The 200-year-old ship wreckage from one of the UK’s worst maritime disasters has now been issued protection by the government. In 1805, the Earl of Abergavenny merchant sailing ship sank off the coast of Weymouth in Dorset, killing 200 people as it set off on a voyage to Bengal and . The ship was owned by the , the trading organisation which colonised large parts of Asia and was once the largest corporation in the world, accounting for half the world’s trade in the mid 1700s to early 1800s.
On advice of , the shipwreck has now been scheduled by the - meaning divers can search the wreck but must leave everything in its place. “This wreck has an evocative story to tell about the life and sorrow of one of our most renowned poets, ,” explained Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England. One of the largest ever built at the time, the Earl was launched in 1796 in Northfleet, Kent, to be one of just 36 ships weighing 1,460 tonnes - forming a special class among the company’s merchant fleet.
It was one of the first ships to be constructed using iron, becoming an early example of the changes in ship technologies. For its final two voyages, both trading missions to China, the ship was captained by , brother of the iconic poet William Wordsworth. It is believed John, known by his shipmates as ‘The Philosopher’, embraced a life at sea for the East India Company in order to help financially support his brother’s writing career.
But disaster struck on John’s third.