POCOCK’S
AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE
OF
THE
LOSS
OF
THE
ABERGAVENNY,
East-Indiaman,
JOHN WORDSWORTH,
Esq. CAPT.
Off Portland
February 5, 1805
“ Now by the following [?] she
scuds before,
Headlong she runs upon the dreadful shore ;
A shore where rocks and [?] shelves abound,
Where death in secret [?] lurks around ;
Thus, while to right and left destruction lies,
Between the extremes the daring vessel flies.
Alas! these rocks [?] skill defy,
Who strikes them [?] beyond [?] must die,
Again the dismal prospect opens round
The wreck, the shores, the dying, and the drown’d !”
LONDON:
Published by Crosby and Co. Stationer’s-court
PRINTED BY R. POCOCK,
GRAVESEND,
And Sold by all other Booksellers.
1805.
_________________________________
2
LOSS
OF THE
ABERGAVENNY.
3
THE Abergavenny, East-Indiaman, was built
in Mr. Pitcher’s yard, at Northfleet, near Graves-
end, and supposed one of the finest ships in the
East-India company’s service, as she was of the
largest size, being of 1200 tons burthen, her
complement of men was 130, and she mounted
30 guns.
This ship took her name from the Neville fa-
mily, who cam from Normandy into England
so early as the reign of William the Conqueror,
of whom many have been Earls of Abergavenny,
A 2
and
4
and in token of which her quarter-deck was or-
namented with a shield of the Neville arms,
which are gules a saltier argent, quartering many
illustrious branches, into which they have mar-
ried. The Neville’s are one of
our most ancient
families, and formerly had great possessions at
Birling, in Kent, not far from Gravesend, and
in other parts of the kingdom, but their family
mansion having been burnt down, they quitted
the county, being at that time better known
under the name of Bergavenny.
The ship Abergavenny having performed four
voyages to the East-Indies, she lay at Northfleet
until ordered to be afloat by the 4th of Novem-
ber, 1804. to proceed on her fifth voyage to
Bengal and China. The command of
her was
given to Capt. John Wordsworth, and the man-
naging owner, William Dent, esq. ordered she
should be in the Downs by the 21st of Decem-
ber; to facilitate this purpose the captain used
the greatest dispatch, but upon breaking ground
in Northfleet Hope a concurrence of circum-
stances seemed to be against her : — first, the pilot
who was to have taken her down the River, (and
who always acted with great caution with
the ships committed to his care) had been wait-
ing with impatience for an alteration in the wind
and
5
and a thick fog to clear up, which had lasted
some time, but happened to be on shore when
the weather suddenly changed, whereby another
pilot was instantly procured, who directly pro-
ceeded with her down the River — this was looked
upon as ill-luck — and before the ship reached the
Nore, through a misunderstanding with the cap-
tain, the carpenter, John Attwaters, left her, not
thinking the wages adequate to his service, and
came ashore to Gravesend, — this was likewise
thought an ill omen ; — however, when the ship
arrived in the Downs the captain thought proper
to send to Gravesend for the carpenter to join
the ship, which he did, to the grief of his pa-
rents, who had lost two of their sons before in
the service.
Another thing was very remarkable, Mrs.
Green, the wife of George Green, of the car-
penter’s crew, whose father and mother keep the
Pelican, in Gravesend, had dreamed one night,
and alarmed the house by her repeated declara-
tions that she saw Green in the room, although
at that time he was on board of the ship — yet to
satisfy her he was not drowned, as she supposed,
he was sent for, and came on shore to see his
wife, when he took his leave of her, not thinking,
A 3
poor
6
poor soul, his wife’s dream would be so soon
fulfilled, as he was one of the unfortunate sufferers
who was drowned. Dreams have been
known
to be sometimes ominous, and a very singular
one is printed in page 10 and 11, in a shilling
pamphlet, published by Mr. Crosby, Bookseller,
in Stationer’s-court, London, entitled “God’s
Wonders in the Great Deep,” and as it relates
to seafaring people, it is recommended to their
perusal and attention.
The Abergavenny having arrived in the Downs,
and every man appointed to his quarters, they
had only to make each other as comfortable
as the nature of such a merchant ship will allow,
for in general they are so full of different articles
and passengers, that at the best it is rather an
uncomfortable place for lodging, of this they
have more to complain than of victuals or beer,
which is very good: for the East-India company
allows the best fresh meat and vegetables when-
ever the same can be procured.
