Salvaged and wreck mail collections From the Wreck Mail

'The Ava’ - 1858

'The Ava’ - 1858

Description

The P& O steamer 'Ava', (Captain Kirton), struck rocks off the coast of Ceylon, near Trincomalee, on the 16th Feb. 1858. She became a total wreck, but no lives were lost. The mails and 500 boxes of specie worth £253,000 were afterwards salvaged.

The Ava was carrying survivors of the Indian Mutiny, amongst whom was Mrs Inglis, the wife of the commander of Lucknow, and her three children.