A Scottish author has written a book about the sinking of a ship off the coast of Ireland in 1854, killing 410 of its 700 passengers, including families from the north-east.
They were among 78 Scots on board the RMS Tayleur, and author Gill Hoffs would like to trace descendents of the Henderson family of Aberdeen and the Thain family of Elgin.
Only one of them survived, Mrs Ann Henderson, who was aged 45, while a baby, less than a year old, was among those who perished.
Ms Hoffs’ book, The Sinking of RMS Tayleur – The Lost Story of the Victorian Titanic, describes how only three children out of 70, and three women from around about 100 survived, while the other 284 survivors were men.
She said: “Last month I travelled to the wreck-site of the boat. The island, Lambay, where she went down, is like a mountain rising from the sea, with 120ft high vertical cliffs – it is amazing that anyone survived at all.
“I would like to hear from any relatives of the two north-east families, they can e-mail me on gillhoffs@hotmail.co.uk.”
The Henderson family members who died were Andrew, aged 50; Isabella, 30; Alexander, 12; Mary, 11; Margaret, 8; and George, 7.
There were no survivors from the Thain family, Peter and Margaret, aged 24 and 30 respectively, and 11-month-old John.