Lifesaving, Slavery, Vessel Loss

Memorial: M4810

Memorial in Westminster Abbey, London commemorating William Wragg d. 1777

Location

Westminster Abbey, Westminster, London, England

Transcript

'SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIAM WRAGG ESQ OF SOUTH CAROLINA WHO WHEN THE / AMERICAN COLONIES REVOLTED FROM GREAT BRITAIN INFLEXIBLY MAINTAIN'D HIS / LOYALTY TO THE PERSON AND GOVERNMENT OF HIS SOVEREIGN AND WAS THEREFORE / COMPELL'D TO LEAVE HIS DISTREST FAMILY AND AMPLE FORTUNE, IN HIS PASSAGE / TO ENGLAND BY THE WAY OF AMSTERDAM HE WAS UNFORTUNATELY SHIPWRECK'D / AND DROWNED ON THE COAST OF HOLLAND THE 3D DAY OF SEPTEMBER 1777 / IN HIS STRONG NATURAL PARTS AND LOVE OF JUSTICE AND HUMANITY / IMPROVED BY EDUCATION FORMED THE VALUABLE CHARACTER OF A GOOD MAN / AND LEFT THOSE WHO HAVE SURVIVED HIM TO DEPLORE THE LOSS OF A MOST / TENDER HUSBAND, AFFECTIONATE PARENT, KIND MASTER, AND WARM FRIEND. / HIS SORROWING AFFLICTED SISTER IN ENGLAND CAUSED THIS MONUMENT / TO BE ERECTED 1779'

Details

Description: Above the inscription, a sarcophagus on dolphin feet in relief carved with a scene of a shipwreck, the Dutch coast in the background. A mourning female figure in classical dress to one side of it. A scallop shell flanked by dolphins in the pediment of the sarcophagus. Wragg is shown at the stern of the ship. Tom Skene, Wragg's slave, is shown rescuing Wragg's son in the foreground. Both survivors cling to a piece of wreckage.
Type: Monument
Position: South choir aisle
Materials: Marble
Artists: Richard Hayward

Event Category

1775-1783 American Revolutionary War

People

Wragg, William
Age: 63
Date of Death: 3/9/1777
Cause of Death: Vessel Loss
Rank / Occupation: Passenger
Organisation: Unknown

Extra

Notes: Skene was freed by the boy's mother and given land near the Wragg family plantation.

Bibliography: Holgar Hoock 'Empires of the Imagination' pp.76-78.
Recorder: A.J. Richardson 1980
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