Earl of Abergavenny (ship)
 The Earl of Abergavenny , East Indiaman in the South Seas, 1801
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The Earl of Abergavenny was a British merchant ship belonging to the special class of the East Indiaman . The ship was operated by the East India Company and carried not only cargo but also passengers . It was also armed and equipped with a letter of marquee (German: Kaperbrief).
The Earl of Abergavenny was built in Northfleet , Kent , in 1796 and named after Henry Nevill, 2nd Earl of Abergavenny .
Her first voyage took her from Portsmouth via Bombay and Malacca to Whampoa and back to England between March 18, 1797 and October 18, 1798.
Her second voyage took her from Portsmouth via Penang to Whampoa and back to England between June 13, 1799 and September 23, 1800.
On both trips she was under the command of John Wordsworth senior, William Wordsworth's uncle .
The Earl of Abergavenny made her third voyage under the command of John Wordsworth junior, William Wordsworth's brother, again from May 19, 1801 via Penang, Malacca to Whampoa and back to England, where she arrived on September 5, 1802.
On her fourth voyage, on May 6th 1803 she returned to England under the command of John Wordsworth Jr. left, she was present at the naval battle of Pulo Aura on February 14, 1804 , but did not take part in the battle herself. She returned to England on August 8, 1804.
The Earl of Abergavenny left Portsmouth harbor on February 1, 1805 with four other ships for her fifth voyage via India to China . The pilot necessary for the journey through the English Channel was delayed and the tide set in. In stormy winds and running water, the ship was pressed on February 5, 1805 on the shoal of the Shambles on the Portland Bill . Of the 402 people on board, 263 died, including John Wordsworth Jr.
The wreck lies at a depth of 60 meters three kilometers off Weymouth beach .
William Wordsworth wrote a short poem in memory of the last meeting of the two brothers on September 29, 1800 and the farewell at Grisedale Tarn in honor of his brother. Canon Hardwick Rawsley, one of the founders of the National Trust , had this poem put on a stone marking the place of departure. The stone is known as the Brothers Parting Stone .
See also
- HMS Abergavenny as the Early of Abergavenny the predecessor of the East India Company.
Web links
- Register of Letters of marquee against France 1793 - 1815 in the National Archive (here online in a transcript)
- Information on the Earl of Abergavenny documents in the National Archives and the British Library
- London Gazette Issue 15726 pp.955 - 966 Report on the naval battle of Pulo Aura
- The Earl of Abergavenny disaster at Dove Cottage and Wordsworth Museum
- Grisedale Tarn on Lakes, Meres, Tarns and Waters