While no detailed research has as yet been conducted into this shipwreck, two newspaper accounts, 69 years apart, give a fascinating instance of printed contradictions. Both accounts agree that the Norwegian barque was wrecked at Middleton Reef in June 1909 but the 1909 account states that the wreck occurred on 18th June 1909 while the 1978 account reports the loss as occurring on 20 June. The 1909 account appears in the Town and Country Journal (July 21st). The 1978 account is an 'Historical Feature' in the Daily Mirror (March 20th) and this purports to include direct quotations from one of the survivors.
An example of the contrasting presentation is the following which describes the reaction of the Captain's wife when she and her children witness his death. The 1909 report says: ' The distracted wife and family so suddenly bereaved wrung their hands wildly, and piercing shrieks of anguish rose above the roar of the sea ...'. The 1978 version claims that, ' The woman did not move nor did she utter a word. She kissed the baby in her arms and it gurgled contentedly'. Both versions do sound somewhat dramatised.
Of further interest is the account of how the wife and children died. Both versions relate how John (Jack) Lawrence tended to their needs as best he could and that, in spite of this they all eventually died. However, the 1909 account states that the mother and 2 children died first, having been observed floating clear of the wreck and well out of reach'. In the 1978 version, Lawrence is reported as saying 'Mrs Andreassen went mad I think. She was afraid her children would be eaten. Two of the children died first and then the mother. 'One night I tucked them up in blankets. Next morning they were gone ... I think she threw them overboard herself. Next day she died. Then the other two children died ...'.
The accounts provide quite a different sequence, apart from anything else. Did both journalists use different sources? Did Lawrence change his story? Did one or both journalists allow their imagination some freedom of expression? Unfortunately no official sources or informants are quoted in the 1909 paper and no source documents are referred to in the 1978 account.
Any readers who come across a source of information that helps to shed light on the story and history of the Errol ((previously the Carisbrooke Castle are invited to contact the Heritage Office: heritageoffice@heritage.nsw.gov.au.
