Laura, who is on work experience from Prince Henry’s Grammar School Otley, has been looking at the ‘Down Memory Lane’ albums; gifted to the museum archives by Margaret Humble in the 1980s. The albums cover Whitby Gazette articles of ‘Down Memory Lanes’ from 1979-89, including a range of difference events from a range of different time periods (Location: A5.8)
One particular story that evoked my interest was about the shipwreck of the British India Steam Navigation Company’s ship, the Rohilla, in 1914. The ‘Down Memory Lane’ came from the 1989 Whitby Gazette on October 27th, page 23. This was 3 days before the 75th anniversary of the wreck and the article described how there were 229 people on board the ship and 145 were saved thanks to the ‘heroic actions of the lifeboatmen and Whitby townspeople’. The article mentioned the wreck happened on October 30th 1914, so I had a look at the online archives of the Whitby Gazette for that date and found an article on the wreck that was written the year the wreck happened. It described the events of the shipwreck in informative detail.
The ship crashed in the early morning and initially, only 54 crew members were accounted for. 11 bodies washed up on shore, 35 crew members were rescued by lifeboats, 6 were saved by the Rohilla’s boat and 2 managed to swim to shore. The lifeboat ‘John Fielden’ was sent out and rescued 41 crew members but had to leave about 108 on the sinking ship. Other lifeboats were sent out, but none could get close enough to the ship to be successful due to the waves and weather. Hope was sustained for the people left on the wreck as there was some food preserved and lighting on the captain’s bridge. One crew member rescued said those stranded sang ‘It’s a long way to Tipperary’ to keep spirits boosted. A stewardess on board was stated to be a survivor of the Titanic tragedy that had happened only a few years before!
At 8pm that night, the coastguards sent out a message to the people left on the ship to try and reach shore on rafts but the captain replied with, “No, thanks, I’d rather wait until morning”. Due to the ocean’s ferocity, it was a doomed attempt to send out lifeboats to rescue the remaining crew members. People could only search along the coastline for washed up bodies and hope for any survivors. Information on the Rohilla crew lists, news articles and photographs can be found in the archives. (Location: B2.7, Whit/D5/D5.4/3/14, Whit/D1/D1.4/2/F/1) There are also relevant books on the Rohilla shipwreck on the Piracy and Wrecks shelf in the library. (Location: Cabinet 6)
A story that is in volume IV (4) of the photo albums shows a photo of the Regatta Day at the Whitby Piers. The article is from the Whitby Gazette on December 9th 1983 and the photo is from sometime in the late 1800s. It mentions that there seems to be a boat race of sorts and people of Whitby are standing on the piers to watch. Using this, I went into the Whitby Gazette archives and found an article in the August 15th 1885 Gazette which has written about the boat races on the Regatta Day that year. There is a chance that the postcard from the ‘Down Memory Lane’ is from the 1885 Regatta Day.
The day began with a Yacht race of which the prices were: 1st prize of £5 and a trophy cup; 2nd prize of £3 and 3rd prize of £1, and £1 in the 1880s is worth the equivalent of £153.73 today. The winner of the yacht race was a man named H.A. Dannat from Scarborough who won on the yacht named ‘Nathalie’. The Regatta Day in Whitby in 1885 was such a big event, that the Lancashire Yorkshire railway company advertised excursions to Whitby from Manchester and other surrounding areas, however due to unfortunate weather conditions, the transport was cancelled. In the archive room, we have a box filled with a selection of Regatta programmes dating from 1883-2024. (Location: C1.7) We also have a book by Diana Isherwood called ‘Whitby Regattas: An Illustrated History 1833-2018’. (Location: 942.747 ISH, Cabinet 35)
Finally, a story from a 1987 article on Peace Day in 1919. The ‘Down Memory Lane’ showed a day of celebrations on Whitby Bridge, celebrating the victory of the previous years. Every house had lamps, lanterns or candles in the windows and the streets were swamped with flags, streamers and patriotic mottos. To heighten the celebrations special processions came through and sporting events were happening throughout the day. A planned firework display however, had to be abandoned due to railway strikes delaying the arrival of the fireworks.
If you are interested in looking at the ‘Down Memory Lane’ archive or any of the other resources mentioned in the blog, please contact [email protected] and if you are interested in accessing the digital Whitby Gazette, we are open Tuesday to Friday, 10am – 4pm.
By Laura Elkington, Sixth Form Student
#archivesforall #HeritageFund
