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Our surgeon, Mr. Scrimsour, a man of the utmost humanity, first suggested the idea, and, resolute to set us an example, ate the first morsel himself; but, at the second mouthful, turned his face away from as many as he could and wept. With great reluctance we brought ourselves to try different parts of the bodies of six, but could relish only the hearts, of which we ate three. We drank the blood of four. By cutting the throat a little while after death, we collected a little more than a pint from each body. Here I cannot but mention the particular respect shown by the men to the officers, for the men who were employed in the melancholy business of collecting the blood in a pewter bason that was in the boat, and the rest of the people, would never touch a drop till the captain, surgeon, and myself had taken as much as we thought proper. And I can truly affirm, we were so affected by this strong instance of their regard that we always left them a larger share than of right belonged to them. This expedient, so shocking in relation, and so distressing to us in the use, was undoubtedly the means of preserving those who survived, as we constantly found ourselves refreshed and invigorated by this nourishment, however unnatural.
19:
156:
120:, as he raised the alarm a keg exploded and filled the hold with flames. Several members of the crew attempted to quench the fire with water, even stripping their clothing to smother the flames, but the hold had become an inferno. The deck overhead was breached in an attempt to douse the flames, this allowed air to enter, increasing the intensity of the fire, and the front of the ship was soon ablaze.
239:
The sensation of hunger was not so urgent, but we all saw the necessity of recruiting our bodies with some more substantial nourishment, and it was at this time we found ourselves impelled to adopt the horrible expedient of eating part of the bodies of our dead companions, and drinking their blood.
178:
s crew were adrift for two weeks, and their number was reduced to twelve before their rescue by fishermen off the coast of
Newfoundland. The captain died the next day. They were tended to by their rescuers before setting out for a major port. Only five men reached this destination; one man went to
112:
when the final disaster struck. The cause was reported as resulting from the actions of two youths, described as "black boys", who were in the hold of the ship when they noticed liquid on the floor. Fearing this was water leaking from a keg, they held a candle to it to investigate; the substance
163:
The escape on the boat left those fleeing in a precarious situation, with no food or water, no compass, and ill-prepared for an ocean voyage to safety. Some of those on board the yawl, decrying their predicament, proposed to relieve their craft's burden by casting the alleged instigators of the
243:
We often saw birds flying over our heads, and fish playing round the boat's stern, which we strove to catch with our hat-bands knotted together, and a pin for a hook, baited with a piece of the dead men's bodies; but with all our contrivance could not catch either fish or bird.
142:
The smaller boat was filled beyond its regular capacity, 22 men and boys; when this was under-way there were sixteen persons left behind. The yawl was turned into the waves to avoid swamping, putting distance between any salvage or survivors. The huddled occupants watched the
235:. The narrative detailed the journey leading up to the sinking, and the means by which they navigated, improvised a sail, and obtained a meagre amount of water. The frank account of the fifth day of the voyage gave the recipe for their continued survival,
255:, and ends his retelling of the events by remarking on the "very great age" of the few survivors. A series of paintings detailing the events was displayed by the younger Boys in his parlour, according to
551:
British and Irish paintings in public collections: an index of
British and Irish oil paintings by artists born before 1870 in public and institutional collections in the United Kingdom and Ireland
108:
on 23 June, being destined for
England on the final leg of the journey. Her position two days later was determined to be latitude 41° 45' north, longitude 20° 30 east, from
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and the rest reached London on 14 October. Of the few survivors, William Boys survived to the age of 74; the surgeon, Scrimsour, to 80; and George Mould died at
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643:
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The two boys then hid themselves, afraid of the consequences of their actions. At half past twelve the captain's cook noticed flames emerging from the
266:
in 1727, are assumed to be reproductions of the same; these were acquired by the
Greenwich Hospital and are now part of their collection held at the
131:
that had been hurriedly launched. The sixteen foot boat contained three oars, its fourth was lost, but held no other equipment or provisions. The
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400:
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During the conflagration the panic-stricken captain and some crew had fallen to their knees and prayed, expecting at any moment that the
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458:
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Boys had a series of pictures hung up in his parlour portraying the whole of the terrible circumstances (Pennant, in his
139:, but despite the efforts of some of the crew, it could not be launched, most likely because the tackle had caught fire.
53:
663:
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on 25 June 1727; she caught fire while carrying rum and sugar on the return leg to
England and sank. The testimony of
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blaze, the two boys, into the ocean. This was overruled, and the captain vetoed a proposal to settle the matters by
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431:
by fire, on her voyage from
Jamaica to London: with the sufferings of her crew, in the year 1727. By William Boys
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18:
85:, die from smallpox before they were delivered. Having left England in October 1725, her end came in the mid-
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which in 1727 burnt, exploded and sank in the
Atlantic Ocean. Twelve of the crew survived due to practicing
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route, transporting cotton goods, slaves and rum between Europe, Africa and the
Americas. The delivery of
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219:–1774), who had risen through the ranks to become lieutenant-governor of Greenwich Hospital.
