DREWETTE, Captain John Murray
Born 31 January 1868; died 5 November 1918; buried 7 November 1918; age 50
Captain DREWETTE was said to be proud to have migrated to New Zealand as a cadet in the steamer of which he afterwards became the master (i). A sailor for most of his life, it was perhaps typical of his sense of duty that although suffering from the flu, he insisted on remaining at the helm of the Monowai for its trip from Auckland to Wellington in early November 1918. He came down with double pneumonia on the voyage south and had to be taken immediately to hospital on arrival. Two days later he was dead.
A Glaswegian, he was the second son of James Drewette, a reporter according to the Scottish Census of 1881, and Mary PARR. Mary died on 26 January 1872, when John was three, but he was not without a mother figure for long. His father married Helen Louisa WILLIAMS on 1 October 1872 and eight more children followed, five daughters (one of whom died aged 2) and three sons.
Like other small boys growing up in Erskine on the banks of the Clyde, John would have seen ships tied up in the river and picked up stories about their journeys to exotic ports. Probably that backdrop was enough to give him the idea of a life at sea. It seems that he arrived in New Zealand as a young man and began serving in a wide range of roles on various vessels in the coastal trade and on trans-Tasman runs while he was learning his trade. A newspaper report after his death said that he was ‘never ashamed to tell his friends that he had served at sea as captain’s boy, brass boy, ordinary seaman, able-bodied seaman and so on, right through the grades. The only position he had not held during his early days at sea was that of ship’s fireman.’ (ii)
In 1896 after completing his apprenticeship and gaining his officer’s certificate, he joined the Union Steam Ship Co and was appointed fourth officer of the Manapouri. By then he would have been 28.
In the same year, he married. His wife, Georgina MANSON, was living in Dunedin. She was a fellow Scot, having been born in Stromness in the Orkneys in 1874. The couple settled in Dunedin, and their only child, a daughter named Catherine Ann, was born there in 1898. The family continued to be based in Dunedin until about 1910 when they moved for a few years to Wellington and then to Auckland
John continued to work his way up through the shipping hierarchy of the Union Steam Ship Co. By 1899, he had been appointed second officer; by 1901 he was chief officer; and in 1906 he was appointed master. He commanded several of the company’s vessels over the next 10 years. In 1910, when he was in charge of the SS Wairuna, it struck the wharf at Napier, causing some damage to the wharf although none to the ship. John blamed the incident on the harbour master who had directed the vessel to a berth with insufficient depth. Although backed by the company’s marine superintendent, John nevertheless lost part of his safe navigation gratuity.
Born 31 January 1868; died 5 November 1918; buried 7 November 1918; age 50
Captain DREWETTE was said to be proud to have migrated to New Zealand as a cadet in the steamer of which he afterwards became the master (i). A sailor for most of his life, it was perhaps typical of his sense of duty that although suffering from the flu, he insisted on remaining at the helm of the Monowai for its trip from Auckland to Wellington in early November 1918. He came down with double pneumonia on the voyage south and had to be taken immediately to hospital on arrival. Two days later he was dead.
A Glaswegian, he was the second son of James Drewette, a reporter according to the Scottish Census of 1881, and Mary PARR. Mary died on 26 January 1872, when John was three, but he was not without a mother figure for long. His father married Helen Louisa WILLIAMS on 1 October 1872 and eight more children followed, five daughters (one of whom died aged 2) and three sons.
Like other small boys growing up in Erskine on the banks of the Clyde, John would have seen ships tied up in the river and picked up stories about their journeys to exotic ports. Probably that backdrop was enough to give him the idea of a life at sea. It seems that he arrived in New Zealand as a young man and began serving in a wide range of roles on various vessels in the coastal trade and on trans-Tasman runs while he was learning his trade. A newspaper report after his death said that he was ‘never ashamed to tell his friends that he had served at sea as captain’s boy, brass boy, ordinary seaman, able-bodied seaman and so on, right through the grades. The only position he had not held during his early days at sea was that of ship’s fireman.’ (ii)
In 1896 after completing his apprenticeship and gaining his officer’s certificate, he joined the Union Steam Ship Co and was appointed fourth officer of the Manapouri. By then he would have been 28.
