Ben Germein

Benjamin "Ben" Germein (c. 1826 – c.July 1893) was a seaman and lighthouse-keeper in South Australia who is remembered as a hero of the wreck of the steamship Admella.

Ben arrived in South Australia on 22 April 1837 with his two brothers John and Samuel, John's wife Olinda (née Gover), his sister Thirza Elizabeth and her husband William Doddridge aboard the South Australian from Portsmouth. Their father John Germein sen. (c. 1786 – 23 April 1869) arrived in the Java in 1840.

As soon as the Port was settled, Captain Quin was appointed pilot and the Germein brothers were his crew, all of whom were afterwards made pilots. Ben proved a remarkably clever pilot and was known for his ability to manoeuvre vessels under canvas. He was the first person to sail a ship under full sail the length of the Port River. He commanded the s.s. Corio between Port Elliot and Goolwa for River Murray Steam Navigation Company multiple times during 1857 until she foundered at the Murray mouth and the company disposed of her. Later he was chosen as master of the Government schooner Yatala, where he distinguished himself on several occasions, and became acquainted with every small corner of South Australia's coastline.

Afterwards Germein was chosen for the McDonnell harbormastership, being also in charge of the lighthouse on Cape Northumberland, in company with Captain John Dagwell, who afterward became harbormaster at Glenelg.

On Saturday, 6 August 1859, the ship Admella (see main article) struck a reef, the third of a series off Cape Northumberland and a mile off shore. Germein was alerted to the fact two days later when two of its sailors, John Leach and Robert Knapman, arrived at the lighthouse in a pitiful state. They had made their way to shore in an improvised raft in order to raise the alarm. Germein made his way to Donald Black's nearby farm, where he borrowed a horse and set off to ride the 16 km to Mount Gambier to summon assistance. He was, however, thrown from the horse and young Mr. Black completed the journey, and by 3.15pm had telegraphed the news to Adelaide and Portland, Victoria, and returned the same evening with a trooper. Germein later was instrumental in rescuing three men from the wreck, in one of Admella's lifeboats they had patched up. A fourth, a passenger identified only as a "German pedlar", was drowned when the boat overturned in the breakers.

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Wikipedia