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270:. A history of the hospital reproduces the rarer published account by the younger Boys.
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of 1834 reproduced part of Boys' narrative, comparing it to the later disaster of the
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495:. Vol. 7. Printed for the author, by Nichols, son, and Bentley. p. 520
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The survivors, with improvised sail, in the mid-Atlantic. Cleveley, c. 1727.
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343:"Burning of a ship at sea, and sufferings of the survivors among the crew"
392:
The Press in
English society from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries
136:
86:
545:
Wright, Christopher; Gordon, Catherine May; Smith, Mary
Peskett (2006).
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81:
The disastrous journey had seen one third of the human cargo, 600
56:
340 tons and was fitted to carry 26 guns. She was employed by the
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72:
in the Americas was made under the conditions stipulated in the
204:. An account of the incident was the subject of a 1787 book by
168:. The later deaths of some occupants made this unnecessary.
93:
is often referred to in later notices; he was a 24-year-old
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below the fire would explode; others sought to escape on a
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continue to burn to the waterline and eventually explode.
194:
appeared in notices in newspapers. In September, the
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by John Cooke and John Maule, 1789, pp. 110 et seq.
208:, the son of one survivor, Commodore William Boys,
379:, yawl National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
526:. Vol. 9. Printed for the author. p. 24
262:Another series of small paintings, attributed to
113:turned out to be rum and it quickly caught fire.
52:The vessel, commanded by William Kellaway, had a
524:Literary anecdotes of the eighteenth century: ..
424:An account of the loss of the Luxborough Galley,
200:and others reprinted the ghoulish report of the
493:Literary anecdotes of the eighteenth century:..
462:. Vol. 6. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
97:on the voyage, having already served with the
353:Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
190:The gruesome details of the survivors of the
8:
395:. Associated University Presse. p. 65.
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331:
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654:Maritime incidents involving slave ships
553:. Yale University Press. pp. 245–.
466:Journey from London to the Isle of Wight
154:
17:
514:Nichols, John; Bentley, Samuel (1815).
279:
389:Harris, Michael; Lee, Alan J. (1986).
518:Account of the Loss of the Luxborough
433:printed for J. Johnson, London :
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285:
283:
7:
644:Sailing ships of the United Kingdom
14:
36:was an English ship owned by the
459:Dictionary of National Biography
297:on fire, 25 June 1727 (BHC2389)"
355:(Great Britain). pp. 260–2
581:History of Greenwich Hospital,
1:
213:
251:mentions Boys' work in his
680:
649:Maritime incidents in 1727
487:; Bentley, Samuel (1813).
659:Incidents of cannibalism
305:National Maritime Museum
268:National Maritime Museum
264:John Cleveley the Elder
110:Crooked Island, Bahamas
547:"John Cleveley (Snr.)"
468:, quoted in Nichols's
422:Boys, William, 1787
301:Paintings: description
246:
160:
27:
623:The Luxborough Galley
449:"Boys, William"
237:
158:
44:aboard the lifeboat.
21:
135:was equipped with a
597:Kellaway, Warwick.
428:electronic resource
376:Luxenborough Galley
664:London slave ships
444:Humphreys, Jennett
348:The Penny Magazine
253:Literary Anecdotes
185:Greenwich Hospital
161:
28:
601:Luxborough Galley
560:978-0-300-11730-1
402:978-0-8386-3272-7
295:Luxborough Galley
192:Luxborough Galley
133:Luxborough Galley
58:South Sea Company
38:South Sea Company
33:Luxborough Galley
24:Luxborough Galley
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62:triangular trade
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351:. Vol. 3.
339:Knight, Charles
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101:for ten years.
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607:Family History
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591:External links
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257:Thomas Pennant
225:Penny Magazine
202:Boston Gazette
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83:African slaves
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249:John Nichols
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232:Royal George
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206:William Boys
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197:Evening Post
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91:William Boys
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639:1720s ships
612:17 December
566:17 December
530:17 December
499:19 December
470:Lit. Anecd.
408:17 December
359:17 December
310:17 December
230:sinking of
217: 1700
181:New England
95:second mate
48:Last voyage
42:cannibalism
633:Categories
620:Folk song
516:"Boys, W.
472:ix. 24 n.)
274:References
173:Luxborough
145:Luxborough
118:forecastle
99:Royal Navy
78:contract.
373:BHC2385,
187:aged 82.
166:allotment
151:Survivors
125:gunpowder
446:(1886).
341:(1834).
137:longboat
87:Atlantic
26:on fire.
489:"Index"
456:(ed.).
106:Jamaica
75:Asiento
68:to the
54:burthen
557:
399:
66:slaves
599:"The
452:. In
293:"The
176:'
60:in a
614:2010
568:2010
555:ISBN
532:2010
501:2010
410:2010
397:ISBN
361:2010
312:2010
222:The
210:R.N.
171:The
129:yawl
30:The
22:The
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522:.
491:.
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345:.
320:^
303:.
299:.
282:^
259:.
214:c.
616:.
603:"
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314:.
212:(
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