Another disaster happened when lying in the
Downs, — the Warren Hastings, East-Indiaman,
tripped her anchor, and run foul of the Aber-
gavenny, which accident carried away the
main-tails on the starboard side of the head,—
part
7
part of the leg of the figure head, — raised
the cat head, and did a deal of other damage ;
and much injury was done to the quarter-
deck railing of the Warren Hastings, so as to
occasion her to have a repair at Portsmouth, to
which place the East-Indiamen, within four or
five years, have been appointed to rendezvous,
since the company have made the Isle of Wight
a depot for their soldiers. This
rendezvous
is attended with more delay and hazard than
when the company’s ships took their departure
from the Down, or Gravesend, where they for-
merly lay to receive their recruits from the depot
at Chatham.
FRIDAY, FEB. 1.
This day, about noon, Mr. Baggot, the chief
mate of the Abergavenny, with Mr. Wordsworth,
the third mate, went on shore at Portsmouth,
soon after which the signal was made for
sailing, and the ships Abergavenny, Royal
George, Henry Addington, Wexford, and
Bombay Castle, all bound to the East Indies,
weighed their anchors, and sailed under convoy
of the Weymouth frigate. — They all proceed-
ed through the Needles, a narrow channel, so
called, at the westernmost-part of the Isle of
Wight;
8
Wight; this is in general a dangerous passage, and
seldom attempted unless with a fresh gale and a
leading wind. The Abergavenny being
deeply
laden had sometimes not more than a foot clear,
but all passed safely out to sea, when the night
coming on dark, and the weather and wind being
much against them, a signal was made to heave
too for the night, which was obeyed by all the
Indiamen, labouring all the while under a strong
wind.
SATURDAY, FEB. 2.
This morning we beat about in search of the
Weymouth frigate, but could not find her, the
weather being much against us, and blowing
very hard.
SUNDAY, FEB. 3.
No frigate being seen we followed the Wex-
ford Indiamen, who acted now as a commodore to
our small fleet, being this day joined by our
chief and third mates, who had followed us from
Portsmouth in a vessel, which they hired at forty
guineas expence. — The weather this day was
moderate, but at night it blew hard.
Monday
9
MONDAY, FEB. 4.
Kept beating about in the Channel and making
little progress, as it was thick blowing weather,
and very unfavourable; the Weymouth frigate
not seen since she parted from us, and this day
we lost sight of our Indiamen for some hours.
TUESDAY, FEB. 5.
This morning, about ten, we discovered and
joined the other four Indiamen, the Weymouth
frigate not having joined us; the Wexford passed
us, and made a signal for the ships to run for port,
the nearest being Portland Roads. The
Aber-
gavenny was the rear ship, and about 2 o’clock
in the afternoon a pilot came on board, when she
bore up for the Roads. The pilot,
whose duty
it was to know the coast well, might perhaps be
too anxious to get the ship in by gaining ground,
or he might have been mistaken in the draught
of water of the Abergavenny; however, he had
not been aboard above two hours before she
struck on a rocky shoal, called the Shambles,
which lies about three miles off the Bill of Port-
land. The shock, which was sudden,
hove the
ship on her side, when the sea poured into her
and much alarmed the ship’s company; and they
were
10
were farther alarmed by a second blow, which
convinced them of their dangerous situation. —
The carpenter was sent below, and it did not ap-
pear that the ship had received any material da-
mage, as little water was then made ; but a third
shock on the Shambles made a great leak under
the chain pumps, which blow forced her two
small pumps out of their places. The
carpenter
now perceived the leak to encrease, and ordered
the pumps to be manned, which to the credit of
the pump-maker, worked wonderfully well, and
although it is said they threw a ton of water a
minute, yet the leak was of such magnitude that
it kept increasing until there were 12 feet water,
at this depth it stood for a few minutes, and
upon its being reported to be lessening — it
cheered the drooping spirits of the crew — one
hundred and fifty hands, chiefly soldiers, had
been ordered spell and spell to the pumps, and
they were relieved by the cadets and passengers,
whilst others bailed at the fore hatchway,
each taking an equal share of labour at this
critical moment, and to encourage this laudable
work no person was more active to promote and
reward the labour than Mr. Burgoyne, a cornet
in the eighth regiment of dragoons, whilst the
steady, manly, and cool behaviour of the late
Mr. Baggot, the chief mate, will ever reflect the
highest honour on his memory.
