Born in Montrose

A reader adds to the recent postcard of the passenger liner Ulimaroa which recorded the mishap during her trial trip, “It was a misty day in December, 1907 when she fouled the Newcome Buoy off West Ferry,” he says. “The mooring chains jammed her rudder while she was still slowly under way.

“Two attendant tugs failed to dislodge her. The following afternoon they were joined by two trawlers and after a good deal of ‘pushing and shoving’ went astern and floated off. The new liner was too beamy for the Dundee drydock, too long for the Leith facility and so she headed for the River Tyne to be surveyed for any damage.

“Her owners in Melbourne, Huddart, Parker Ltd., were one of the seven largest steamship companies in Australia involved in inter-state transportation when shipping was the main means of passenger and freight carrying.

“Chairman for a number of years was John Traill who was born in Montrose and had been educated at the local academy. He migrated to Geelong on Port Phillip Bay in Victoria in 1855.

“After an impressive business career in shipping in his adopted country, he died at the age of 92 at his residence, also named Ulimaroa, in Melbourne. It was said that he lived a quiet life with his wife and children. Never having owned a carriage, coach house or stable he walked to work until the age of 90.

“He and his brother David donated to several projects in their home town, including the Traill Pavilion and Montrose Library. John’s home in Melbourne shows several features to be found in the Pavilion, such as a squat tower and arched windows. While the burgh surveyor in Montrose drew up the detailed plans, ‘conceptual instructions’ may have been received from Melbourne.

“The Ulimaroa saw service in the First World War carrying 16,000 New Zealand troops to Egypt. After the war she returned to her peacetime role and was eventually scrapped in Osaka, Japan in 1934.”