Autumn
Volume 2
Welcome to the online edition of Autumn.
For this edition, we go back to 1859 and a catastrophic storm which battered the Irish Sea and claimed the lives of 800 people. It was also the catalyst which spurred into being what is now the Met Office and the BBC's Shipping Forecast
In 1859 the Royal Charter, a steam clipper returning from gold rush Australia to Liverpool, with a crew and passengers of around 490, sank in these waters just off the north Anglesey coast.
Over 450 people lost their lives that day, with none of
the women or children making it to safety.
the women or children making it to safety.
The incident was to become a turning point in marine safety, from which today’s Met Office and Shipping Forecast have their beginnings.
It is also a story about Robert FitzRoy, an officer in the Royal Navy who captained HMS Beagle, sailing around the world with naturalist, Charles Darwin.
A man who pioneered national meteorological forecasting, with the purpose of reducing deaths at sea, was a respected sailor, yet navigated poor mental health throughout his career. The struggle to develop a meteorological service took its toll and he ultimately died by his own hand in 1865.
