1883-12-11ss

“Great excitement prevailed amongst residents on this Beach this forenoon. Just as the train was about to start from the Ocean House for Hamilton, a fishing smack far out on the bosom of the lake was seen to capsize, and the two occupants were thrown into the water.”

Hamilton Times.   December 11, 1883.

The season for commercial fishing was fast-approaching.

While the sand strip between the Hamilton harbor and Lake Ontario had become a popular summer locale by 1883, in the winter months, the number of residents living there was very low. The Hamilton and Northern railway was still a recent addition to the area, so that visitors or travelers were familiar with the lake or bay as viewed from the train.

During the morning of December 11, 1883, an incident involving two commercial fishermen began to unfold. With the winter about to arrive, and the bay and even much of Lake Ontario soon to freeze over, two fishermen from the Beach strip tempted the imminent change by continuing operations.

          A gentleman happened to be on the Beach Strip and was returning to the city when he witnessed the calamity out on the waters of Lake Ontario. When he arrived on the Hamilton and Northwestern train and alighted onto the platform on Ferguson Avenue, he was able to tell aTimes reporter what he had seen:

“One of the fishermen was struggling in the water beside the boat and the other had climbed up on the overturned craft. A very heavy sea is running on the lake today, and those who took a good view of the situation through the best of glasses fear that the poor fellows cannot escape

“The fishermen along the beach were soon out like a swarm of bees discussing the best mode of rendering help to their unfortunate comrades, but nothing had been decided when the cars left.

“ ‘It would have been madness for anyone to attempt to go out in such a sea in any ordinary boat,’ said the gentleman who communicated the above facts to a Times representative. The necessity for a life boat at Burlington canal was never more apparent than it was this morning.” ¹

¹ Hamilton Times. December 11, 1883.

Ben Foulds and Edward Holmwood were experienced fisherman. During the morning of December 11, 1883, despite the extremely rough conditions on Lake Ontario, they were determined to head out to retrieve their nets.

Foulds and Holmwood had not got out on the lake very far, indeed they still could be seen from shore, when their small boat was capsized by the large waves.

Holmwood was the stronger of the two and he managed to climb on the overturned boat. Twice he grabbed Foulds and attempted to pull him on the boat as well. The first time Foulds fell back but was reached again. The second time that Foulds fell back, he disappeared under the water and was not seen again.

Mr. Smith, the caretaker of the Ocean House, was the first to notice the peril of the fishermen. About 11 a.m., he ran to the lighthouse to inform Captain Campbell of what he had seen. The lighthouse keeper got out his skiff and then quickly tried to assemble a party of volunteers to help him with the rescue:

“The wind was blowing a gale from the southwest, and as the captain’s boat is a very frail one, it was difficult to get anyone to volunteer. At last, William Partlow, captain of the schooner Bismark and F. Cotter volunteered, and when getting into the boat, Partlow asked Captain Campbell if he had money on him, because he thought that if they escaped drowning themselves, they would likely be driven down to Oakville and the money would be needful to take them home. They started off, having first procured a flask of brandy, and rowed for about a mile and a half, the waves beating over and drenching them.”²

² “Hamilton Spectator.  December 12, 1883.

Captain Campbell, Captain Partlow and Cotter were having tremendous difficulty when they spotted another larger and more substantial boat which had set off towards the upturned boat, so they returned to shore:

“Captain Tommy Armstrong was on the beach and saw the position of the men. He at once proposed that a crew be formed to go to the rescue, and soon John Morrison, Wm. Rollo, Robert Trucker and Mortimer Carey set out in Rollo’s boat on their life-saving mission.

“Armstrong and his crew had many narrow escapes on their way out to the disabled boat, and at times the waves swept Rollo’s craft from stem to stern, washing completely over its heroic occupants.”²

The rescue team took half an hour to plow through the frigid waves to reach the boat:

“Poor Holmwood was startled upon it, and was thoroughly exhausted Captain Campbell put out his hand to assist him to the boat, but it was found that he was unable to raise his arm.”²

They eventually managed to get Holmwood aboard their boat:

“When Holmwood was taken into the boat he was asked, ‘Where is Ben?’ His reply was, ‘Poor Ben is drowned!’ ”²

The rescuers brought Holmwood back to the Crook’s hotel where his body was vigorously rubbed to bring warmth to the outside, while liberal quantities of brandy were provided to bring warmth to the inside.

Ben Foulds was about 45 years of age and was one of the oldest fishermen on the Beach. He drank considerably and was considered to be somewhat reckless:

“Only on Monday, his team ran away with him, and on the morning of the same day (Monday), he was heard to remark to Holmwood, ‘that boat will be your coffin’ having reference to his own boat, which was a comparatively new one. He little thought that the next day he would lose his own life through it.”¹

The Times account of the incident ended as follows:

“Too much praise cannot be given to the brave men who took their lives in their hands, as it were, to save a perishing fellow man.”²