Tragedy that killed almost an entire footy team

FOURTEEN Mornington footy players embarked on a boat voyage more than 125 years ago, never to return. This is the chilling mystery of the Process, which has never been solved.

TOM Coxhell had a strange feeling about the boat trip from Mordialloc to Mornington.

His footy team, the Mornington Football Club, had just drawn a match with Mordialloc and many of the players had taken up an offer of passage on a fishing boat back home.

But Tom had felt ill on the boat ride over and a lingering sense that something wasn’t quite right led him to catch the train with a few teammates instead.

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That decision saved his life.

The fishing boat Process, carrying 14 young footy players and one 13-year-old crew member, the son of the skipper, never made it back to the pier on May 21, 1892.

The incident that followed became one of Victoria’s worst maritime disasters and left the Mornington community heartbroken.

The return journey of Charles Hooper’s boat Process.

CHARLES HOOPER’S BOAT

The Process was a 28-foot sailing vessel owned by Charles Hooper, a player of the Mornington Football Club.

It was usually used for fishing and Hooper’s son, Charles Hooper Jnr, helped as a deck hand.

Sailing from Mornington to Mordialloc was much slower than taking the train, or even horse and buggy.

But Hooper had persuaded many of the players to join him on a two-way voyage across the bay for just that reason.

They could spend two hours each way taking in the scenery, singing songs, joking and chatting.

And that was how the outward voyage was spent, with one player even keeping spirits high by playing tunes on his cornet.

The trip from Mornington the Mordialloc was uneventful.

By the time the footy match was over, the team was ready for the homeward voyage at about 5.30pm.

They knew it would be dark by the time they reached home.

But as the minutes and hours ticked over, and the boat failed to arrive in Mornington by 9.30pm, locals raised the alarm.

An illustration of the overturned Process as it was found near Mt Eliza.

THE FRANTIC SEARCH

As the Process’s arrival became more and more overdue, three search boats left from Schnapper Point in the early hours of the morning and scoured the rocky coastline

The local Presbyterian minister, Reverend James Caldwell, was told of the missing boat and joined the search. He had three sons missing on the vessel.

Frantic efforts ensued to telegraph Mordialloc from the Mornington Post Office to find out whether the boat ever left the pier.

Meanwhile Mornington locals, including the relatives of the missing men and boys, spread out along the beaches and rocky outcrops, keeping watch for any sign of the Process.

But soon bad news came.

An illustration of the wrecked boat being towed to shore.

The search boats had reached Mt Eliza where the upturned vessel had been spotted. Debris, personal items and clothing were found in the water.

A body was found, that of 19-year-old football player Alfred Lawrence, whose remains were found in the rigging wreckage.

All the others had simply been lost to the sea.

Despite a wide-ranging sea search that lasted days, no more bodies were ever found and all were assumed perished, including Hooper and his young son.

Lawrence’s body was found without clothing and other items washed up on shore suggested the young men may have undressed in an attempt to stay afloat.

An illustration published after the disaster showing Alfred Lawrence’s body, and some of the missing men and boys.

It was believed the boat had been tipped over in rough weather and ballast in its hull had shifted, making it impossible to turn it over again.

A detail that horrified loved ones was the scratch marks found on the hull of the Process — a sign of a desperate struggle for survival against the raging waves.

Heartbroken Mornington locals were left with the terrifying image of the young men clawing in darkness to pull themselves from the water, in vain.

After the lengthy search ended a public appeal saw 1600 pounds raised for the relatives of the dead players.

The memorial to the disaster at the end of Main St in Mornington. Picture: Andrew Batsch

A memorial was built at the end of Main St in Mornington, which still stands.

Tom Coxhell, one of the young men who decided to take the train, lived for almost seven decades after the tragedy.

According to the final sighting of the boat, by fishermen near Frankston, the young men were in good spirits, singing as the Process sailed unknowingly to its doom.

The exact nature of its accident, and the exact fate of its young passengers, will never be known.

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