Despatch (brig)

Despatch was a brig noted for having shipwrecked near Isle aux Morts, Newfoundland, and for the subsequent heroic rescue of many of her passengers and crew.

History
United Kingdom
NameDespatch
OwnerCrossthwaite
BuilderThomas Kirk, Whitehaven
Launched28 February 1801
FateWrecked 10 July 1828, near Isle aux Morts, Newfoundland
General characteristics
Class and typeBrig
Tons burthen187 gross tons
Complement200 passengers, 11 crew

Despatch was partly owned by William Lancaster of Workington, England. On 29 May 1828 she set sail from Derry, Ireland en route to Quebec with eleven crew and 200 passengers, almost all of whom were Irish emigrants hoping to escape the poverty then prevailing in Ireland.

The ship ran aground 10 July 1828 on a small, bare rocky island near Isle aux Morts off the south coast of Newfoundland. A seventeen-year-old girl from the area, Ann Harvey, along with her father, her twelve-year-old brother and a dog, rescued 163 people from the wreck between 12 and 15 July. As a result, Ann Harvey became known as the Grace Darling of Newfoundland.[1] The English government later awarded them a medal and a sum of money for their heroic feat.

Survivors were taken to Halifax aboard HMS Tyne.

See also

References
  1. "Brief History of the Workington brig Despatch / Dispatch". Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2012.


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