Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Victoria (Steamboat), capsized, 24 May 1881

Comments (4)
Comments from Users
Posted by [Name Withheld], 17 May 2015 at 22:15

What an incredibly awful disaster! Heart wrenching stories really brought the story to life. It's hard to believe that there is only a small, almost obscure monument to the event. Wondering if there was a Plimsoll line on the side of the boat, not that it would have helped, probably because of the uneven passenger load. Every now and then this could be a news story for the Victoria Day Weekend as it is an integral part of Canadian history and also shows what can happen when blunders are made.

Posted by [Name Withheld], 27 October 2015 at 22:27

Two of the victims were a brother and sister of the Duncan family. They were teenagers and related to our family. They are buried in the McVicar cemetery outside of Chatham. It was such a tragedy.

Posted by [Name Withheld], 10 December 2015 at 4:16

Having lived in London nearly 30 years I became only recently aware of this piece of unfortunate history - I know very few are aware of this event, and its magnitude. I have walked the area where the accident was said to occur and you get a truly uncomfortable vibe - I also know of at least one paranormal group who visited and noted activity. The articles provided were very well written and paint quite a story of the event, thank you for putting this online and sharing this history.

Posted by Geoffrey Anderson, 26 February 2021 at 21:52

I think the Duncans drowned in the Thames, but in Chatham, not London, and the year was 1860, not 1881

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Victoria (Steamboat), capsized, 24 May 1881