State Library of South Australia

The 'Star of Greece' [B 12016] • Artwork

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Summary

Artwork depicts the 'Star of Greece', breaking up close to the shore at Port Willunga. The artist has included figures on the beach in the foreground, and others being washed in to shore along with fragments of the ship. Escarpment and jetty are illustrated in the distance to the left.

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Physical description

Artwork (gouache); 30.0 cm x 46.0 cm

Dates / Publication details

Approximately 1888

Artist

Gregory, G. F

Collection

Part of Port Willunga Collection

Subject

Star of Greece (Ship)
Shipwrecks -- South Australia -- Port Willunga
Shipwrecks -- South Australia

Catalogue record

Return to catalogue

General notes

Star of Greece: 3 masted ship, iron, 1257 tons. Because the site of the wreck lies close to suburban Adelaide, the Star of Greece wreck is now one of the best known in South Australia. Built in Belfast in 1868, the Star of Greece, laden with wheat, was wrecked in a violent storm off Port Willunga on the 13th July 1888. Some discrepancy exists in the actual number of lives lost, due to doubts about the number of people aboard the vessel when it left Port Adelaide, but most historians conclude that at least 18 perished. The most striking part of the tragedy was that the ship was only 200 metres from shore when it broke in two amidships at 2.00am.The alarm was raised at 7.20am by a young boy taking his morning walk but because the Willunga telegraph station didn't open until 9.00am, the harbourmaster was unable to contact authorities in Adelaide until then.

Artwork signed by the artist, bottom left corner.

Historical information

Gregory had a son, GF Junior Gregory who also painted and had a similar signature. It is likely they lived in Melbourne, Victoria during the gold rush.

Digitisation information

Date

29/04/2004

Format

image/tiff

Resolution

4,500 x 2,889 pixels (13.0 MP)

Size

39.03 MB

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