The Golden Wreck: The Tragedy of the "Royal Charter" (Hardcover)

The Royal Charter was an auxiliary sailing ship engaged on Australian routes. On 26 August 1869 she departed Melbourne for Liverpool carrying 388 passengers, 112 crew and a valuable cargo of gold (many of the passengers were returning home with their proceeds from the Australian Gold Rush) and £48,000 in sovereigns. They arrived in Queenstown, Ireland after a record passage of 55 days. All that remained was the crossing of the Irish Sea. 13 passengers disembarked in Queenstown and another 11 boarded making 498 people for that final, short leg of the journey.

Shortly after sailing, the winds freshened to storm force until the ship met with what is now regarded as the Hurricane of the Century. Despite the Captain's best efforts, the ship was finally driven ashore on to the sands of Moefre Bay where the ship was wrecked and 459 passengers and crew perished. Whilst some boxes of gold and a great quantity of sovereigns were subsequently recovered - much appears to have been lost forever.

This author tells of the personal human dramas which were enacted throughout the voyage in such a way as to bring the entire journey back to life. In so doing, he once again reveals his penchant for painstaking research in order to provide the reader with yet another excellent read.

NM.

The Royal Charter was an auxiliary sailing ship engaged on Australian routes. On 26 August 1869 she departed Melbourne for Liverpool carrying 388 passengers, 112 crew and a valuable cargo of gold (many of the passengers were returning home with their proceeds from the Australian Gold Rush) and £48,000 in sovereigns. They arrived in Queenstown, Ireland after a record passage of 55 days. All that remained was the crossing of the Irish Sea. 13 passengers disembarked in Queenstown and another 11 boarded making 498 people for that final, short leg of the journey.

Shortly after sailing, the winds freshened to storm force until the ship met with what is now regarded as the Hurricane of the Century. Despite the Captain's best efforts, the ship was finally driven ashore on to the sands of Moefre Bay where the ship was wrecked and 459 passengers and crew perished. Whilst some boxes of gold and a great quantity of sovereigns were subsequently recovered - much appears to have been lost forever.

This author tells of the personal human dramas which were enacted throughout the voyage in such a way as to bring the entire journey back to life. In so doing, he once again reveals his penchant for painstaking research in order to provide the reader with yet another excellent read.

NM.