A New Brunswick ship sank off Ireland in 1870 — only 1 lifeboat made it to shore

It's a story that many in Albert County have heard, and one that reminds New Brunswickers of the deep maritime history that runs through the province.

"This is an amazing account of survival," said Moncton historian and educator James Upham, standing next to the headstone of William Henry Balser in Lower Coverdale's Wilmot Cemetary, near Riverview.

Like many from the area at that time, Balser was a sailor. In January of 1870, he found himself aboard a New Brunswick-based wooden ship, the Barque Ansel, when it ran into trouble off the coast of Ireland. 

In the North Atlantic, the 21 crew members ended up in two life boats for a week, with little food or water. Balser's boat washed ashore, but those in the other boat were never heard from again.

Upham said Balser's headstone, which shows he died 57 years later in 1927, is another example of the links found throughout New Brunswick to our history.

"So William Henry Balser managed to have quite a long successful life after those incredible events," he said. "This guy was in an open boat in the North Atlantic in the dead of winter for a solid week."

A barque is a type of sailing ship that was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries for transporting cargo, and the Ansel was transporting iron ore destined for Boston.

There are two accounts of the tragic sinking of the Ansel. One from the daughter of the second mate who was never heard from again, and another from first mate J.D. Downey, of Carleton, N.B., who washed ashore in Ireland with Balser.

In the Saint John newspaper The Daily Telegraph, Downey tells how the ship left London on Jan. 18, 1870, and had "pleasant weather with fair winds" for a full week.

Unfortunately the winds changed and "blew a whole gale" which caused the ship to take on water. On Jan. 26, "the wind veered suddenly to N.W., with hard squalls, and the ship rolling heavily, carried away the foremast with yards and sails attached."

Downey goes on to describe how the ship was leaking, and how water gained on them fast until there were "several feet in the hold." On the morning of Jan. 28, the 21 people on board escaped into open boats equipped only with oars as they watched the Ansel sink.

"We had just time to get into the boats when the ship went down," Downey said. "Capt. Bennett then took charge of the long boat and gave me charge of the pinnace, he taking twelve of the crew, including the two women, and the remainder, eight persons, came with me."

They had only "five gallons of water and a small quantity of hard bread, wet with salt water."

Despite the meagre provisions and their only sail being "a small blanket," Downey tells how they made it to the shore of an island off the Irish coast "at the mercy of the waves in a gale with only one oar."