Captain Richard Pierce, The Halsewell Tragedy 1786

A 38pp manuscript document on watermarked paper entitled ‘These poems were composed and written by my dear lamented grandfather Captain Pierce who lost his life with two of his daughters and two nieces on board his Ship as well as several Passengers and Crew in the Halswell’

Black ink on paper, taped and torn edges, corners bent, damp stain (325 x 200mm)

Note: The Halsewell was an East Indiaman launched in 1778. Under the command of Capt. Richard Pierce she set sail in January 1786 on her third voyage to India and foundered during a storm on rocks off the Isle of Purbeck with great loss of life including Capt. Pierce, his daughters and nieces

Note: Charles Dickens recounts the tragedy in his short story ‘The Long Voyage’ 1853. The heroic efforts of the Captain to avert disaster created a sensation. King George III visited the scene, George Cruickshank published a portrait of Captain Pierce (1786), JMW Turner depicted the storm in the ‘Wreck of the Halsewell’ (c.1818)

The document contains the following written in a good longhand:-

pp. 1-6 ‘A Sonnet’, 30 verses

pp. 6-10 ‘Parting’, 33 verses

pp. 11-12 ‘Reflections at Sun-rise. Written in the N.E. Trade-winds’, 55 lines

pp. 13-15 ‘Reflections at Sun-Setting’, 82 lines

pp. 16 ‘An Epitaph on a Friend’, 28 lines

pp. 17-18 ‘A Monody’, 43 lines

pp. 19-25 An Elegiac Poem written in False Bay (South Africa) 1772, 212 lines

(Titled). ‘Written on board the Asburnham (East Indiaman, Earl of Ashburham, launched 1761) occasioned by an abusive paragraph in the Weekly Chronicle of that Ship in answer to a hint that improper attention was shewn to a Young Lady under the Guardianship of the Author’

pp. 26-28 A 17 verse Poem

(Titled) ‘Written at the Top of a hill, In the village of Coldhorne near Bath. (from whence is a beautiful prospect over the adjacent country) where the author went to school

pp. 29-33 A 21 verse poem

(Titled) ‘A Copy of Verses sent to Humphrey Primatt. D.D. with two Java Sparrows

pp. 34-35 An 7 verse poem

Note 1: Humphrey Primatt (1734-1776?). Clergyman and animal rights pioneer. R.P. refers to this in a note at the bottom of p.34. ‘Dr Primatt has just published a treatise on mercy to brutes’. With a further note at the bottom of p.35. ‘The cruel distinction made by many in disfavour of the blacks was often a subject of his commiseration’

(Titled) The following Lines were written on board the Halsewell By a private soldier

pp. 36-38 67 line poem

Pasted on signature ‘Sophia Ricketts’