It turns out that Michel Metford-Platt, co-owner of Augusta De Mist in Swellendam, is the great-great-great nephew of William Ellis Metford, inventor of the seven-groove rifled barrel used in the Lee-Metford rifle. William Metford did not have any male children and so Michel is his closest living relative and is determined to maintain the family’s legacy.

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William Metford’s sister-in-law (Michel’s great-great-great aunt) was a survivor of the sinking of HMS Birkenhead, which went down at Danger Point off Gansbaai in the Western Cape. The Birkenhead was one of the first iron-hulled ships to be built for the Royal Navy. As the ship ran aground on Danger Point, Lt. Colonel Seton of the 74th Regiment of Foot ordered all the soldiers to stand firm while the women and children were escorted into the two serviceable lifeboats. It was 20 minutes before the ship finally broke apart. Eyewitness accounts attest that every soldier (bar three) stood at attention until Colonel Seton – at the very last moment – ordered the men into the sea in the hope they could swim ashore. Into the shark infested waters they went; many drowned or were taken by sharks.

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It was Colonel Seton’s control of his men, preventing the swamping of the insufficient lifeboats and allowing the women and children to survive, which gave rise to the principle of “women and children first”. The even was often referred to as “the Birkenhead Drill” amongst soldiers and sailors alike.

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Of a total of 643 on board, 193 survived, of whom one was Michel’s great-great-great aunt.

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