Hephzibah: Burnside, Thurso Bay, Pentland Firth

ND16NW 8034 c. 10 69

N58 36 W3 33

NLO: Thurso [name: ND 115 687]

Scrabster [name: ND 102 702].

Thurso Bay [name centred ND 115 699]

Pentland Firth [name centred ND 35 81].

Possibly on map sheet ND17SW.

6 March 1883, HEPHZIBAH, 27 yrs old, of Carnarvon, wooden schooner, 93 tons, 5 crew, Master J. Roberts, Owner G. Williams, Carnarvon, departed Carnarvon for Newcastle-on-Tyne, carrying slates, wind N.10, stranded, total loss, Burnside, Thurso, Caithness.

Source: PP Abstracts Returns of Wrecks and Casualties on Coasts of the UK 1882-83 (1884 [C.4154] LXXI.621).

HEPZIBAH. Thurso, March 6, 8 10 a.m. The HEPZIBAH, Roberts, with slates, from Caernarvon for Hartlepool, parted from her anchors and drove ashore here at 7 a.m., during a northerly gale and very heavy sea: crew saved by lifeboat. She is likely to be a total wreck.

Source, Casualties &c., LL, No. 21,482, London, Wednesday, March 7 1883.

HEPZIBAH. Scrabster, March 6. A gale sprung up here yesterday and increased towards evening, when it blew a whole gale, with a heavy sea running into the bay, wind N to NNE. There were six vessels in the bay. Near midnight the schooner HEPZIBAH, of Caernarvon, burned a flare-up for the lifeboat, which was immediately go out and the crew landed, one of the vessel's chains having parted. She afterwards broke the remaining chain, and stranded [Record received incomplete].

NMRS, MS/829/69 (no. 3359).

(Classified as wooden schooner, with cargo of slates: date of loss cited as 6 March 1883). Hephzibah: this vessel stranded at Burnside [Thurso]. Capt. Roberts.

Registration: Caernarvon. Bult 1856. 93 tons [unspecified].

(location of loss cited as N58 36.5 W3 32.0).

I G Whittaker 1998.

The location assigned to this record is essentially tentative. The name Burnside apparently denotes the area around Scrabster Castle [ND16NW 3: ND 1068 6915].

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 19 May 2004.