Arts, Science and Education

The following people, from across the fields of arts, science and education, were passengers on the SS Wimmera:

Joseph Perry (Salvation Army bandsman/cinematographer) February-March 1905
Helene Fodor aka Helene Cross aka Helene Greenwood (author/artist) November 1906
Annie and Leonard Harford Lindon (mountaineer / principal) January-February 1906, December 1906
Walter Baldwin Spencer (anthropologist) January-February 1906, December 1906
Edgar Fraser Stead (ornithologist) October 1907
Professor Edgeworth David (academic/scientist/geologist) December 1907
Douglas Mawson (Antarctic explorer/academic) December 1907
J J & E J Clark (architects) 1908 / 1911
Donald MacDonald (journalist/author) July 1908
Dr W. A. Rupert Michell (doctor on the Antarctic vessel Nimrod) September 1908
Maggie and Belle Papakura (Maori tourist guides) July 1909
Professor Alexander William Bickerton (academic) August 1909
Henry Winkelmann (photographer) March, May 1910 / May 1911
Captain Enrico Alberto D’Albertis (Italy) May 1910
W. W. Naughton (sports journalist/writer) May 1911
Messrs Joseph. R. Drake, Thomas M. Hanlon, and Thomas O. Jones (motorists) 1911
Horace Moore-Jones (artist) June 1912
Clement Wragge (meteorologist) May 1912 / April 1914
Mary Proctor (lecturer & author on astronomy) December 1912
Arthur Burr “Wizard” Stone (aviator/showman) May / June 1913
Bert Hinkler (aviator) May / June 1913
Sydney Greenbie (author/traveler) October 1916 (see Voyages)

© Ralph L. Sanderson 2004-2021

Professor Alexander William Bickerton

On Wednesday 18 August 1909 Professor Alexander William Bickerton boarded the SS Wimmera in Sydney for Auckland. He arrived in the New Zealand port on the following Sunday, 22 August. Professor Bickerton, whose home was in Christchurch, was returning to New Zealand on completion of a visit of several months during which he attended a…

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Clement Lindley Wragge

English-born meteorologist Clement Lindley Wragge is credited as being the first to give names to cyclones and setting up a weather observatory on the top of Australia’s highest mountain – Mt. Kosciusko.

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Arthur Burr “Wizard” Stone

Arthur Burr “Wizard” Stone was an American showman and an early pioneer aviator who lived in Australia between 1911 and 1917.

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Douglas Mawson

Douglas Mawson was a passenger aboard the SS Wimmera when it sailed for New Zealand on Friday 20 December 1907. He was bound for Lyttelton where he was to join the Ernest Shackleton’s British Antarctic Expedition.

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Walter Baldwin Spencer

Noted anthropologist, university professor and scientist, Walter Baldwin Spencer (1860-1929) was a passenger on the Wimmera on at least two occasions. The first was in January/February 1906 on a voyage which returned him from New Zealand to Melbourne on Saturday 3 February 1906. The second occasion was later that same year when the Professor departed…

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Horace Moore-Jones

Horace Moore-Jones was English-born and became known for his art created whilst serving at Gallipoli during the First World War. He was ‘for many years a member of the council of the Royal Art Society of New South Wales’ and a member of the ‘council of the Auckland Art Society’ Moore-Jones was a passenger aboard…

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Maggie & Bella Papakura

Maggie Papakura and her sister Bella, were Maori guides at…

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Sandy & Jack

In 1906 two Indigenous Australian men, Sandy & Jack, were handlers for camels being shipped to Christchurch, New Zealand for the International Exhibition.

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J J & E J Clark

John James Clark and Edward James Clark were father and son. They were also Melbourne architects, who, in 1908 won the tender for the Auckland Town Hall.

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Bert Hinkler

Long before his epic 12,000 mile flight from London to Bundaberg in 1928, Australian aviator Bert Hinkler began his career in the industry as a mechanic for the American aviator and showman ‘Wizard Stone’.

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Donald MacDonald

The Australian journalist Donald MacDonald arrived in Auckland aboard the Wimmera from Sydney on 26 July 1908. His travel to New Zealand was as a special correspondent for the Argus newspaper – to report on the visit of the US Fleet.

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Edgeworth David

“To go to the Antarctic has been my wish for many years,” Professor David said on his arrival by the Wimmera this morning, “but I did not expect ever to realize it…”

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Edgar Fraser Stead

New Zealand-born Edgar Fraser Stead (1881-1949) was a passenger aboard the Wimmera in 1907 on her voyage from Sydney to Wellington where he arrived on Thursday 17 October. He was returning home to Christchurch after a period of travel to India, Europe, Great Britain and America. Coincidentally, or not, it was the same trip of the…

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Dr W.A.R. Michell

Canadian-born Dr W.A. Rupert Michell was surgeon aboard the Antarctic expedition vessel Nimrod.

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Drake, Hanlon & Jones

Messrs Drake, Hanlon & Jones, world travellers, arrived in Australia in 1911.

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Henry Winkelmann

New Zealand photographer Henry Winkelmann was a passenger on the Wimmera on three voyages, two in 1910 and one in 1911. Each passage related to his participation in expeditions to observe and photograph a solar eclipse.

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Mary Proctor

Mary Proctor, lecturer and author on astronomy, arrived in Sydney from Vancouver aboard the RMS Makura on 6 July 1912. Her visit to Australia and New Zealand was for the purpose of giving lectures on astronomy.

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Count Fritz Von Hochberg

Count Fritz von Hochberg (aka Friedrich Maximilian, Graf von Hochberg) was a passenger aboard the ss Wimmera. Together with a travelling companion, Mr Healy, the Count embarked the Wimmera at Dunedin, New Zealand. At Bluff the ship departed for Melbourne via Hobart at 5:45 pm on 30 December 1907. The latter port was reached on…

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Annie and Leonard Harford Lindon

Leonard Harford Lindon and his wife Annie (nee Hudson) were passengers aboard the ss Wimmera on two occasions, both in company with Professor Walter Baldwin Spencer and both in 1906. At the time Leonard Lindon was Headmaster of the Church of England Grammar School at Geelong. He was previously the second master of Sydney Grammar…

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Captain Enrico Alberto D’Albertis

Captain Enrico Alberto D’Albertis, of Genova (Genoa), Italy arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia en route Sydney from Port Said aboard the P&O liner Mooltan on 12 April 1910. He was then 64 years of age. In mid-May, whilst in Melbourne, he called at the office of the Governor of Victoria, together with the Acting Consul-General…

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