Descendants of a sea captain, who stood at the helm of the brigantine Siren when it was wrecked on the Kaipara Bar in 1840, visited the Dargaville Museum recently to meet some maritime experts. Cousins Shirley Hill, Gavin Cross and Ian Melville spoke to history buff Noel Hilliam about their great,great great grandfather Daniel Munn who set sail for New Zealand from England on January 24, 1840. Captain Munn was master of the Siren, a 140-tonne sailing ship carrying passengers, cargo and cattle. An account of the events was reported in the Sydney Gazette of March 14, 1840. The Siren entered the Kaipara Harbour in a strong south-westerly wind and struck the bar. It stuck fast for about 20 minutes before a large wave dragged it into deep water. A whaling boat was launched in a bid to tow the ship to safety, but the Siren was swamped before that could happen. The ship limped about 30km up the river with all hands fighting to pump it out during the night. A lifeboat was sent to two vessels 3km up river, while the rest of the crew brought the passengers, cargo and cattle ashore to safety. By the time the two vessels, Navarino and Tory, arrived and heaved the Siren higher up the river, the water was up to cabin deck level. At low water the next morning the damage was surveyed and found to be too extensive to repair. The ship limped still further up river, where it is now buried under three metres of mud and mangroves, just north of the Pouto Peninsula. The crew, passengers and animals were taken back to Sydney by the Bee, a 230-tonne brigantine. Maritime history buff Noel Hilliam said there were no plans to dig up the Siren, as its position would make excavation difficult. However, an investigation would be carried out to find out how much of the vessel remained.
