The Wreck of the Abergavenny

In February 1805 the Earl of Abergavenny set sail in convoy from Portsmouth for a voyage to India and China, captained by John Wordsworth, the younger brother of the poet William Wordsworth. More than 400 passengers and crew members were on board. Only three days later, separated from the convoy by stormy weather, the ship struck the notorious Shamble shoal in Weymouth bay and sank. Two-hundred sixty people drowned, including the captain. From the harrowing accounts of the survivors and the detailed official reports of the disaster, The Wreck of the Abergavenny brilliantly recreates this tragic event and its impact on William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge, Charles Lamb, and many others.