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In late October 1859 the Royal Charter, a new type of high speed ship powered by an auxiliary steam engine, was returning to Liverpool from Melbourne. The ship carried around 122 crew and about 371 passengers, some of which were gold minors who had struck rich whilst in Australia. The ship also carried a large quantity of gold as cargo.
As the boat arrived at the North-Western tip of Anglesey on October 25th,the barometer began to drop, indicating the presence of a mounting storm. The captain, Thomas Taylor was advised to put into Holyhead harbor to shelter, but decided to continue on to Liverpool. As the ship navigated it's way around Anglesey, an attempt to pick up the Liverpool pilot was abandoned as the storm took hold. Force 10 winds were registered and the raging sea levels began to rise. As the Royal Charter continued along it's perilous route, conditions began to deteriorate. The winds rose to a force 12 gale (considered a hurricane force wind) and the sea was whipped into huge waves. At around 11pm the wind direction suddenly changed to a North North East heading pushing the ship towards the islands East coast, and impending doom. The decision was made to drop anchor, when the engines proved in-effective in altering the vessels course, but two and a half hours later at 1.30 am the chains snapped, driving the ship towards the shore. The passengers and crew were given a reprieve when the ship came to rest on a sandbank, but sadly their luck wasn't to last. As the morning of October 26th arrived, the rising tide drove her onto rocks juts North of Moelfre. Battered by the huge waves and 100 mph gales, she quickly broke up.
In the following hours, only 21 passengers and 18 crew managed to make it ashore, all were men, no women or children survived. In total over 450 lives were lost. It is thought that most of the deaths were caused by people being dashed against the rocks, or drowning weighed down by the gold they were trying to salvage. Many of the bodies recovered from the disaster were buried in nearby Llanallgo church, where a monument stands to mark the tragedy. A monument also stands above the rocks that the ship struck.
A large quantity of gold was thrown ashore during the storm (which later became known as The Royal Charter storm) making many local families rich overnight. Following the tragedy(which still holds the record for the highest number of deaths in a maritime accident off the coast of Wales), the Meteorological Society introduced the first gale warning system to prevent a tragedy such as the Royal Charter occurring again.
Charles Dickens visited the site of the accident, publishing a piece about the tragedy in 'The Uncommercial traveler'.
The wreck of the Royal Charter still lies off the coast of Anglesey, and is a popular spot for divers. Although most of the gold lost with the ship is thought to have been recovered, it is reported that small quantities still wash ashore following bad weather.
Nearby places of interest are Beaumaris castle and Llanfairpwll.
Visiting Moelfre? Click here for a map.