The Sinking of the 'Mary Ward'

Photo by Alan L Brown - June 13, 2005

Plaque Location

The County of Grey
The Town of The Blue Mountains
At the north end of the entrance to Craigleith Provincial Park on the north side of Highway 26 east of Thornbury

Plaque Text

On the night of November 24, 1872, the steamer "Mary Ward" ran aground on Milligan's Reef, two kilometres offshore. Recently purchased by five Owen Sound men, the vessel was making the trip from Sarnia to her new home port of Collingwood with twenty-seven aboard, including a Canadian Pacific Railway survey party when the accident occurred. The first lifeboat safely reached shore, then a fierce gale sprang up, delaying rescue operations. After a perilous journey the second lifeboat succeeded in landing but the third capsized and all eight aboard drowned. A group of local fishermen, led by Frank Moberly and Captain George Collins, later rescued those remaining on the wreck, and they were subsequently recognized by the Canadian government for their heroic actions.

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