HAMILTON ADVERTISER, SATURDAY 23RD JULY 1881
FATAL BOATING ACCIDENT
A melancholy accident is reported from the Gareloch, by which Mr David Croll, manager, for the Dumbarton Rope Works Company, 114 Broomielaw, and residing at 3 Annfield Terrace, Partick; Mr Croll’s brother William, Miss McIlraith, and a young clergyman, have lost their lives by the upsetting of a yacht in a sudden squall a little above Shandon Hydropathic Establishment.
Mr Croll had been staying for some time at Draft House, Garelochhead, and on Wednesday night, between 5 and 6 o’clock, he, along with his friends above named, left home to go down the loch in his yacht. A stiff squally breeze was blowing all the afternoon, and as the yacht was nearing Balernock pier she seem to have been struck by a sudden gust and upset.
The steamer Gareloch which was rounding the buoys at the time, at once proceeded to the spot, having all her life-saving appliances ready, but on reaching the scene of the accident only one person, Mr Croll, was found floating on the surface of the water. He was picked up in an unconscious state, and a medical gentleman who was on board the steamer and the captain and officers used every means to restore animation, but without success. The bodies of the others were recovered on Thursday.
Shandon People and History 