Sealskins and the General Grant

On  May 14^th, 1866 and American ship, the “General Grant” sank near the Auckland Islands, and an extraordinary tale of survival followed.

There were 83 people on board the ship, along with gold, wool, skins and other valuables from New Zealand and Australia, and the vessel headed out from Melbourne on the London route. Ten days after departure though it ran into difficulty. With the cliffs of the Auckland Islands dead ahead and only a light wind making the boat unable to steer away, the inevitable happened and ithit the islands. The ship then drifted into a large sea cave where large sea swells and waves caused the mast to hit the roof, forcing it down to hole the hull. Surrounded by falling spars, pieces of mast and rocks, and in the dark, the lifeboats could not be launched until the next morning when light returned. Even then, the ordeal was not over. The longboat that was meant to take survivors to shore capsized with its load of people and only three people managed to get to safety on one of the two quarter boats remaining.

Only 15 people survived the wreck. Amongst them were James Teer and married couple Mary Ann and Joseph Jewell. Teer took over as leader of the group and in Nov 21, 1867, thanks to his stern but fair leadership, ten survivors were rescued by a whaling brig.

This is a remarkable story in its own right, although it is not the only one from those perilous days. What makes it even more so is that Mary Ann Jewell was a seamstress and, together with James Teer, fashioned (and that is the appropriate word) clothes from seal skins. Using needles made from albatross bones, carved out with a penknife, and with thread made from flax, the group was kitted out with clothing that not only saved them, but helped to restore some of the wealth that the Jewells had lost in the shipwreck. Mary Ann was paid £60 a time for giving talks dressed in her sealskin outfit when they returned to safety. According to an eyewitness, Catherine Rolfes, a dressmaker on the West Coast, the style and quality of Mary Ann’s shipwreck chic was something to be marvelled at: ‘I saw the garments in which she landed in New Zealand … [they] consisted of a gored skirt, & dainty jacket, with a natty little cap, & shoes with the fur towards the feet; she also had an undergarment with the fur turned inside for the cold was great; all these were very neatly sewn.’ It seems that standards must be kept up, even when shipwrecked!

See more:

Google search for “seal skin clothing history”

Read more:

James Teer – Lord of the Seals

Mrs Jewell