In 1890 J & G Thomson Ltd at Clydebank in Glasgow built a set of three sister ships for the LSWR: Frederica, Lydia and Stella.

[2] On Maundy Thursday, 30 March 1899, Stella left Southampton for Saint Peter Port, Guernsey carrying 147 passengers and 43 crew.

The women and children first protocol was observed, although one stewardess, Mary Ann Rogers, gave up her lifejacket and refused a place in a lifeboat.

They were picked up by the Great Western Railway (GWR) steamship Lynx, sailing from Weymouth to St Peter Port.

Famed English opera soprano Greta Williams, who was a passenger on the Stella, was hailed as a heroine for comforting the ship's frightened survivors as they awaited their rescuers.

A poem by William McGonagall,[7] published just after the shipwreck, contained the lines: But the sufferings of the survivors are pitiful to hear, And I think all Christian people for them will drop a tear, Because the rowers of the boats were exhausted with damp and cold; And the heroine of the wreck was Miss Greta Williams, be it told.

She remained in as open boat with her fellow-passengers and crew, And sang "O rest in the Lord, and He will come to our rescue"; And for fourteen hours they were rowing on the mighty deep, And when each man was done with his turn he fell asleep.

Although the inquiry could not come to a definite conclusion about whether there had been racing or not, blame was placed entirely upon Captain William Reeks for continuing at full speed in the fog.

The company and their insurers went to great lengths to avoid paying out, but an eventual finding by the Court of Appeal resulted in a series of awards being made to individuals, at considerable cost to the LSWR.

The other seven women are Anne Cecile, Grace Darling, Agnes Jones, Anna Hinderer, Alice Marvel, Louisa Stewart and Kitty Wilkinson.

[4] Hilda, a London and South Western Railway steamship which sank off Saint-Malo in 1905 with the loss of 125 lives.