Signal
11
Signal guns had been fired, but before any
assistance from the shore came the ship had got
off, and the captain was of opinion the ship
should go back to Portsmouth ; in this however
the chief mate differed, for having reports
from the carpenter below, he said it was impos-
sible for the ship to keep from sinking — The
ship now began to fill very fast, yet the officers
did not order any boats to be hoisted out, be-
cause they thought it would take off the attention
of the men at the pumps, and by their exertions
she might be able to keep up a small time longer
until some relief came.
As the night advanced the situation of all
on board became the more terrible ; young Miss
Evans, and several other passengers entreated to
be sent on shore ; but this was impossible. It
was as much as all the ship's company could do
to keep the vessel afloat. In order to tempt the
men to exert their utmost powers at the pumps,
the officers stood by cheering and encou-
raging them by giving them allowances of liquor.
At seven o’clock fresh signal guns were fired,
in hopes of obtaining boats from the shore, to
save as many of the people on board as possible.
In the mean time the Purser, with Mr. Words-
worth,
12
worth the mate, was dispatched in the ship’s
cutter with six seamen, and the papers and dis-
patches were sent on shore for the India-House.
In this cutter went two ladies.
A little after this one boat came off from the
shore, which took on board several passengers.—
Mrs. Blair, who accompanied young Miss Evans,
chose, in spite of all entreaties, to remain on
board : indeed there were many who would have
made the same choice, so little hope was there
of the boat contending successfully against the
high sea, in so dark a night.
It was now about nine o'clock, and several
boats were heard at a short distance from the
ship ; but they rendered no assistance to the dis-
tressed on board. Whether this was
owing to
their being employed in the humane purpose of
saving those who had clung to pieces of wreck
(upon which many had ventured from the vessel )
or because they were engaged in plunder, is a matter
which has not been ascertained.
The dreadful crisis was now approaching —
every one on board seemed assured of his fate ;
some gave themselves up to despair, whilst others
endeavoured to collect themselves, and employed
the
13
the time they had left, in the best of purposes —
that of imploring the mercy of their creator. At
ten o'clock the ship was nearly full of water, and
she began gradually to sink, confusion com-
menced on board. A number of the
sailors
begged ardently for more liquor, and when it
was refused, they attacked the spirit-room, but
were repulsed by their officers, who never once
lost sight of their character, and continued to
conduct themselves with the utmost fortitude,—
A sentinel was stationed at the spirit-room
door, to guard against surprize, and there re-
mained even whilst the ship was sinking. Many
sailors was extremely solicitous to obtain some
liquor from him, saying, “It will be all as one
an hour hence,” — “Be that as it may,” replied
the person, “let us die like men.”
To find men wishing to have a superfluity of
liquor in the hour of death, is to rank them in a
class of persons who have lived in immorality, for
no moral man, in such a critical moment, could
ever think of adding the sin of drunkenness,
(which usually is accompanied in the seafaring
line with profaneness,) to the sins by him already
committed.— “Seamen, of all others, should
consider what engagements lie upon them to
be singularly holy, from their singular deliver-
B
ances
14
ances and salvations. They that
go down to the
sea in ships, are sometimes in the valley of the
shadow of death, by reason of the springing of
perilous leaks ; and yet miraculously delivered,
either by some wonderful stopping of the leak,
or by God’s sending some ship within their
sight, when they have been far out of sight of
any land ; or by his bringing their near perishing
ship safe to shore. Sometimes they
have been
in very great danger of being taken by pirates,
yet wonderfully preserved, either by God’s calm-
ing of the winds in that part of the sea where
the pirates have sailed, or by giving the poor
pursued ship a strong gale of wind to run away
from their pursuers. Sometimes
their ships have
been cast away, and yet they themselves won-
derfully got safe to shore upon planks, yards,
masts, &c. I might be endless
in enumerating
their deliverances from drowning, many instances
of which is recorded in the pamphlet called
”God’s Wonders in the Great Deep.”