In the same year, he married. His wife, Georgina MANSON, was living in Dunedin. She was a fellow Scot, having been born in Stromness in the Orkneys in 1874. The couple settled in Dunedin, and their only child, a daughter named Catherine Ann, was born there in 1898. The family continued to be based in Dunedin until about 1910 when they moved for a few years to Wellington and then to Auckland
John continued to work his way up through the shipping hierarchy of the Union Steam Ship Co. By 1899, he had been appointed second officer; by 1901 he was chief officer; and in 1906 he was appointed master. He commanded several of the company’s vessels over the next 10 years. In 1910, when he was in charge of the SS Wairuna, it struck the wharf at Napier, causing some damage to the wharf although none to the ship. John blamed the incident on the harbour master who had directed the vessel to a berth with insufficient depth. Although backed by the company’s marine superintendent, John nevertheless lost part of his safe navigation gratuity.
Mr. J. M. Drewette, Chief Officer of the S S Manuka (Otago Witness, 27 January 1904)
Image courtesy of the National Library of New Zealand
Image courtesy of the National Library of New Zealand
In June 1915 he took over the bridge of the Monowai when it was making frequent trips to and from Sydney. On occasion, he was called on to serve on the Mokoia and the Tarawera, but he remained primarily the master of the Monowai for the 3½ years before he died. The Monowai would have been well known in New Zealand shipping circles. It was probably the first vessel in the British Empire to be sequestered as a troop transport and carried the advance party from New Zealand to Samoa to capture the German radio station at the outbreak of WWI.
Union Steam Ship Company’s Monowai
Several obituaries for Captain Drewette mentioned his jovial manner: ‘a typical salt of the old school, [with] a bright and happy disposition, and …a kind word and a smile for everyone, while his gruff and hearty laugh was known on the waterfront at all the principal ports in New Zealand.’ (iii)
When the Monowai docked in Wellington on Sunday 3 November he was taken immediately from the wharf to the Lister private hospital. He did not recover and died 2 days later. He was thought to have been the first Wellington victim of the epidemic (iv).
When the Monowai docked in Wellington on Sunday 3 November he was taken immediately from the wharf to the Lister private hospital. He did not recover and died 2 days later. He was thought to have been the first Wellington victim of the epidemic (iv).
Funeral Register of E Morris Junior held by the Alexander Turnbull Library (MSY-3711)
Entry for John Murray Drewette
Entry for John Murray Drewette
The funeral, paid for by the Union Steam Ship Co, was a large one. Whereas most funerals then cost £11 to £15, the fee for this one came to £34/3/-, partly because 11 cars were hired to take mourners from the funeral director’s premises to the Karori Cemetery.
As an additional measure of respect, the flags of ships and shipping companies in Wellington and Dunedin were flown at half-mast for the day.
He was not the only victim from the Monowai. Many of the crew were also affected, and although most recovered, four died. Fears of contamination then held the ship up. The 700 tons of cargo it had brought from Auckland was not unloaded until at least 15 November (v).
Captain Drewette made Georgina his sole beneficiary in a will prepared in 1907. She did not remarry, and lived in Wellington, at 49 Aurora Terrace, until she died in 1947, aged 73. She was buried in the same grave as her husband.
Researched by John Boyd and Max Kerr, and written by Max Kerr
Grave Information:
Section: PUBLIC2
Plot: 268 J
Sources:
(i) Dominion, 11 November 1918
(ii) Evening Star, 6 November 1918
(iii) Ibid
(iv) Black November: The 1918 Influenza Epidemic in New Zealand, Geoffrey Rice, Canterbury University Press (2nd edition), 2005
(v) See for example, The Dominion on 5,6 and 8 November and Evening Post on 15 November 1918.
As an additional measure of respect, the flags of ships and shipping companies in Wellington and Dunedin were flown at half-mast for the day.
He was not the only victim from the Monowai. Many of the crew were also affected, and although most recovered, four died. Fears of contamination then held the ship up. The 700 tons of cargo it had brought from Auckland was not unloaded until at least 15 November (v).
Captain Drewette made Georgina his sole beneficiary in a will prepared in 1907. She did not remarry, and lived in Wellington, at 49 Aurora Terrace, until she died in 1947, aged 73. She was buried in the same grave as her husband.
Researched by John Boyd and Max Kerr, and written by Max Kerr
Grave Information:
Section: PUBLIC2
Plot: 268 J
Sources:
(i) Dominion, 11 November 1918
(ii) Evening Star, 6 November 1918
(iii) Ibid
(iv) Black November: The 1918 Influenza Epidemic in New Zealand, Geoffrey Rice, Canterbury University Press (2nd edition), 2005
(v) See for example, The Dominion on 5,6 and 8 November and Evening Post on 15 November 1918.