Throwback Thursday: William Foxwell and the Sinking of the Frigate Anson

On Christmas Eve 1807 the HMS Anson set sail from Falmouth, Cornwall. She had just returned to England after participating in the Capture of Curaçao, and the frigate, under command of Captain Charles Lydiard, was now heading to meet the channel fleet and join the blockade of Brest, France.

Christmas Eve 1807 was also William Foxwell’s 41st birthday. A farmer and Methodist minister near Mullion, Cornwall, Mr. Foxwell was a man with a voracious appetite for knowledge. In addition to studying the Bible, he studied astronomy, meteorology, and music. He had no knowledge of the Anson, nor its crew knowledge of him. Yet within days their fates would be intertwined.

On December 29, 1807, the weather off Cornwall turned violent. The Anson had sailed as far as Île de Batz on December 28, but the churning seas and dark skies convinced Capt. Lydiard to return to Falmouth. He made is as far as the Lizard, a peninsula on far southern Cornwall, before the weather came up and the Anson was forced to weigh anchor. As storm intensified, the anchor cables parted, driving the frigate onto shore. Capt. Lydiard attempted to beach the ship, hoping to provide the crew a chance to evacuate, but the rough seas pushed the frigate into the rocks off Loe Bar. By 7:00 a.m. the main mast broke, the final anchor line snapped, and crew members began to disappear into the frothing sea as they tried to maneuver across the fallen mast and reach safety.

Mr. Foxwell was at home, watching the storm through his telescope. While surveying the turbulent coast, he spotted the Anson as it was being battered against the rocks. Mr. Foxwell quickly gathered a group of local men and rushed to the struggling frigate. Seeing no one on deck, he clamored across the fallen mast and entered the sinking vessel, where he found several people still aboard. Aided by others in his party, Mr. Foxwell helped escort survivors to shore before the ship broke apart and disappeared into the surf in the early afternoon.

News of the wreck made headlines across Great Britain. Capt. Lydiard lost his life, along with more than 100 others. But many survived, thanks in no small part to the works of a man the newspapers called “the worthy preacher.” For his valiant effort, Mr. Foxwell was awarded a silver medallion, engraved with an image of the wreck and a simple inscription:

“To Mr. Wm. Foxwell, one of the humble instruments under Divine Providence of saving the lives of his fellow creatures wrecked in the Anson Frigate on the Loe Bar, 29th of Dec., 1807. This medal is given by his Country.”