1821 Beverley England Shipwreck Letter to Vernon NY 20½¢ Ship Rate #1425

Original 1821 transatlantic folded letter from Beverley, Yorkshire, England to William Garton in Vernon, Oneida County, New York, with excellent early maritime, postal and family-history content. The letter is datelined “Beverley, September the 7, 1821” and begins “Dear Son.” It was written by William Garton’s family in England and is addressed on the folded exterior to William Garton, Vernon, Oneida County, State of New York, America, with a reference to Mr. Robert Richardson. The address panel retains several important early postal markings, including a faint rectangular British mileage-style handstamp, a red circular transit/arrival marking, and a clearly visible manuscript 20½¢ postal charge. This 20½-cent amount is consistent with an incoming early U.S. ship-letter rate consisting of inland postage plus the additional ship fee. The contents are particularly noteworthy. The family relates the experience of a relative who sailed from London toward St. Petersburg, Russia, and was involved in a serious maritime disaster. According to the letter, the vessel became a “total wreck,” much of the clothing and part of the cargo were saved, and the survivors remained on an island for approximately 14 days before continuing their journey. The writer states that it was approximately six months before a ship was obtained for the return to England. Historical research indicates that British vessels traveling from London to St. Petersburg were wrecked in the Gulf of Finland during this period, making the account an especially interesting contemporary reference to early 19th-century Baltic maritime travel. The precise vessel has not been conclusively identified, so no specific ship attribution is guaranteed. The letter also contains extensive family and social history, including references to relatives in England, William Garton’s wife in America, farming conditions, merchants, crop conditions and the difficult economic climate in England following the Napoleonic Wars. The letter was written during the era of the British Falmouth packet service, and the surviving postal markings are consistent with transatlantic packet/ship-mail handling of the period. Research suggests a possible connection with the September 1821 Falmouth packet route to New York, although the exact carrying vessel should be considered probable rather than definitively proven. Condition is consistent with a genuine 200+ year-old folded letter. It retains original mailing folds and portions of the red wax seal. There is age toning, staining, fold wear, small tears/holes and paper loss associated with opening the wax seal. The manuscript remains substantially complete and highly legible. Please examine all photographs carefully for exact condition. A very desirable piece for collectors of early American postal history, transatlantic ship mail, British postal history, maritime and shipwreck history, New York history, Oneida County genealogy and early 19th-century manuscript correspondence. Original 1821 document — not a reproduction.