John Barr Clements, known as J.B. Clements, a 29-year-old waiter aboard the SS Valencia, perished in the maritime disaster of January 22–24, 1906. As a waiter, Clements served passengers in the dining saloon and cabins. His body was never recovered.
The Valencia Disaster
1. The Valencia 2. The Voyage 3. The Boats 4. The McCarthy Boat 5. The Bunker Party 6. On the Valencia 7. The Rafts 8. The Turret Raft 9. The Rescue Ships 10. The Aftermath 11. The Survivors 12. The Lost
The West Coast Trail
Prologue 1: The West Coast Trail 2: When to Hike & Fees 3: Trailheads 4: Getting There 5: Considerations 6: Campsites 7: Shipwrecks 8: Routes 9: Sights & Highlights
John Barr Clements was born on March 22, 1877, in Halton, Halton Regional Municipality, Ontario, Canada. He was the son of parents who still resided in the old family home in Milton, Ontario. As a young man—around age 21—he ran away from home and headed west. For most of the subsequent eight years he sailed on steamers of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company.
Contemporary reports described him as a “Milton boy” who had become a familiar face on the coastal routes. He appears on published crew lists for the Valencia as a waiter. A dispatch from Milton published in the Daily Colonist (February 4, 1906) and the Victoria Daily Times (February 5, 1906) noted the sad news reaching his hometown:
“News has been received here that John D. Clements, an old Milton boy, who was a member of the crew of the Valencia, was drowned in the disaster off Cape Beale. Clements was 29 years old and had run away from home about eight years ago. Most of the time he had been sailing on the steamers of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company. His parents still reside at the old home.”
He is commemorated on a family memorial at Evergreen Cemetery in Milton, Halton Regional Municipality, Ontario. The inscription reads:
“In memory of J.B. Clements who was drowned in S.S. Valencia wreck off west coast of Vancouver Island B.C.”
The Valencia Disaster
The Valencia struck the rocks late on the night of January 22 in heavy fog. In the first chaotic hour after the grounding, six of the seven lifeboats were launched rapidly amid darkness, freezing rain, crashing waves, and panic. Many boats were overloaded, poorly manned, or had falls snap, throwing passengers and crew into the sea.
As a waiter, J.B. Clements would likely have been assisting passengers during the evacuation attempts or helping with lifeboat preparations. Given the extreme confusion and high casualty rate among the early lifeboat launches (most of which resulted in nearly total loss of life), it is probable he perished during this first horrific hour when boats were smashed, capsized, or swept away. We do not know which specific boat (if any) he was on.
The ship continued to disintegrate over the next 36–40 hours. The final group still clinging to the rigging was swept away when the Valencia collapsed around noon on January 24.
J.B. Clements Photo in the San Francisco Examiner
Recovery and Memorial
J.B. Clements’ body was never recovered from the sea. News of his death reached his hometown of Milton, Ontario, in early February 1906, bringing sorrow to his parents and the community that remembered him as a local boy who had gone to sea.
He is listed among the lost in detailed crew compilations of the Valencia tragedy. His memorial in Evergreen Cemetery stands as a quiet tribute from his family in Canada to a young man who died far from home in one of the deadliest maritime disasters in Pacific Northwest history.