In the Hill Cemetery in Ballymacoda, there is a gravestone that commemorates Captain William Jones and other Jones family members such as his wife Annie, and his son Lieutenant Hugh M. Jones. The wording on this gravestone says that William Jones ‘perished at sea on March 22nd, 1902’ and also indicates that he was the Master of the S.S. Athena. He was in fact an experienced master mariner with a long career at sea. There is some evidence to suggest that Annie Jones (née Shanahan) was born in Ballymacoda, a daughter of Michael and Mary (née Cleary) Shanahan. This may explain why the Jones plot is in the Hill Cemetery and not in Youghal where the family lived.
William Jones was born in Caernarvonshire, Wales in circa 1844-45. He went to sea as a youth and earned his master’s certificate by the 1870s. He served as a captain in the Liverpool-based Holt Line (which traded as Blue Funnel Line). By 1902, he was 58 years old and had decades of navigation experience, including familiarity with the Cape Horn and Strait of Magellan routes, the routes required to transit between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans at the time.
The home of William Jones and family in his later years was in Youghal, where the Holt Line had an office and where his family resided while he was at sea. The 1901 Census of Ireland shows Annie Jones and family residing at Friar St. in Youghal. Annie is listed as head of the household, and was very likely managing the family in her husband’s absence, with him away at sea. Born in 1859, four children are listed as being present in the census document: Bertram, aged 14, Hugh, aged 13, Henry, aged 11, and Margaret, aged 9. The household also included a servant, Catherine Keeffe. The family identified as Roman Catholic.
Like many turn-of-the-century steamers, the S.S. Athena of which Captain William Jones was the master, was engaged in global trade routes. In early 1902, the Athena had been voyaging in the Pacific, and by March she was returning with cargo from Chile back toward the Atlantic. Because the Panama Canal did not yet exist (it would not open until 1914), ships transiting between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans had to brave the far south. One common route was through the Straits of Magellan, a navigable but complex passage through the Chilean Patagonia archipelago. Captain Jones chose this route (as opposed to the even more perilous Cape Horn) for the homeward voyage. This route, while offering some shelter from the open ocean, required threading through narrow channels dotted with islands and hidden rocks in an area often lashed by harsh and unpredictable weather.
On March 22nd, 1902, the Athena was wrecked. The ship encountered severe storm conditions and struck a submerged rock. According to survivor accounts, the Athena foundered in about half an hour after the collision. There was little time to send a distress call or organize a prolonged damage control; the crew had to immediately abandon ship as it became clear the steamer would sink. The wreck had a high loss of life. Approximately 20 of the 31 people on board were killed. Only 11 survivors (all crew members) managed to escape in a lifeboat and were later rescued and brought to Punta Arenas, Chile. The other lifeboat, under Captain Jones, capsized in the heavy seas, drowning all aboard.
After enduring the storm and drifting in the lifeboat, the remaining survivors were eventually sighted and picked up by a vessel. Details of the rescue are sparse in press reports, but it is recorded that 11 survivors from Athena’s crew were “landed at Punta Arenas” (the principal city of the Magallanes region) sometime after the wreck. At Punta Arenas, the survivors would have been received by local authorities and the British consul. It was from there that news of the disaster was telegraphed to the wider world. The survivors were given care after their harrowing ordeal; however, even among those 11 landed, some were in dire condition (it is implied the four who died of exposure passed before or just after the rescue, leaving 11 alive at landing).
Once in Punta Arenas, the men likely gave statements that formed the basis of inquiry into the wreck’s cause. From there the surviving crew eventually made their way home. This remote town in 1902 was a coaling station and hub for ships transiting the Strait, so passage back to Europe or at least to a larger port would be arranged, possibly on another British ship or via steamers to Montevideo or Buenos Aires. The disaster was widely reported in newspapers and maritime records of the time. News dispatches from South America described the wreck’s location and the fate of the crew. Survivor testimonies indicate the wreck was caused by navigational peril in a storm, rather than human error, given the treacherous waters.
Tragically, having gone down with the Athena, Captain Jones would never return to Cork – his body was not recovered. Today this gravestone in the Hill Cemetery in Ballymacoda stands in his memory and in memory to the story of the tragic end of the S.S. Athena.
Also commemorated on the Jones gravestone in the Hill Cemetery, is the son of Captain William Jones, Lieutenant Hugh M. Jones who was killed in action during the First World War. He was born on July 12th, 1888, and according to the 1901 Census of Ireland records as we have seen earlier, the then 13-year-old Hugh Jones lived at Friar Street in Youghal with his mother and siblings.
At the age of 15, Hugh embarked on a seafaring career, beginning as an apprentice aboard the square-rigged ship Greta in January 1904. His maritime journey continued in July 1905 when he joined the Eagle Brag, eventually achieving the rank of Able Seaman. By 1908, he was serving on the steamer Leno, from April to July of that year. Hugh’s dedication to his maritime profession was further evidenced when he earned his Second Mate’s certificate in Liverpool on October 9th, 1908. At that time, he listed his residence as “c/o Miss Forbes, Carlingford Street, Liverpool”. His official record described him as 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a dark complexion, light brown hair, and grey eyes.
Tragedy struck the family in March 1911 when Hugh’s mother passed away in Youghal, aged just 54. Her estate, valued at £1,342, was divided between her family. Nonetheless, Hugh’s maritime qualifications continued to progress. He obtained his First Mate’s Certificate in July 1911. In August 1913, he applied for his master’s certificate.
Before the outbreak of the First World War, Hugh was serving with the Holt Line, the same well-known Liverpool-based shipping company that his father had been employed with for many years before his death at sea. However, he soon decided to change course, leaving the sea to pursue a military career. Possibly due to his family’s connection to Liverpool through the Holt Line, he was commissioned as an officer in the 19th Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment.
Hugh’s service in France began in November 1915 in the position of Battalion Signaling Officer. He was killed in action on July 30th, 1916, during the Battle of the Somme. His body was not found and identified after the war; however he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, and on a plague in the Hill Cemetery in Ballymacoda.
Lieutenant Hugh M. Jones’s story is one of quiet determination, professional accomplishment, and ultimate sacrifice. From his early days as a seafarer to his decision to serve his country in a time of great need, his life reflects both the adventurous spirit and deep sense of duty that defined his generation. Though he now lies without a known grave – his name etched on the Thiepval Memorial in France, on the family headstone in the Hill Cemetery in Ballymacoda, and on a WW1 memorial plaque in the same cemetery – serve as poignant reminders of a young life cut short by war.
There is a final interesting link between the Jones family and Ballymacoda that is worthy of mention. Annie Jones, the daughter of Captain William Jones & Annie Jones, and the sister of Hugh M. Jones married Justin Condon from Youghal. Their daughter, Annie Condon, married William Hennessy, native of Ballymacoda, and the noted ‘candy king’ of Cambridge & Boston in Youghal, on 24th January 1925.
References & Further Information
Historic Graves, CO-THBM-0003, record for the Jones Grave at the Hill Cemetery Ballymacoda
The Savannah Morning News, April 3rd, 1902
1901 Census of Ireland Records
Liverpool Pals Memorial Pages, Entry for Lieutenant Hugh M. Jones
‘Youghal Man Gets a Commission’, Cork Weekly Examiner, Saturday October 31st, 1914
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Entry for Lieutenant Hugh M. Jones
News of the death of Hugh Jones, Liverpool Daily Post, Monday August 7th, 1916
William Hennessy, the ‘Candy King’ of Cambridge & Boston, Ballymacoda History Project, April 16th, 2021
