SS Ellan Vannin (1883) those who were dependants of the deceased, the Steam Packet contributed £1,000 to this fund. It was set up by "The Daily Telegraph" at writer Hall Caine’s instigation. Caine headed the list of contributors and wrote a poem "The Loss of the Ellan Vannin". The crew of 21 included one woman, a Mrs. Collister, of Crosby, Isle of Man, who left one child. The 20 men were survived by 18 widows and 70 children. All but two of the crew lived on the Isle of Man. Five of the passengers came from off Island, the rest from the north of
SS Ellan Vannin (1883) passage – something which would have caused her master no particular concern. However, the weather rapidly worsened and by 06:35hrs, when the ship arrived at the Mersey Bar lightship, the wind had risen to a Hurricane Force 12, and waves were reported to be exceeding in height. A strong consensus at the time was that with a following sea the "Ellan Vannin" had made good time to the Bar Lightship. Upon reaching the Bar her course would have been changed from approximately 130 degrees to 080 degrees as she entered the approach channel to the river. This would have caused