Betsy Splatt & Her Four Daughters - Portpatrick, Scotland, UK
N 54° 50.550 W 005° 07.023
30U E 364055 N 6079318
The headstone for Betsy Splatt and her daughters Mary Ann, Elizabeth, Susanna, and Ann Maria is located in the Old Parish Church Cemetery in Portpatrick, Scotland, UK. In 1850, they lost their lives in the wreck of the Orion paddle steamer.
Waymark Code: WMWQZW
Location: Southern Scotland, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/04/2017
Views: 0
The headstone inscription reads:
"Sacred to the memory of Betsy, the beloved wife of John SPLATT, of Kenton, Devonshire [yeoman] aged 68 years Also of Mary Ann SPLATT, aged 38 years. Also of Elizabeth SPLATT, aged 31 years. Also of Susanna SPLATT aged 27 years. Also of Anna Maria SPLATT aged 22 years Daughters of the above who lost their lives by the Wreck of the Orion Steamer, at Portpatrick, on the morning of the 18th of June 1850. Their loss will be ever deeply and sincerely regretted by a large circle of friends. “In the midst of Life we are in Death”."
The following information is from the Wikipedia (
visit link) entry for William Splatt:
"His mother and four of her children perished in the shipwreck of the Orion paddle steamer on a voyage from Liverpool to Glasgow on 18 June 1850 on their way to join William in Australia after he encouraged them to do so. His father survived and was later buried in Kenton Church graveyard, where his gravestone survives, near the church door."
The following information about the sinking of the Orion paddle steamer is from Wikipedia (
visit link) :
"Orion was a G & J Burns paddle steamer, built by Caird & Co in 1847, that sank off Portpatrick Lighthouse, Wigtownshire, Scotland, in June 1850 on its way from Liverpool to Glasgow, with the loss of 50 lives.
The captain was found guilty of the "culpable bereavement of the lives of the passengers" and was imprisoned for 18 months. The 2nd mate was transported.
The eminent surgeon John Burns was one of the passengers killed in the accident. The incident was recorded in the 1851 book The wreck of the Orion, a Tribute of Gratitude by Reverend Joseph Clarke who was one of the survivors."
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