Sure,
seamen, your extraordinary salvations lay more
than ordinary engagements upon you, to praise,
love, fear, obey, and trust in your saviour and
deliverer. O, how should seamen be
affected
with their sea deliverances. Ah!
will you not
be more than ordinarily God’s servants all the
days of your lives, seeing you have been so oft,
so
15
so wonderfully redeemed from death itself by
him? Verily, do what you can, you
will die
in God’s debt. By the perusal of
the above
pamphlet, wherein the judicious and ingenious
author hath well mixed profit and pleasure, you
may learn the good and right way, even to fear
the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your
hearts, considering how great things he hath
done for you.”
It is a circumstance hardly to be accounted
for, that in the midst of all this distress, the
boats were never attempted to be hoisted out,
although a boat hung over her quarter, which
went down with the ship, full of men.
When the passengers and crew were acquainted
with their situation, they made several efforts to
save their lives ; some laid hold of pieces of the
wreck, and committed themselves to the mercy of
the waves. A Mr. Forbes stripped
off his
clothes, and being an excellent swimmer, plung-
ed into the sea, and was one of those who was
picked up by a boat from the shore. A
great
number ran up the shrouds.
A little time before the ship went down, Mr.
Baggot, the chief mate, went to Captain Words-
B
2
worth,
16
worth, and said, “We have done all we can,
sir, she will sink in a moment.”
During all this distressing scene the most de-
liberate orders were given by the chief mate, who
had attended very attentively to the different re-
ports of the carpenter, who had given the ship
up, but by the express desire of the chief mate
kept below with the men at the pumps, saying
he would call him at the last minute, which, as
a man of his word, he did, and upon the car-
penter’s coming on deck he observed Mr. Bag-
got to make a snatch at the main rigging, but
missing his hold, a surge carried him away ;—
the carpenter now quitted the ship, and swam
to a hen-coop, (on which was Mr. Akers the
ship’s steward, and a boy) laying himself on it,
in this situation a cutter passed close to them,
but never offered to pick them up, although it
had tow boats at her stern, but called out for
them to keep fast hold till the morning. In
this
cold, frozen and pitiful state they remained near
three quarters of an hour, when they were taken
up, nearly exhausted, by a sloop, the people of
which used them very kindly, and put them on
shore the next morning, about seven o’clock, at
Weymouth.
At
17
About eleven o’clock a heavy sea gave the
vessel a sudden shock, and in an instant she
sunk to the bottom, in eight fathoms water.—
Many of those unfortunate persons who had run
up the shrouds for safety, were unable to sustain
the motion of the vessel in going down, and suf-
fered with their unfortunate companions below.
Between eighty and ninety persons, however,
were still able to maintain their situation, and
were ultimately saved. For some
time after the
Abergavenny had gone down, she kept gradually
sinking deeper in the sand, insomuch that several
persons were under the necessity of climbing
higher up the masts. The highest
mast was
estimated to be above the water about twenty five
feet, and the persons aloft could plainly discover
the end of the bowsprit.
When the ship sunk, she did not go down in
the usual way that vessels do, by falling first up-
on her beam ends ; this deviation was supposed
to have arisen from her being laden with treasure
and Porcelain ware. She had 70,000l,
in specie
on board, and nearly 400 persons. The
crew
consisted of 161 men, and there were about
44 passengers ; the rest were recruits for his ma-
jesty’s and the company’s service : 32 Chinamen
were also on board, 15 of which were saved.
B 3
Several
18
Several boats were heard paddling about the
wreck, at half-past eleven o’clock, and although
they were hailed by the unfortunate persons on
the shrouds and masts, they could not be pre-
vailed upon to take them on shore, The
rea-
son which was afterwards assigned for this ap-
parently inhuman conduct was, that they were
fearful that every person on board, being eager
to save himself, the whole would attempt to
jump in, overload the boats, and sink them.
About twelve o’clock, a sloop that had been
attracted to the spot by the signal guns, came to
anchor close to the ship, sent a boat, and took off
all the persons we have mentioned as being above
water, about twenty at a time, and conveyed
them to Weymouth. So far were the
people
from crowding improperly into the boat, that
they were got off the shrouds one by one, and
then only as they were called by the officers who
were with them. When it was
supposed that
every person was brought off, a person was
observed in the shrouds nearly at the top of a
mast ; he was called to, but did not answer:
immediately one of the officers, much to his
credit, returned, and there found a man in an
inanimate state, arisingfrom the piecing cold
weather
19
weather.
