For a history of the Royal Charter and in particular her last tragic voyage see “The Golden Wreck” by Alexander McKee, Souvenir Press, 1961.

The Royal Charter was an auxiliary steam clipper built of iron and 2,719 tons in weight. She was built at the Sandycroft Iron Works on the River Dee and launched in 1855. Her dimensions were: length of keel 308½ ft., overall length 356 ft. She had three masts, a funnel and a 200 horse power auxiliary steam engine. On her maiden voyage to Australia she left Liverpool on 18^th January, 1856 but had to return to Plymouth. Nevertheless she made the voyage in 60 days. On her last voyage she left Melbourne to Liverpool on 26^th August, 1859 carrying £322,440 in gold, not counting a large quantity of gold carried by passengers on them. Estimates of the passenger list vary from 472 to 498. Within a few hours of her anticipated arrival at Liverpool she was driven ashore on to the rock at Moelfre, Anglesey, in a force 12 hurricane. The shipwreck occurred in the early hours of Wednesday, 26^th October, 1859. Although the ship broke up within yards of land, there was tremendous loss of life, there begin only 40 survivors. No women or children were saved.

A hundred years later in 1959 Dr. Ellis Jones had returned from Australia by ship as Ship’s Surgeon on the m.v. Arabic. In the autumn of that year he made a point of visiting Moelfre on the 100^th anniversary of the shipwreck of the Royal Charter. As there was a tug boat strike in Liverpool, there were nine ships anchored off Moelfre unable to enter Liverpool. On that night there was a severe storm and when he revisited Moelfre the following day, Tuesday, 27^th October, 1959, visibility was very poor owing to the spray blown inshore by a tremendous gale. It was quite impossible for him to stand on the point at Moelfre as the gale was so strong. There were at the time 13 ships anchored off Moelfre. One of these, the Hindlea of 650 tons was driven ashore on to the Moelfre rocks a short distance from the stie of the wreck of the Royal Charter. Fortunately the crew of eight were taken off the Hindlea by the Moelfre Lifeboat at the height of the storm. For his gallantry the Cox, Richard Evans, was awarded the Gold Medal of the R.N.L.I. On the following day, Wednesday, 2ith October, 1959, Dr. Ellis Jones again returned to Moelfre to see the Hindlea breaking in half on the rocks.