Karl Williams, of Glasgow,who is with the Dumfries and Galloway Family History Society, is in the process of compiling a database of memorial inscriptions in Dumfries and Galloway and has kindly forwarded the following inscriptions, from Portpatrick Old Graveyard in Wigtownshire, concerning some of those lost in the "Orion" disaster of 1850.
1.
Sacred to the Memory of
Margaret Gardner, the beloved daughter of John NICOL, M.D., of Liverpool She was drowned in the steam ship Orion on the morning of the 18th June 1850 near this place, aged 9 years and 2 months
Her remains are deposited here
"In the midst of life we are in death"
2.
[Gunmetal shield at top of stone]
This tablet has been contributed by the members of the Loyal Orthodox Lodge of the Independent Order of Oddfellows, Bolton le Moors, of the Manchester Unity, in testimony of their profound regret for the loss of Wm. LATHAM, P.P.G.M., & Robt. HASLAM, Treasurer of the above Lodge, who are interred here. Their zeal in the cause of Odd-fellowship will be long remembered by all who knew them
[Inscription]
Sacred to the Memory of
Robert HASLAM, yeoman of Bolton-le-Moor, Lancashire, who was unfortunately drowned on his passage from Liverpool to Glasgow by the striking of the Steam Packet ORION on the sunken rocks called The Bushes near this port on the 18th June 1850 aged 35 years
He was a man of strict probity and sterling honesty, affable and good-natured, a good citizen and a worthy brother, and one who wished to leave the world a better place than he found it
He lived respected and died lamented
This stone is erected by his brother Peter HASLAM to perpetuate his memory
Also William LATHAM, aged [4]8 years, from the same place, who lost his life in the aforesaid dreadful catastrophe
His genius and inflexible integrity procured for him the approbation and affection of all who knew him
He has left a wife and four children to deplore his unhappy fate
3.
Francis C[---]ar McMURR[--], aged 21 years, [--] was un[----] un[----] [dro]wned [---]n Steamer Orion June 18[--] [----]
"In the midst [-------------------] death"
4.
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"
5.
In Memory of
Thomas GLADSTONE¹, son of Laurence GLADSTONE of Liverpool, who was lost in the Orion 18th June 1850 aged 10 years
"Prepare to meet thy God"
¹Ed: According to a letter signed A.C.R. in Glasgow Herald on Tuesday preceding August 17 1894: "… this Thomas Gladstone was, I believe, a grand nephew of the ex Premier, and a youth of great promise."
6.
To the Memory of
Robert TRAIL, M.A., Native of Montrose, who was lost in the Orion 18th June 1850 aged 30 years
This stone is the erection of his mourning relatives
Copyright 2002 / To date