The mysterious shipwreck of the Johnkeer Meester Van Der Wall off the Lizard, Cornwall.

The fate of the crew of the Johnkeer Meester Van Der Wall met their fate in the pitch darkness unseen.

The Dutch East Indian Johnkeer Meester was bound for Amsterdam with passengers, coffee, arrowroot, and tin. She was last seen by Mousehole pilots taking between Lizard and Gunwalloe. She appeared then in no trouble. A strong gale began to build up after 4PM and the Johnkeer Meester slid into the darkness. Nothing more was seen until 2AM when distress rockets were sighted off the Mullion cliffs. An hour later, the coast guard found wreckage around Poldhu Cove and called out the rocket brigade and a lifeboat.

At dawn, debris began to come in to shore, including the entire poop of the barque, the bodies of two women, a three day old baby, and several sailors. Then a bedraggled sailor was found dazed, but alive, in the rocks. Reverend Harvey interviewed the man, but he spoke no English. He was Greek and had boarded the ship in Batavia, not knowing the ship's or captain's name. He could give no reason why he was carrying a lady's watch and chain.

An inquest was held the following week at an old inn at Mullion. The sailor identified himself through an interpreter. He pointed out the Dutch Indiaman Kosmopoliet from a list presented him. Shortly after a verdict of death by drowning of the Kosmopoliet was returned, two Dutch captains arrived in Falmouth and suggested the ship had been the Johnkeer Meester. This was proved when the Johnkeer Meester's captain's identification washed ashore. A will also came ashore identifying one of the women as a retired governess from India. Coffee and sugar came to shore, as well as a box of gold coins and banknotes. Two fishermen salvaged several blocks of tin from the sea bottom using a waterglass and long tongs.