The smart iron barque Laira, 492 tons, made a number of voyages to New Zealand, and during that time she was under several flags. She was built at Sunderland in 1870 by Pile and owned by R. Hill. She was first chartered by the Shaw Savill Company, and later passed into ownership of Stone Brothers, Auckland, and was subsequently chartered by the New Zealand Shipping Company. In 1898 the barque met a mishap at Dunedin, being run into by the Union Company’s Wakatipu, which refused to answer her helm. The steamer ran into the barque, which was alongside the Victoria Wharf. The barque had some of her plates stove in, and sank in six minutes. She was afterwards refloated, reconditioned, and again entered the inter colonial trade.Back to the Bluff Passenger Ships Page.The Laira made only one voyage to Bluff, she arrived on 14th December 1887, after a passage of 97 days, in the command of Captain Thow.
As yet I have not been able to find any passenger lists for this ship, but I will keep on looking.
