Robert Smith, the unlucky sailor

Robert Smith 1857-1895 The name Robert Smith runs through my family. I am the third so far that I know of. My Great Grandfather was Robert Strachan Smith. He died in 1958 in Napier St, Cottesloe. I have a picture of my dad as a young boy standing outside the house. All he can remember is that if you sat on the toilet you could see the Perth-Fremantle train go past, a typical child's memory! It his uncle, Robert Strachan Wright Smith, who was the first of the name that I know of. He was born, so the records tell me, in 1857 on the 28/06/1857 in Rothesay, Scotland. However, when he died his wife put a notice in the papers in Sydney om 30/11/1895 saying he would have been 41. At the moment I can't explain this discrepancy. In the census of 1861 Robert is in Glasgow with his mother, Grace, and three brothers, Alexander, Thomas and John. His father isn't recorded. The 1871 census records Robert as still being in Glasgow with Grace, but only one brother, Alexander, is there too. In between these two dates there is a strange mention in the sources of the family arriving in NSW on the ship 'Racehorse' as assisted immigrants on the 22/09/1866. All the boys are there, and their mum. The person who assisted them is given in the newspaper as Robert. Had Robert gone to the NSW goldrush or emigrated in search of work, in the hope of bringing out his family once he was successful? If so, I assume he died, and they went back to be with the family support network in Glasgow. Strangely enough, Robert, Thomas and John would spend most of their adult lives in Australia. The families of Thomas and John, who hyphenated his name to Wright-Smith for some reason, are still living in Australia. Robert had a wife and son, but I haven't found a name for him yet, and so no record of his life. But I am getting ahead of myself! Robert's future career details come down in the short newspaper obituaries published shortly after his death. Note is made that he was the brother of Thomas Smith, then living in Fremantle with his own young son Robert Strachan. The Strachan comes from a beloved Aunt of Thomas and his brothers, the Robert I assume from his brother and, maybe, eventually from some more distant ancestor that I haven't been able to trace yet. According to the newspapers Robert worked on the 'SS MACEDON' (826 gross tons, 532 net. Lbd: 220'6" x 29'8' x 15'8". Iron steamship, built as a passenger vessel by W H Potter & Co, Liverpool, England. Barque-rigged vessel with one deck was powered by 96-hp 2 cylinder inverted engines. Built for W H Smith & Partners as the Melbourne Steamship Co. 1881 chartered out, with the option to purchase, to Anderson & Marshall & Lilly, Melbourne. Worked the coast of Western Australia on that State Government's mail run until 21 March 1883 when she drifted onto Transit reef off Rottnest Island. Remaining there overnight and, the next morning, with engines full astern she coursed backward onto Phillip Rock, sustaining damaged stern and holing the hull. To save live and cargo, she was thrust forward onto transit reef, becoming a total loss. All lives saved-from https://flotilla-australia.com/melbsc.htm#macedon-msc). According to The Western Mail 23/08/1895 he had been second officer on the MACEDON. The actual sentence is ambiguous and its hard to tell if it implies he was on the ship when it sank or not. The next ship he was on was the 'SS NEMISIS' (1,392 gross tons, 886 net. Lbd: 240'2" x 34' x 17'9". Iron screw steamship, built by Turnbull & Sons, Whitby, England. Built for this concern as a cargo vessel, with compounded engine producing 120 nhp. Entered Port Phillip Bay, 1st May 1881 after a voyage of seventy six days, brigantine rigged. She was intended to work as a collier on the Melbourne - Newcastle intercolonial trade, although at a later she was fitted for passenger accomodation and placed on the Melbourne - Sydney run. Later placed on the West Australian run upon the advent of the goldrushes of the 1890's. During the 1890's she was again converted into a collier on the east coast. Left Newcastle for Melbourne on 8 July 1904 with a cargo of coal and was last seen on the 9th of July, east of Wollongong. Her officers and crew numbered 32. There were no survivors-https://flotilla-australia.com/huddart.htm#nemesis-hp). He was the chief officer according to the newspapers, but I'm unsure whether