Andrew and Isabella Dick Amos and Kate MacLachlan

Why is it here?

Written by Cherie Strickland and Lorraine Clarke – Swan Genealogy

Headstones memorialising the dead are placed in a cemetery by the living, normally to signify the location of one’s body or to give a place of remembrance if no burial place is known.
Andrew and Isabella Dick Amos and Kate MacLachlan have a memorial in the East Perth Cemeteries, their headstone is located leaned up against the Chipper grave, one could assume that the exact location of their bodies within the cemetery walls is no longer known however Mr and Mrs Amos and Kate MacLachlan were not buried in the East Perth Cemeteries nor can we find any connection of them to the Swan River Colony.

Kate and her sister Isabella Dick were born in Tasmania to Isabella nee Dick and Charles MacLachlan, Isabella married Andrew Amos on the 2/12/1856 in Hobart; Andrew was the son of Margaret nee Lax and Andrew Amos. Andrew, Isabella and Kate were on the Steamer London returning to Australia from England when it sank on the night of the 11th January 1866. The London was a classified as an A1 ship; she had left Plymouth on the 4th January 1866. On the morning of Tuesday the 9th the steamer faced a violent gale and the mast broke away, the Captain kept the engines steaming ahead, the gale continued until early the following morning causing the loss of lifeboats, the Captain informed the Chief Engineer that he intended to turn the ship back toward Plymouth. Whilst facing heavy seas the ship continued slowly back toward whence it came. Late Wednesday evening the heavy cross seas caused a mountain of water to fall heavily over the ship destroying a main hatchway flooding the ship with water. Repairs were attempted however within ten minutes the engine room was flooded. The Chief Engineer reported to the Captain that the fires were out and the engines were useless. The Captain remained calm and ordered the Maintopsail to be set in the hope of keeping her before the wind; this was rendered useless the wind tore the sail apart. The deck pumps kept the water at bay throughout the night however by 4am the ship became low and heavy and she refused to ride the waves, the ship was then struck by a heavy sea at the stern causing a breach letting water through. At daybreak the Captain calmly announced to the passengers whom were huddled altogether taking refuge, that hope of saving the ship was lost. The small life boats left did not appeal to the passengers as shelter in the heavy seas, they remained with the ship. Nineteen men including three second class passengers left the ship on a small boat, another boat with a few crew also left the ship soon after, leaving the passengers with life vests. The ship sank. 220 lives were lost including those of Isabella and Andrew Amos and Isabella’s sister Kate. The crew who had made out in the smaller boats reach the safety of passing vessels.

A catastrophic tale, the question still remains how and why did the Amos, MacLaughlin headstone come to be in the East Perth Cemeteries?