On May 24, 1881, on Queen Victoria’s 62nd birthday, the river steamer Victoria careened and rolled over near Cove Bridge and the bend in the Thames River. Although the shore was only meters away, the water was 17 feet deep. Tragically, one-third of the passengers aboard the Victoria were killed, a total of 182 people all from the London area, 110 of whom were children. Mother Ignatia Campbell, of the Sisters of St. Joseph, sent her Sisters out in pairs to visit any house, Catholic or Protestant, wherever their services would be of use. The Sisters comforted and consoled the bereaved. Few families did not lose a relative and every family lost a friend.