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Hells Bells! I did'nt even know there was an Arago Street in Accy........where about's is it? You'll have to forgive me...I left Church in 1974 & although I'm back every 2/3 weeks I don't get about as much as I used to & as such my memory and knowledge of streets gets a little dim at times.
I know the ship was originally christened "Francois Arago" (who was he, we wonder?) and that it was iron hulled & steam powered.........so they took the engine out & made it all sail. This is unusual in itself - a retrograde step - or possibly it was a French Engine & alot of crap (My prediction, by the way, is that the QMII will turn out to be a troubled ship)
The more interesting thing is who bought it, refitted it, and changed it's name to Accrington? The detail available on the net relating to the incidents of 63 dieing on the voyage (when at the time a similar voyage to India around the Cape would have possibly resulted in a few deaths, excepting shipwreck or cholera breaking out) states "owner unknown"........yet it appears to have been used a a troopship. The other interesting thing is that Casman - the steward who poisioned Homer & Cooper, the Captain & 1st mate respectively, was described at the trial as "a gentlemen of colour", which in those days = guilty. Yet he walked free.
There is a mystery here.....there certainly appears to have been some form of cover up. No one I know in Accy has heard of the SS Accy & what happened - & I only heard at the NMM 16 years ago...so maybe there is a story to be told.
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