The wreck of a ship captained by William Wordsworth’s brother has been granted protected status by Historic England. On the stormy evening of February 5, 1805, the East India Company’s Earl of Abergavenny — a rare 1,460-ton vessel launched in Northfleet, Kent, in 1796 — struck the notorious Shambles bank off Dorset’s Isle of Portland and later sank within sight of land, about a mile and a half from Weymouth Bay.
Its captain, John Wordsworth, younger brother to the Romantic poet, was among the 263 lives lost in icy waters; he is said to have exclaimed ‘O pilot! pilot! you have ruined me!’ as he attempted to steer the ship to safety — and ‘He who had been our living John/Was nothing but a name’.
About 100 aboard survived and the merchant ship’s vast fortune bound for China via Bengal, including 62 chests of silver dollars with a modern-day value of more than £7 million, sank to the bottom of the Channel, until it was recovered some years later. Earl of Abergavenny is among more than 400 documented shipwrecks surrounding the perilous Portland coastline.
A power is gone, which nothing can restore; A deep distress hath humanised my Soul. Not for a moment could I now behold A smiling sea, and be what I have been: The feeling of my loss will ne’er be old.
Wordsworth’s Elegiac Stanzas is among several works that many believe illustrate the turning point in his writing following his brother’s death, with his view of Nature becoming bleak.
‘This wreck has an evocative story to tell about the life and sorrow of one of our most renowned poets, William Wordsworth. But it also has an important place in this country’s shared maritime history and how the East India Company’s fleet made its impact across so much of the world,’ explains Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England.
‘Its protection is testament to the dedication and hard work of Chelmsford Underwater Archaeological Unit, Weymouth LUNAR Society and Portland Museum and their volunteers. Their efforts will help us learn more about this vessel and its place in our shared past.’
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