Bay Harbour: December 20, 2023

Bay Harbour News Wednesday December 20 2023
18
TREASURES FROM THE PAST
Oscar Rixon: Tales of a sailing life
• By Steve McKelvey
OSCAR RIXON could
accurately recount the mast
names, sails and rigging details
of a four-masted barque in 1987
at age 97. He clearly remembered
Lyttelton in 1914 on his first visit
as an ordinary seaman on the
steam ship Riverina – including
the British Hotel always full, the
wharves busy and mud being
pumped into the reclaimed area
where the oil tanks now stand.
Oscar always said he first
went to sea because he did not
want to go to Sunday school.
He had a fiery relationship with
his father, Andrew, who had
also run away to sea as a boy.
Andrew was shipwrecked in
1882 off Green Cape Coast, New
South Wales, on the Romeo,
with a cargo of pianos, cement
and beer. Coming from Finland
he knew nothing of Australian
wildlife; climbing ashore he met
a large kangaroo in the bush.
Oscar would tell the story of the
Finn and the roo staring at each
other for a few seconds before
both turning and sprinting in
opposite directions.
Born in 1890, Oscar spent his
childhood in Newcastle – his
birthplace is still there, in a
row of townhouses built for the
harbour pilots and watermen.
As a cabin boy he worked
on the Melbourne Steamship
Company vessel Sydney on the
West Australian run.
In early 1909, he joined the
barque Glenbank, beginning
many thousands of miles under
sail. Alongside five other ships,
the Glenbank’s captain and crew
raced to be the first to reach
Taltal in Chile. With so much
sail on, the Glenbank won the
race, with Oscar saying he felt
“more like a fish, under water all
the time”.
In late 1910 Oscar had
arranged to join the Ellisland
from his home port of Newcastle
– minutes before signing papers
he was intercepted by a runner
offering him more money on
the County of Anglesea, “a fine
little barque, she did sail like a
witch”. Had he kept his original
Oscar and Sarah Rixon, 1921, Steve McKelvey collection. Right – Oscar Rixon in the garden
at 6 Randolph Tce, Lyttelton, 1970s, Steve McKelvey collection.
plans he would have been among
all hands lost with the Ellisland,
which was reported missing in
January 1911 and whose fate was
never known.
Competition was intense in
Newcastle for crew, hence the
use of runners. A Danish cook
was drugged while drinking at
a local hotel and woke aboard
the County of Anglesea as an
ordinary seaman. The ship’s
intended route was to go through
Cook Strait before turning
towards South America, however
a severe storm kept them
between Wellington and Cape
Campbell for three days.
Oscar recalled the sails
ripped to pieces, decks awash
and sparks flying as the broken
steel rigging chafed together. A
series of huge waves broke over
the ship and the last words the
Danish cook yelled were “hang
on, young fellow!” Oscar was
washed into the rigging, badly
injuring his leg and unable to go
aloft for three weeks. Tragically
the Dane was never seen again.
Oscar completed a number of
other trips under sail on vessels
such as the British Yeoman and
the Antiope, carrying timber
between North America and
Australia. He joined the Union
Steam Ship Company in 1919 as
fourth officer on the Niagara and
continued on the Flora, Talune,
Wanaka, Rakanoa, Waipori and
Sussex.
In the 1920s while on the
Tofua, he and the man who
would later be his Lyttelton
neighbour, Harbour Master Roy
Champion, were second and
third officers.
In December 1919, while
entering a sly grog shop in
Sydney, he recalled how he felt
God speak to him about the
way his life was heading. He
changed dramatically – gave up
drinking, smoking and gambling
from that day on and freely
shared his faith, often speaking
at church meetings.
It was not until WW2 that
Oscar made Lyttelton his home.
He had married Norwegianborn
Sarah (née Pedersen) in
1921 in Wellington.
On arrival in Townsville,
Australia, in 1925 on the Sussex
he was informed she may not
survive a hospital operation.
He promptly telegraphed
his resignation and returned
immediately to New Zealand.
Sarah recovered
and after Oscar spent some
time stevedoring, the couple
took up farming in New
Plymouth.
In 1941 after Germany
invaded Norway, Sarah took
over their Taranaki dairy farm
and Oscar, at age 51, enlisted in
the Royal New Zealand Navy.
He was posted to Lyttelton as
examination officer with the
rank of temporary lieutenant.
He spent most of the war on
the launches Wairangi and
Friendship at the harbour heads,
alternating 24 hours on and off.
Eventually Oscar and Sarah
sold their farm and bought a
house overlooking Whakaraupō
Lyttelton Harbour at 6 Randolph
Tce.
Lyttelton Press reporter John
Leslie described Oscar Rixon
as a man convinced he had
been protected more times
than he could remember by his
unswerving faith. “Surely one of
the most interesting characters
one could ever meet, after
meeting hundreds at Lyttelton
in one’s time from all over the
globe.”
Oscar retired in 1955 as
assistant wharf superintendent
for the Union Steamship
Company. Sarah was a soughtafter
interpreter for Norwegian
and Danish visitors.
Sarah passed away in 1983
and Oscar in 1998. Their home
on Randolph Tce stands largely
unaltered, the same wood
panelling inside and a few of
their many roses flourishing.
The Wairangi, possibly taken after her maiden voyage in
1934. Te Ūaka The Lyttelton Museum ref 11208.1
https://www.teuaka.org.nz/online-collection/1131648
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