Lost Specie in Victoria, Australia

[allen_idaho]

I came across this story in a newspaper archive and figured I'd share it in case there are any Australians out there reading this page.

In July, 1853, the steamer "Diamond" travelled up the river to Raleigh's Wharf to deliver a box of Sovereigns which she had loaded from the steamer "Osmanli". After loading the specie onto a small boat at the wharf, the Diamond accidentally drifted backward, causing the small boat to swamp and sink.
Men spent the day dragging for the boat and box of specie but were unable to locate it. Divers were brought in to search the area. The water was reported to be approximately 24 feet deep. The divers failed to recover the box and by August the search was abandoned.

Today, Raleigh's Wharf doesn't exist as far as I know. It is located at: 2 Van Ness Avenue, Maribyrnong City, Victoria, Australia.
The article stated that there were 10,000 sovereigns in the box waiting for someone to find.

 

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[AUVnav]

Interesting...while that location doesnt seem plausible...I can check out the river and the potential downstream locations for the drift...Thanks and I will let you know...

Do you have the specifics of the article?

AUV

 

[allen_idaho]

Sorry for the late reply. I don't come to this part of the forum all that often. Copy and paste the following addres to get to the article:

18 Jul 1853 - VICTORIA. diamond specie wharf&searchLimits=exactPhrase|||anyWords|||notWords|||l-textSearchScope=*ignore*%7C*ignore*|||fromdd|||frommm|||fromyyyy=1850|||todd|||tomm|||toyyyy=1863|||l-category=Article|||l-word=*ignore*%7C*ignore*|||sortby

You will need to scroll up the page a little.