BOUND FOR THE EAST INDIES
HALSEWELL - A SHIPWRECK THAT GRIPPED THE NATION
The wreck of the East India Company ship Halsewell in 1786 was so traumatic that it shocked the country. George III travelled to Dorset to visit the wreck site, Turner painted it, and Dickens wrote about it.
The commander of the Halsewell Captain Richard Pierce bravely stayed on board with his daughters, nieces and other female passengers, and drowned with them when his ship was smashed to pieces on the shore. Crewmen and soldiers climbed the cliffs to escape the raging seas or clung to rocks, only to fall to their deaths or be torn away by the waves.
Andrew Norman does a good job of bringing this infamous tragedy to life. He also provides details of most of those who were on board, both victims and survivors. Family historians with ancestors serving with the East India Company or in the 42nd Regiment of Foot (the Black Watch) will be particularly interested to scrutinise these lists.
Most fascinating of all is Norman’s detailed coverage of the numerous artefacts recovered from the wreck, some of which are very personal. Over 230 years after the event, these items connect us, movingly, with the human side of a disaster in which probably over 200 people died.