Pennod 1 Trysor Coll Y Royal Charter

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-In the early hours

-of 26 October 1859...

-..on the last leg of its voyage

-from Melbourne to Liverpool...

-..the Royal Charter ran aground

-in a raging storm off Anglesey.

-497 people drowned.

-Not a single woman

-or child survived.

-But it wasn't only bodies

-that were swallowed by the sea.

-Also lost was gold worth 80m

-from the Australian gold rush...

-..both stored as cargo

-and hidden in passengers' luggage.

-Much of the treasure

-still lies beneath the waves.

-I'm hunting for the Royal

-Charter's lost gold...

-..with Vincent Thurkettle.

-It should be good.

-My adventure

-will take me from the seabed...

-..to the other side of the world.

-I'll be poring through archives,

-revelling in the history...

-I've found gold, guys!

-..and uncovering a tragedy

-that echoes through the ages.

-Family is everything and he's

-in touch with his family again.

-I'm an Anglesey girl,

-born and bred on the island.

-But, twelve years ago,

-everything changed.

-I met Rob.

-I met Rob.

-

-See you, babe.

-We got married

-and made our home in Australia.

-What filling do you want

-in your sandwiches?

-Jam.

-You're not having jam sandwiches.

-What will you do in school?

-What will you do in school?

-

-I don't know.

-Will you play with Gracie?

-I love living in Australia,

-but obviously I miss home...

-..more than anything in the world.

-But I'm very fortunate

-to have two homes.

-Here in Australia and back in Wales.

-Whoa!

-I'm in good company.

-Europeans have emigrated

-to Australia for two centuries.

-Right, let's go to school.

-The country's history...

-..is littered with Welsh people

-who came in search of a better life.

-The greatest exodus happened

-a century and a half ago...

-..in a glittering age.

-The 1850s were a golden age.

-One of the most prosperous golden

-ages in the history of the world.

-For the Aborigine,

-the indigenous population...

-..gold was worthless.

-For the first prospectors,

-there was treasure under foot.

-Soon, tens of thousands of people...

-..from all over the world sailed

-to Australia to make their fortune.

-Approximately 150,000 Britons...

-..five to six thousand of whom

-were Welsh...

-..capitalized on the gold rush

-in Victoria during the 1850s.

-For those intrepid people,

-this was the promised land.

-But life in the gold fields

-was hard and dangerous.

-One tragic story is familiar

-to those who live on Anglesey.

-The tragedy of the Royal Charter.

-Everybody knows about it

-because it's such an awful tale.

-The ship was wrecked

-despite being so close to the shore.

-One man has spent years searching

-for the ship's lost treasure.

-Vincent Thurkettle

-is a forestry worker and author.

-Through the winter,

-he fells trees in Thetford Forest.

-But for Vince, something else

-puts fire in his belly.

-It's pretty easy to get gold fever.

-Gold is life.

-Vince has won the World

-Gold Panning Championships twice.

-He has hunted for treasure

-on every continent.

-But one place lures him back

-time and time again.

-The Anglesey coast...

-..where the Royal Charter perished

-over a century and a half ago.

-Vince believes

-there is treasure in these waters.

-That's a beauty!

-He has dived hundreds of times

-in search of it.

-There's much more shipwreck

-over towards me.

-Bits of the Royal Charter, look.

-Ribs.

-# Talking Melbourne, 3AW #

-I heard about Vince's

-underwater escapades...

-..when he was interviewed

-on Australian radio.

-"Vince Thurkettle

-is a gold prospector...

-"..and has found some of the gold

-from the Royal Charter."

-I remember driving

-when the interview was aired.

-"In today's money, the ship

-was carrying just under 80m."

-It was about the Royal Charter,

-so I stopped the car to listen.

-"If I found 1% of 1%,

-I'd be pleased."

-"Vince, give us ahoy

-when you're next in Melbourne."

-I was thrilled because of

-the Wales-Australia connection.

-I thought,

-"I must get my claws on that story!"

-Miraculously, I persuaded Vince...

-..to let me join him

-on his next dive, come what may.

-When I first spoke to her...

-..she did tell me that all

-her experience was warm water.

-The idea of being

-in cold, muddy water...

-..bothered her a bit,

-and I can understand that.

-Overconfidence is terrible.

-It gets people killed.

-It's now time for me

-to face up to the challenge.

-I'm nervous, I must admit.

-I've only dived

-in very calm waters...

-..where there are pretty fish

-and everything's aquamarine.

-I'm diving off the coast of Wales...

-..where it'll be murky

-and full of all kinds of muck.

-I'm going to be diving

-to the bottom of the sea...

-..in a dreadful thick wetsuit

-on widescreen TV.

-Of course I'm nervous!

-I'm all set. I'll see you in Wales.

