An unusual sombre mood enveloped the small seaside town of Aberavon on one summer’s day in 1893. Typically bustling with beachgoers and children frolicking in the sand, on Tuesday, August 8, that year the beach was instead shrouded in mourning following one of Wales’ most devastating boating tragedies.
Some 24 lives were lost due to the events that unfolded that fateful Monday. A bank holiday, it had seen Aberavon beach thronged with locals as well as visitors who had arrived by train from the valleys. Among them were 34 members of a Sunday school from Ystrad in Rhondda looking forward to a seaside excursion. Sadly only 10 returned home.
At about 3pm the group, ranging in age from six to 28, was offered a coastal boat tour for threepence by brothers William and John Bath, both tin plate workers. Eager for adventure the party of 34 accepted and set off from the shore with the brothers at the oars. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter.
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For a time they enjoyed themselves immensely. “They were singing and saying: ‘We are going to America’,” recounted Miss Jenkins, a passenger on another vessel, to the local newspaper.
However the boat, measuring 22ft by six feet, appeared “uncomfortably full” to many of the thousands watching from the beach and the sea conditions were described as “choppy”. Within minutes disaster struck. “A big wave came over them and nearly filled the boat and then another wave came and upset the boat,” Miss Jenkins said. “Those in the water were screaming and holding up their hands.”
The boat capsized sending everyone aboard into the sea. The distressing screams of youngsters and adolescents rang out from the beach. Surrounding boats swiftly moved in to aid the overturned vessel and managed to save 12 people including the two brothers who led the outing.
“The boatman in our boat wanted to go back at once to them but he had first to put some of his passengers on the shore. Then we went back to the place where the others were in the water,” Miss Jenkins said. “One of the men threw a chain towards the struggling people and one caught hold of it and was pulled into our boat.”
A number of St John Ambulance volunteers arrived promptly at the scene and administered resuscitation to the saved individuals, all of whom were in an “exhausted condition”. Alas, despite these swift actions, 24 people perished.
Sketch of the boat in the Evening Standard published on Wednesday, August 9, 1893
(Image: The National Library of Wales)
Sketch of where the Aberavon boating disaster happened printed in the Evening Express on Wednesday, August 9, 1893
(Image: The National Library of Wales)
The bodies of 20 victims were retrieved and identified before Tuesday evening. They were: Gwen Llewellyn, aged 18; Mary Powell, 17; Jane Dudlyke, 22; Harriet Brimble, only eight; Elizabeth Ann Brimble, 15; William Rees, 16; Daniel Evans, 28; David Lloyd, 17; Charlotte Ceazar, also 17; Janet A Meyrick, 17; Thomas Jones, whose age remains unclear; Margaret Harris, aged 12; Gwilym Thomas, 16; Joseph Atkinson, 13; Richard James Lewis, 15; Ada Knight, 16; David Thomas, who was 16; David James Thomas, another 16-year-old; Charles Lewis, 17; and William Whiting, who was 20 years old.
The misfortune didn’t end there as nine-year-old John Pritchard and 18-year-old Thomas Jones were initially missing until their remains tragically surfaced along the coastline. Two others were presumed drowned and unaccounted for.
Survivors included young Enoch Brimble, aged 15, and David Brimble, just six, from the same family. Recounting the horror Enoch said: “I sat halfway in the boat. The girls sat in the front and the boys in the stern.” He continued to describe the tragic incident, saying: “After passing the pier the sea was very choppy and on the boat turning it was struck by a big wave and the girls got frightened and rushed all to one side, which made the boat capsize.”
Extract taken from the South Wales Daily Post on Tuesday, August 8, 1893
(Image: The National Library of Wales)
Headline in the South Wales Daily News on Saturday, November 18, 1893
(Image: The National Library of Wales)
Enoch recounted his struggle for survival, detailing: “I tried, while in the water, to grasp the boat but failed. I next saw an oar and I put my hands over it. The girl Lilian Hopkins caught my jacket and I seized her skirt and we both managed to keep afloat.”
David’s older brother, T R Brimble, witnessed the dreadful incident from the beach and recounted to a journalist what he saw of his younger sibling’s ordeal. “[I] was on the beach with a number of friends,” he recalled.
“I heard a shout from the shore that the boat was sinking and I looked towards the sea. I saw the boat capsizing, as it were, and its bow disappearing under the waves.
“The occupants were screaming and only their heads were in sight above the water. My brother was in the boat. He was the smallest in it but somehow or other he caught hold of the bottom of the boat and was saved.
“When the rescuers arrived at the spot he was quite overcome and was vomiting sea water. He is a courageous young lad and stuck to the boat like grim death.”
Tragically the heartbroken parents of 15-year-old Ann Brimble and eight-year-old Elizabeth Brimble witnessed their daughters drown and stood “powerless” to save them. On Tuesday early trains from the Rhondda Valley delivered grieving family members and friends to Aberavon town to identify the bodies of the deceased. Mourners visibly displayed their heartache as coffins were transported to the casualties’ residences, local newspapers reported.
The streets were packed with onlookers creating a deeply distressing spectacle. A jury inquest was rapidly convened to inquire into the events leading to the fatalities
The jury was tasked with determining if anyone was to blame for a death given the clear cause. They heard from Captain Ace, an experienced boatman and eyewitness, who testified that he had seen the boat dangerously overloaded. He recounted how he had warned the two men in charge of the day trip vessel, shouting: “What are you doing out here, you stupid fellow, with that load of people in the boat?” and advised them to head for calmer waters.
Sketch of defendants William and John Bath printed in the South Wales Daily News on Saturday, November 18, 1893
(Image: The National Library of Wales)
Headline in the South Wales Daily News on Saturday, November 18, 1893
(Image: The National Library of Wales)
The Bath brothers, motivated by the potential profits of the bank holiday Monday, had allowed too many passengers aboard with 36 people on a boat with a capacity for only 16. The coroner accused the boatmen of incompetence and they were referred to the crown court for a trial on manslaughter charges. Each brother was granted bail at £50 with a surety of £25.
At the trial in Town Hall, Cardiff, presided over by Justice Richard Henn Collins, the jury took just “two minutes” to deliberate after the evidence was presented. The Bath brothers were found not guilty of manslaughter by the jury and were subsequently discharged.