"Marie"Print Page

The monument commemorates those who died in the wreck of the "Marie".

The German barque carried 25 passengers and crew, including the Belgian Consul and his staff. In 1851 almost a month had passed before reports circulated through the district and back to the main ports that a vessel had been lost on a wild section of coastline approximately 15 kilometres west of Portland.

A party from the Mount Gambier district searched the coastline and recovered a large quantity of cargo and wreckage which lay scattered over more than 40 kilometres. Six badly mutilated bodies were subsequently washed ashore, followed by three more a few days later, while large sections of the vessel washed up weeks later at Cape Otway and Apollo Bay. All passengers and crew were lost, 36 bodies were found washed ashore.

In 1930, local residents at Cape Bridgewater erected a cairn at Whites Beach.

Location

Details

Dedication