-It's a long journey

-even by today's standards...

-..but when the Royal Charter sailed

-between Wales and Australia...

-..it took two whole months

-back in 1859...

-..despite it being one of the

-fastest vessels of the age.

-Weighing more than 2,700 tonnes

-with an iron hull...

-..the Royal Charter

-was a new type of ship.

-As well as its sails,

-it had a steam engine...

-..that could propel the ship

-when the wind was calm.

-Its owners boasted it could sail

-between Britain and Australia...

-..in less than 60 days.

-It meant sailing in style.

-For the prospectors

-who had made their fortune...

-..it was a luxury cruise back home.

-The fact that they chose

-to travel on the Royal Charter...

-..speaks volumes.

-If they made any money,

-money they didn't expect to make...

-..what better way to show off

-that new-found wealth...

-..than by returning home

-on the famous Royal Charter?

-On 24 August 1859,

-the Royal Charter crew...

-..prepares to set sail

-from Melbourne to Liverpool.

-The ship's captain

-writes a passenger list...

-..as they board the ship...

-..while box after box of gold...

-..is transferred from the vaults

-of local banks to the ship's hold.

-According to newspaper reports...

-..the Royal Charter was carrying

-over 60,000 ounces of pure gold...

-..and more than

-49,000 gold sovereigns...

-..worth 80 million

-in today's money.

-But it's likely there was

-twice that amount in total...

-..since most of the passengers

-hid their wealth...

-..in their suitcases, pockets,

-shoes and skirt seams.

-Once the captain eventually

-signs the passenger list...

-..he and his ship

-are ready to set sail.

-But by the end of the night...

-..the Royal Charter

-failed to depart on time.

-Instead of setting sail...

-..it docks in the harbour

-for another two days.

-Perhaps the captain

-is waiting for more passengers.

-Perhaps the wind

-isn't strong enough...

-..to steer the ship

-through the narrow bay.

-Whatever the reason...

-..the decision

-not to set sail is unwise.

-It is the first of many unwise

-decisions that leads to its demise.

-Near the village of Moelfre

-on Anglesey...

-..the wreck of the Royal Charter

-is close to shore.

-It lies where it was shipwrecked....

-..within feet of the rocky coast.

-The storm was so destructive

-and the waves were so huge...

-..that the ship broke in two.

-It's difficult to tell

-what lies beneath the waves.

-Daisy, can you take my watch?

-But one man knows the wreck

-like the back of his hand.

-Vince has dived the Royal Charter

-hundreds of times before.

-Over the years, he has recovered

-a number of objects.

-Now, I'm able to take advantage

-of his experience.

-You must be Vince.

-Pleased to meet you.

-You've brought the weather.

-Vince and the team have spent days

-preparing for the dive.

-Thousands of tonnes of sand

-have covered the shipwreck.

-The biggest task

-is to clear the sludge...

-..to allow us

-to dive into the wreck...

-..that has lured me

-all the way from Australia.

-I haven't been to Moelfre

-in a very long time.

-I remember coming with school and

-learning about the ship's history.

-It's a beautiful day today.

-It's hard to believe that the sea

-was so drastically different...

-..the night the ship ran aground.

-It's also hard to believe...

-..that I would

-go to such lengths and depths...

-..to recount this incredible story.

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-It's a bright summer's day

-in Moelfre...

-..but in 1859,

-these beaches witnessed...

-..one of the biggest maritime

-tragedies in British history.

-The story begins

-on the other side of the world.

-By the time the Royal Charter sets

-sail from Melbourne to Liverpool...

-..there are 520 passengers on deck.

-Their experiences depend on the

-price they paid for their tickets.

-For 16 guineas, most travel

-economy class, known as steerage...

-..and sleep in a large dormitory...

-..one on top of another.

-Parties are held at night,

-and gambling goes on secretly...

-..in the rat-infested privies.

-For 75 guineas,

-the wealthiest passengers...

-..travel in After Saloon,

-or first class.

-Each one has 40 feet of room...

-..twice as much

-as other passengers on board.

-They have private cabins

-with windows.

-The whole experience is like

-sailing in a five-star hotel.

-It has been a smooth voyage

-thus far.

-Only 59 days

-after leaving Australia...

-..some passengers disembark

-in Queenstown, Ireland...

-..before the ship sails

-on the final leg of the voyage.

-The passengers thank the captain

-for a swift journey.

-He in turn

-promises to reach Liverpool...

-..and be "starboard side to Mrs

-Taylor" by the following evening.

-An audacious promise,

-but an empty one.

-There is a storm brewing

-off the coast of Wales.

-A storm the likes of which

-the captain has never seen before.

-It was certainly a violent storm...

-..measuring over 300 miles

-in diameter.

