cases.
Moore, Richard: 2 Packages.
Nathan, D. 18 Packages.
Newman & Owen: 1 Package.
Newton, Irvine and Co: 8 Bales and Cases of Drapery. Located in Hastings Street. Napier.
Norris, E J: 3 Quarter Cases.
Rathby, W: 5 Packages: 1 Box, 1 Case.
Rout, S: 4 Chains.
Russell & Son: 2 Packages of Watches.
Short, T: 4 Cases.
Stachbury & Sons: 10 Packages.
Sherlock & Morris: 3 Cases.
Stephenson & Wendell: 3 Cases.
Tinee, T F S: 33 packages of Hops, 4 Cases.
Vaile, S & J R: 5 Cases.
Vickery & Masefield: 14 Packages.
Watt, Kennedy & Watt: 1 Package of Hardware, 8 Bales General Merchandise, 50 Cases. (Transshipped onto the Schooner Kauri).
Wayte, E: 5 Packages.
Young, W J: 12 Cases of Amontillado Sherry, 10 Cases of Port.
Unknown: 10 cases Herrings. (Transshipped to Australia aboard the Ship Rangitoto).
The Bombay Demasted and Damaged:
The Bombay was moved in late March to Mechanics Bay, in Auckland for repairs and refitting remaining at that location until the 5th of August, 1865. The repairs included new masts, spars, rigging and sails. The work was carried out by Nicol and Sons, at a cost of £3,750. A large Kauri mast came from Whangarei, aboard the ship Ivanhoe, it was 80 feet in height and 28 inches in diameter. The sails were repaired by Mr Malcom for £500.
The Bombay leaves Auckland:
Finally repaired the Bombay was Charted by the Government at a charge of £22.5 s per head, and refitted as a hospital ship for taking injured military personal from the Waikato War back to England. In total 138 men of NCO and lower ranks from the 12th, 14th, 18th, 40th, 43rd, 50th, 57th, 65th and 70th Regiments were transported. Also on the Bombay were a number of Officers under the command of Major Mould of the Royal Engineers, including Captain Vereker of the 12th Regiment, Lieutenant King of the 50th Regiment, and Lieutenant Clarkson of the 68th Regiment also travelling were 14 women and 23 children who were the wives and children of the senior ranks and several doctors and medical staff. Departed Auckland, New Zealand in the morning of September the 3rd. 1865 for London, England via India. Below image if of the Bombay (Middle right) in India in 1865 on her return voyage (8).
The Bombay Sinks
It should be noted the Bombay had a short but eventful life before sadly being wrecked on the 6th of March 1872, on a Reef North Northeast of the Mangsee Island’s, a group of two small islands and Reefs situated in the Balabec Straights of the Philippines, a body of water connecting the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea and separating the Philippines from Borneo. The largest of the Island’s measures just 23 Square Hectares and although it is not known which Reef the Ship floundered on, the two most extensive Coral Reefs are the Helix and the Cama Reef. The Bombay was still owned by the Tyser family at the time, and was Captained by Mr James Heigho, the Ship had been making a return voyage from London to China and had been sailing to Singapore, it is believed the Captain and at least some of the crew survived.
Background Notes and Resources
(1) www.harwich-society.co.uk/maritime-heritage-trail/the-navyard-wharf/
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harwich_Dockyard
(3) http://shippingandshipbuilding.uk/search.php
(4) www.colnesmack.co.uk/auto-da-fe/
(5) https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im1860EnV9-p004.jpg
(6) https://hec.lrfoundation.org.uk/archive-library/lloyds-register-of-ships-online
(7) https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/
(8) Shipping from Hastings Bridge (Calcutta), ship ‘Bombay’ & S.S. ‘Mauritius’,” by the British photographer Samuel Bourne. Dated 1865. Courtesy of the British Library, London.
THE SHIP BOMBAY! 