The officer brought him down on his
back, and took him ashore ; the person proved to
be a serjeant ; every possible care was taken of
him, but he died a short time after he was put
on shore. He had been seen holding
his wife in
his arms on the shrouds, but the same dreadful
wave which sunk the ship, forced her from him
for ever.
The whole value of the cargo is estimated at
200,000l. Nothing was saved, except the dis-
patches, and some valuable prints, which had
been sent for General Lake. Capt.
Wordsworth,
at the moment the ship was going down, was
seen clinging to the ropes. Mr.
Gilpin, one of
the mates, used every persuasion to induce him to
save his life, but all in vain ; he did not seem
desirous to survive the loss of his ship. The
ex-
ertions of Cornet Burgoyne, the chief, and other
mates, were most exemplary ; they did all that
human means could effect.
The Abergavenny was to have laden at Bengal
with cotton for the China market. The
pas-
sengers were unusually numerous ; thirty sat
down daily at the captain’s table, and above
fourteen at the third mate’s, (including cadets.)
The
20
The steward and carpenter visited the wreck
the next day, in company with some of the
Custom-house officers, when they found she had
settled upright ; her lower masts appearing out of
water about 12 or 14 feet, and in the state they
[ ? ] her. The Mayor of Weymouth
gave those
two a pass, with two shillings between them
when they set off for London, and arrived on
Saturday, February 9, at the India-House, where
they were kindly received.
William Everist, (chief-mate’s
servant,) upon
finding the ship sinking, ran below and brought
away with him a venture of dollars his brother
had given him to carry over for trade. — He
first got up to the fourth rattling of the shroud,
when the ship pitched, a dreadful wave came
and overwhelmed him; he thought himself now
gone ; this wave washed off many men above
him, and when it was gone he got up higher
in the shrouds, where he continued until the
vessel came and took him off.
The Shambles, where the
Abergavenny struck,
is a dangerous shoal, 20 miles westward of the
spot where the Halsewell, East-Indiaman, Captain
Pierce, was wrecked in January, 1786 ; but “in
Portland-Road, where the Abergavenny was pro-
ceeding,
21
ceeding, there is excellent anchoring with wester-
ly and southerly winds. In going in
for this
road, you may pass either to the eastward or
westward of the Shambles, according as it shall
best suit. The east end of the
Shambles lies
about 12 miles W. ½ S. from St. Alban’s Head, and
better than three miles from the Bill of Portland :
they then extend West, two miles and three
quarters. This is a dangerous shoal
; it is com-
posed of coarse sand and shingles, and it is steep
all round. On the east end there
are from three
to five fathoms ; and on the west end there are
from six to seven fathoms ; but on the shoalest
part, which is near the middle of it, there are
only twelve feet at low water.
“A new light-house is built on
the Island of
Portland, upon which a light is exhibited on a
new principle. The purpose of
erecting this
light-house is in order to guide ships between
the Shambles and the Race of Portland, which
is about a mile and three quarters in length from
east to west. The Race is a great
rustling of
the tides; at spring tides, and when the sea is
high, it breaks exceedingly, which makes it very
dangerous for small laden merchant ships.”
It
22
It gives us great satisfaction to find Mr. Bur-
goyne as a survivor ; we know, from oral testimo-
ny, no man could more exert himself than he did
to cheer the men at the pumps. — His conduct
inspired the soldiers, who all behaved remark-
ably well, and we have only to lament, that those
men who tried most to save the ship fell vic-
tims in the wreck. The editor of
the Maid-
stone newspaper has been favoured by Brigadier-
general Hay with Cornet Burgoyne’s letter, ad-
dressed to him on the subject of the wreck of
the Abergavenny, which, though short, from
being wrote at the impulse of the moment, cor-
responds in substance with our foregoing account,
with this exception, in speaking of the detach-
ment that was embarked under his command,
he says, “all the men that were under my com-
mand (dragoons) were drowned, except eight.
I have not sufficient time to write the whole
account. I have lost every thing I
possessed.”
“The many fears and
dangers seamen run,
Yet all’s forgotten when they do return.”
["A LIST OF
PASSENGERS" follows which is not transcribed.]
