The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-28 00:00:00

LATEST PARTICULARS.

MOELFRE BAY, THURSDAY EVENING.
It is my very painful duty to record the total wreck of
the screw steam-ship Royal Charter, Captain Taylor, which
took place at from 3 to 4 o'clock on the morning of Wed'
uesday at Moelfre, a rugged portiou:of the Anglesea coast,
and about midway between Almwch and Puffin Island.
The ill-fated vessel sailed from Melbourne on the 26th of
August, having on board 388 passengers, of whom 63 occu-
pied the saloon, and a crew, including officers; of 112 Per'
sons. While the ship was passing Queenstown on Mew
day morning, 13 of the passengers landed in a pilot boat.
On Tuesday morning, at 11 o'clock. the Royal Charter spoke
the steam-tug United Kingdom, which, instead of return"
ing to port with riggers who had been assisting in the work-
ing of a ship to Cardiff, transferred 11 of the riggers to the
Royal Charter, Captain Taylor having kindly agreed to
take them to Liverpool ; so that there were on board at the
time of the wreck 498 souls, and of these only 39 were
saved.

The loss of life on this sad occasion was 459 persons°
The Royal Charter had on board a large amount of specie
on freight, the exact amount of which cannot be asset'
tained, as all the ship's papers have been lost, but it •.
was variously estimated by the surviving passenger!
and crew at from £500,000 to £BOO,OOO. One 01'..
the saloon passengers, who was drowned, was stated to hall'
had in his possession gold to the value of £lO,OOO. Sbe had
only a moderate cargo, princir ally of wool and skins. Frei: •
the time of leaving Port Phillip Heads till her arrival In'
the Irish coast the passage was in the highest degree ill.
vourable ; she was only once in danger, and then from en
iceberg. After passing Queenstown thewind veered round 0
E.N.E., blowing strong. On Tuesday night it blew a gale, '
and continued to increase in violence, till at length, on the
morning of the fatal disaster, it blew a perfect hurricane'
Arriving off Point Lynas at 6 p.m. on Tuesday evening:
signal rockets were for several hours thrown up, in the 110 P
of attracting a:pilot, but none made their appearance. Cie.
Taylor, finding that his ship was making leeway, and grivt
dually drifting towards the shore, let go the anchors, but
such was the violence of the wind and the heavy cross eet
prevailing, that the chains parted. Notwithstanding t
ha
the engines were worked at their full power, the caPts'
was unable to work to windward, and the unfortunate vet
eel struck the rocks stern first in four fathoms water.
.!
to this period (about 3 a.m.) not the slightest alarm
evinced among the passengers, a large portion of
were women and children ; the most perfect discipl110111:.
order prevailed. The masts and rigging were cut Or
but caused no relief, as the ship continued to thump en aArthe'
sharp pointed rocks with fearful rapidity. Sheet/ 91"--df'
she struck, the ship was thrown broadside on, Perfeyd
upright upon the shelving stony beach, the head
7
stern lying due east and west, the former not being
more than 20 yards from a projecting rock. At this inurs.c,
ture one of the crew, a Portuguese, named Joseph 11482
nobly volunteered to struggle through the heavy surf
convey a rope on shore. Though it was not believed by
one that danger was imminent, the captain gave the ore"
and Rogers ably fulfilled his duty. A strong hawser /4;8:
then passed and secured on shore, and to this was rigged
"boatswain's chair." At 5 o'clock the ship laboured st
bumped to such an extent that the ladies and children e'
hibited the ,t-reatest anxiety and fear ; they crowded °Fr
ther in the after part of the saloon, and the Rev. Mr. WI
of East Retford, a clergyman of the Church of Engisti
offered up a prayer ; but his exhortations were interruPtto
by the violent thumping of tho vessel on the rocks, and
heavy seas which came dashing into the cabin. The se',
in the saloon was of the most heartrending description'
children and parents, husbands and wives, were clingiu;
to each other in affectionate embrace. Captain Witte
and Captain Taylor came down and tried to allaY th
_ts
fears by assuring them that there was RO
danger. Scarcely had their words been uttered
succession of tremendous waves swung her about en
rd.
rocks, and she divided amidships, engulfing all on b°s,,p,
Shortly afterwards she also parted at the farehatch, theme
ing a large number of persons into the sea. ManY;.iio
killed by the breaking up of the ship. Several 01 the
crew saved themselves by means of the hawser t°
shore. while the remainder were hurled upon the °clof
by the waves ; all the officers perished. Capt.
was the last man seen alive on board. He had lashed of
body to a spar and was drowned. Mr. Stevens, the
rep
officer, was killed by some of the falling rigging. Seve Oa
the more fortunate passengers received severe injuries° to
struggling for life. With the exception of a portion of
I„a
midship bulkhead, which appears a few feet above re,7
water, there is scarcely a vestige of the Royal Charter
uot
maining. The bullion chest, which was substantiallY bits
of iron and secured to the framing of the ship, is suPineg
to have been shattered, from the fact of a gold box 111;0
been picked up with the address of a leading banking
upon it.
• a be.
About 250 sovereigns and a quantity of notes hair-
picked up among the rocks.
At least 30 bodies which have been cast ashore are 1111,
in the adjacent church; most of them are frightfully 0 to
lated. Wm. Hughes, the only apprentice saved/ Astiliso
that when the vessel parted he was in the waist, en7ea to
precipitated among the machinery, which was hiltjf op
and fro by the action of the waves. He gave himself
dad
for lost, when a wave lifted him clear of the ship and lbeit
him in an unconscious state. The survivors during ugh
stay at the scene of the wreck were very kindly trestiol
Two ladies made themselves conspicuous by their atten
to the sufferers. ei r
It is stated that all the boats were in perfect readiness
lowering had circumstances permitted.
The following is a list of the passengers saved eon
W. Moss, Thomas Gundry, H. Carew Taylor, s'

passenger s.
els° ;
M. Meaton, second-class; Colin M'Fhiel,
John Judge, ditto; William John Ferries, ditto;
M'Kappin, difto ; S. Edward Gapper, ditto ;
den, William Russell Bradbury (leg broken), Samuel
fell, Carl Bartel (maimed), Hagan, John Noon. go
The following are among the passengers drowned :7--.4er:
and Misses Davies, Mrs. Foster, Mrs. and Miss Y°"
Mrs. and Miss Murray, Mrs. Bruce, Mr. Grove, Mr°',--too
diner, Mrs. Jenkins, Pritchard, Mrs. Woodruff and
servants, Rev. Mr. Hodge, Dr. Hatch, saloon.
Of
The following seamen were saved :—Edward int'
0
boatswain's mate; Owen Williams, quartermaster; -10 0,
Strongman, 2d quartermaster ; Wm. Foster, carpenter ;vl.
Snager,: boatswain's mate; John O'Brien, seamen
ward Wilson, ditto ; Thomas Griffiths, ditto ;
Timbs, ditto; William Macarthur, ditto; Henry ;
ditto ; George 3VGivern, ditto ; Joseph Rogerson, ""t° bee1 •
William Draper, ditto ; William Hughes, aPPre'„ry
Thomas -Cormick, seaman; Thomas Ellis (storekeer'
John Stanyard. Toe,
The following riggers were saved :—Pritchardt .00
White, Patrick Devine, Thomas Cunningham; 14"'
Barton.
mr'llisl/1
The following riggers were lost :—Cochrane, - 1
Thomas, Thomas Neil, Richard Jones, Peter Tophaul.