-Some believe the Royal Charter's

-fate had been prophesied.

-The weather had been very unusual

-throughout 1859.

-The two summers prior to the Royal

-Charter storm had been very dry.

-There's talk

-that the Thames had dried up.

-The weather leading up to the storm

-had been very, very cold.

-There were strange phenomena

-in the sky too...

-..in the form of meteor storms

-and sinister flashes on the horizon.

-Towards the end of that summer,

-the Aurora Borealis was very bright.

-Passengers on board had even seen it

-on their voyage from Australia.

-Monday, 24 October 1859 - the final

-night of the voyage to Liverpool.

-Everything is as it should be.

-In the kitchen, the crew

-prepares a feast fit for a king.

-For two months,

-passengers in first class...

-..have been dining on cuisine

-befitting that of a luxury hotel.

-There has been

-a steady supply of eggs, milk...

-..and fresh meat from the animals

-that are also travelling on board.

-In the grand salon, passengers

-are sitting down to dinner.

-They are feasting happily...

-..knowing they are nearing the end

-of their voyage.

-When the Royal Charter

-left the Irish coast...

-..in the early hours

-of Monday morning...

-..the ship

-would have been in calm waters.

-They wouldn't have been aware

-of this violent storm to the south.

-The storm has already damaged

-dozens of ships and claimed lives.

-As it makes its way northwards,

-it gathers momentum.

-Because it was moving so slowly...

-..it had the potential to cause

-destruction on an epic scale.

-As it approached Holyhead...

-..the captain could dock

-in the harbour to take shelter.

-But 50 years

-before the advent of radio...

-..there's no way to alert him

-about the impending storm...

-..so he steers straight ahead.

-As he circles Anglesey...

-..the wind assists the journey

-towards Liverpool.

-But at 10.00pm,

-the wind suddenly changes direction.

-Gales exceeding 100mph

-blow the ship towards the shore.

-Despite the captain's efforts

-to turn the ship around...

-..and head back out to sea...

-..the northerly winds

-forced it against the rocks...

-..where it ran aground that night.

-It was such a grave tragedy...

-..that a weather forecasting system

-was put in place.

-Within a year, a weather-warning

-system was established in Britain.

-Above the shipwreck's

-exact location...

-..Vince and the team

-are clearing the way for our dive.

-Knowing how changeable

-the weather can be...

-..everybody

-is checking the forecast.

-Everyone thinks we're interested

-in whether it's sunny or raining.

-We're in wetsuits, we don't care,

-but this is the important thing.

-The wind direction and strength

-are the most important things.

-If it's too windy,

-the diving boats will collide.

-We've got so much kit...

-..if someone cracks his head on a

-compressor, that'd be the end of it.

-But according to local man Ed,

-it bodes well.

-A south-westerly wind tomorrow...

-..so it'll be blowing

-over our heads.

-How much am I going to see?

-An arm's length away?

-Between five to eight feet...

-..so we'll be able

-to see each other.

-We'll be able

-to see the top and the ship.

-But it won't be like Australia.

-We won't be able to see

-for miles underwater!

-It's the end of the day,

-but the team is busier than ever...

-..filling the oxygen tanks

-and debating my chances...

-..of uncovering treasure tomorrow.

-I was eleven weeks before I found

-my first bit of gold. Eleven weeks.

-I wouldn't be negative,

-but being realistic, they're slim.

-Her chances of finding something

-interesting are quite good.

-They're not very warm!

-You might be an expert

-at finding treasure...

-..but Aussies can teach you

-a thing or two about barbecues!

-They've taken a little while.

-The following morning,

-the morning of the dive.

-It's time to check the equipment

-and whip the novice into shape.

-I'll blow the sand away and anything

-that shows, stop me and have a look.

-Treasure!

-Vince's daughter has accompanied

-her father on countless dives.

-Daisy tells me

-that if we find treasure...

-..the way to let everyone know

-is by squeaking.

-No special sign,

-just squeaking underwater!

-Nigel is already down there,

-having a look.

-We're diving off two boats.

-Get the boat off the trailer

-as quick as possible.

-The trick is to launch them

-without them sinking into the sand.

-I'll drive onto the beach

-with the boat.

-I haven't done this before.

-Push!

-There we go.

-That was my bit of exercise

-for the morning!

-At least I know the suit works,

-which is a good sign.

-I'm in the hands of the meister now.

-I'm looking forward

-to the practice dive.

-After that,

-if everything works, we dive.

-But when you're at the mercy of

-the waves, things are never perfect.

-Can somebody help me? Somebody?

-And if I don't keep my head...

-..I'll be out of my depth.

-Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop! Stop!

-When it comes to finding treasure,

-hopefully Vince will come up trumps.

-S4C Subtitles by Adnod Cyf.

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