Princess Amelia (shipwreck)
Encyclopedia
The Princess Amelia was a Dutch merchant ship in the service of the Dutch West India Company
that carried 600 tons and was ringed with thirty-eight guns.
During its 1647 arrival to and departure from Manhattan
, it was commanded by Jan Claesen Bol, who was twenty eight at the time. The ship carried Petrus Stuyvesant
, the new Director-General of New Netherland
, his wife Judith Bayard, and Stuyvesant’s councilors to Manhattan, where they landed May 1647. During its time in port, Captain Bol sat in council with Stuyvesant and others in Manhattan.
Setting sail from Manhattan to Amsterdam
on August 16, 1647, it was loaded with 200,000 pounds of dyewood from Curaçao
and around 14,000 beaver pelts. It was also carrying 107 passengers and crew, including the recently fired Director-General Willem Kieft
for his return to Amsterdam to defend himself against the charges leveled by among others, the Rev. Everardus Bogardus
, the colony’s principal Dutch Reformed dominie, and banished colonists Jochem Kuyter and Cornelis Melyn
, who would also have to answer charges of insubordination for their role in Kieft’s ouster, and numerous Dutch West India Company
soldiers who had recently arrived in Manhattan from Brazil and the Caribbean.
On September 27, 1647, Captain Bol mistook the Bristol Channel
for the English Channel
and ran the ship aground off Mumbles Point, Wales, near Swansea, Wales, (51.573°N 3.9992°W) where the ship broke apart. Twenty-one of the 107 passengers survived, including Kuyter and Melyn, who later reported that Kieft had acknowledged his administrative mistakes before drowning. The Rev. Bogardus and most of the soldiers also drowned. Insurance claims and lawsuits lasted for years settling the loss claims.
Early popular sources describe the event thus:
Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
that carried 600 tons and was ringed with thirty-eight guns.
During its 1647 arrival to and departure from Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, it was commanded by Jan Claesen Bol, who was twenty eight at the time. The ship carried Petrus Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant , served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York...
, the new Director-General of New Netherland
Director-General of New Netherland
This is a list of Directors, appointed by the Dutch West India Company, of the 17th century Dutch province of New Netherland in North America...
, his wife Judith Bayard, and Stuyvesant’s councilors to Manhattan, where they landed May 1647. During its time in port, Captain Bol sat in council with Stuyvesant and others in Manhattan.
Setting sail from Manhattan to Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
on August 16, 1647, it was loaded with 200,000 pounds of dyewood from Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
and around 14,000 beaver pelts. It was also carrying 107 passengers and crew, including the recently fired Director-General Willem Kieft
Willem Kieft
Willem Kieft was a Dutch merchant and director-general of New Netherland , from 1638 until 1647. He formed the council of twelve men, the first representative body in New Netherland, but ignored its advice...
for his return to Amsterdam to defend himself against the charges leveled by among others, the Rev. Everardus Bogardus
Everardus Bogardus
The Revered Everardus Bogardus was the dominie of the New Netherlands, and was the second minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, the oldest established church in present-day New York, which was then located on Pearl Street at its first location built in 1633, the year of his arrival. Bogardus was,...
, the colony’s principal Dutch Reformed dominie, and banished colonists Jochem Kuyter and Cornelis Melyn
Cornelis Melyn
Cornelis Melyn was an early Dutch settler in New Netherland and Patroon of Staten Island. He was the chairman of the council of eight men, which was a part of early steps toward representative democracy in the Dutch colony.-Early life:...
, who would also have to answer charges of insubordination for their role in Kieft’s ouster, and numerous Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
soldiers who had recently arrived in Manhattan from Brazil and the Caribbean.
On September 27, 1647, Captain Bol mistook the Bristol Channel
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean...
for the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
and ran the ship aground off Mumbles Point, Wales, near Swansea, Wales, (51.573°N 3.9992°W) where the ship broke apart. Twenty-one of the 107 passengers survived, including Kuyter and Melyn, who later reported that Kieft had acknowledged his administrative mistakes before drowning. The Rev. Bogardus and most of the soldiers also drowned. Insurance claims and lawsuits lasted for years settling the loss claims.
Early popular sources describe the event thus: