HMS grecianGrecian, 1838-1865
According to this despatch, the grecianGrecian was a British bark tasked with transporting lighthouse apparatus from London to Vancouver
Island, in order to construct lighthouses in the Juan de Fuca Strait. This despatch,
and the included documents, note that lighthouse keepers Roberts and Davies, along
with Davies’ wife and children, sailed aboard the grecianGrecian, of which Miller was captain.
In the August 7th, 1860 edition of the British Colonist, the editor notes that when the ship arrived at Victoria the passengers and crew [spoke] in the severest terms of the conduct of captain Miller
during the voyage.
1 Apparently, Miller was drunk for the majority of the trip, and while moored at Honolulu,
the British Consul ordered him to remove all liquor from the ship, which he appeared
to do; however, when the voyage resumed, he was again intoxicated
and passengers and crew discovered in his cabin Two casks of ale, two casks of porter, and six dozen and a-half casks of sherry wine.
2 Miller, in an editorial in the August 8th edition of the British Colonist, rebutts the serious charges agianst [his] conduct,
and notes that the only liquor in [his] room was the sherry wine.
3
- 1. The Arrival of the Bark Grecian, British Colonist, August 7, 1860.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Card from the Master of the Grecian, British Colonist, August 8, 1860.