that means first mate, master or something else. I am also unsure of when he actually served aboard this boat because I don't know when he left the ill-fated MACEDON. The papers then say he was 'master of a labour schooner in the South Seas' (The Western Mail 23/08/1895 and others) before he became Navigating Lieutenant on HMCS 'WOLVERINE' in 1884. There doesn't appear to be much space in his work timeline for this to happen. A labour schooner in the South Seas suggests to me that he was a blackbirder, kidnapping or luring islanders aboard to work in Queensland. I'd like to be wrong about this, as it is not a particularly nice occupation by today's standards. WOLVERINE is the last ship that I know he was employed upon. It was an old ship, originally built in 1863 and then given by the Royal Navy to NSW as a training vessel. (Here is the WIKIPEDIA entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Wolverine_(1863) also HMS Wolverene was a Jason-class three-masted wooden screw corvette, of the Royal Navy. Later she became flagship of the Australia Station, eventually being presented to the Colony of New South Wales as a training ship for the New South Wales Naval Brigade and New South Wales Naval Artillery Volunteers.HMS Wolverine was built at the Woolwich Dockyard and launched at Woolwich on 29 August 1863. After serving in the North America and West Indies Station in the 1860s, she was commissioned as the flagship of the Australia Station on 7 September 1875, under the command of Commodore Anthony Hoskins. In 1880, Francis Pringle Taylor was appointed lieutenant in command, a position he held until 1884. During its service Wolverine was present for the Royal Navy's Detached Squadron world cruise in 1881 when the princes Albert and George undertook naval training. The Wolverine left Sydney Harbour at the same time as the Detached Squadron on 10 August 1881, with Commodore John Wilson, Commander-in-Chief of the Australia Station, her destination being Brisbane and then New Guinea. The scientist Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay travelled to New Guinea on this voyage where, aided by the Rev. James Chalmers, he intervened with the Commodore to stop the destruction of the entire native village of Kalo in reprisal for the recent murder of some missionaries there. Wolverine's service came to an end was replaced by HMS Nelson and paid off in 1882 at Sydney. She was presented to the Colony of New South Wales as a training ship for the New South Wales Naval Brigade and New South Wales Naval Artillery Volunteers — challenging "enemy" ships at Sydney heads and "attacking" coastal and harbour fortifications. The ship was decommissioned in 1892, sold to a private firm (Peter Ellison, Sydney) for £2,200 in August 1893 and with the engines removed was used as a hulk. After refit and conversion to a barque, she commenced service as a merchant vessel. On a voyage from Sydney to Liverpool, England she sprung leaks and returned to Auckland for repairs, however upon docking she was found to be unfit. She was sold to G. Niccol, Auckland, for £1,000). Newspaper reports make it clear the ship mainly lay at anchor, so service as the navigator couldn't have been to strenuous. She made occasional forays to Jervis Bay and hosted important dignitaries, but overall it must have been an easy life, if maybe not well-paid. When the WOLVERINE was finally paid off Robert had to look for another job. He had a wife and child and, judging by reports after his death, little money. He took passage on a well-known vessel, SS CATTERTHUN, for China to look for new employment. His new career was never to be. In early August 1895 the ship hit Seal Rocks, off the NSW coast, and quickly sunk. Robert and another saloon passenger died, reports alleging that the in-rushing water must have overpowered them in their cabins, preventing their escape. It was a famous shipwreck, made the more so by the deep sea salvage that followed to recover a reported 10000 gold sovereigns that had been aboard. Robert's wife and child were left near destitution. A charity concert was arranged for them in September 1895 at the Sydney Town Hall. The bad luck hadn't stopped though. A downpour drastically cut turnout, and a crowd of only 4-500 came along. Nothing more has so far be found by me in newspaper or other records to track what happened to Robert's widow and son.