Incoming Tide, Scarboro, Maine, 1883, by artist Winslow Homer, National Gallery of Art, Washington.
The Wreck of the Nottingham Galley Resulting in the Act of Cannibalism on Boon Island in Maine
The population along the New England coastline dramatically increased in the early eighteenth century, creating many shipping ports to accommodate the shipping trades coming into the region. With New England’s many surprising and violent storms, many shipwrecks occurred on the many ledges, reefs, shoals, and sandbars that populated the New England coastline.
Boon Island is a tiny rock island that lies only a few feet above the water at high tide. It is roughly six miles from the shoreline of York, Maine. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many shipwrecks occurred there, where mariners would find themselves stranded on the rocks, only to be washed away from rogue waves breaking over the island or succumbing to prolonged exposure to the elements. The wreck of the Nottingham Galley, though its story is horrific, was one of the early incidents before lighthouses were built that spawned the need for assistance in constructing some warning device to help those who may find themselves wrecked on New England’s coastline.
Account of the Wreck of the Nottingham Galley
The story begins as the British merchant vessel Nottingham Galley set sail for Boston from England on September 25, 1710. In his log, Captain John Dean recorded that the vessel was loaded with special ropes and cheese and had endured a challenging and slow voyage hindered by storms and poor weather. Dean, who had previously worked as a butcher, transitioned to a life at sea and discovered that he greatly preferred his new role as a sailor, eventually achieving the rank of captain.
Shipwreck, illustration by Harry Chase, Library of Congress
On December 11, 1710, the Nottingham Galley was caught up in a winter nor’easter and dashed about through sleet, snow, and heavy seas. The vessel crashed and sank off the exposed rocky landform known as Boon Island. At the time, all 14 men survived and safely reached the icy rock island. The only items salvaged just before the wreck sank were small pieces of soggy cheese, part of a broken mast, fragments of a torn sail, and some canvas. That night, the drenched men endured a freezing night of wind, sleet, and snow pounding the island. They made a triangle tent from the parts of the sail and canvas, which the men huddled as close together as possible to conserve heat and avoid prolonged exposure to the elements.
By noon on the second day, the ship’s cook perished from exposure and an illness he had acquired while on the voyage. He was given a sailor’s Christian burial in the waters. The hands and feet of the crew were numb and starting to succumb to frostbite. They had to try to remove some of their freezing boots and clothing to expose their limbs to the cold to dry their skin. They tried to wrap their feet in parts of canvas and rope fibers to deter discoloration.
The crew could see smoke from houses some six miles away on the main shore, but there were no trees or means to create a fire on the hopeless piece of rock to signal anyone ashore of their plight or provide heat in the winter weather. For food, they finished off the soggy cheese within days and then ate any kelp and rockweed sparingly, with three mussels a day rationed until the frozen supply was exhausted after a week. After the food ran out, two crew members perished from exposure and starvation.
Ice Covered Rocks
Knowing that no one on the distant shore could see them in the winter weather, the crew decided to build a crude raft to launch to shore. The ship’s carpenter was extremely ill and could not assist. The men were now starving as their tiny mussels and seaweed rations were insufficient to survive. With the help of one of their determined crewmembers, known only as the “Swede,” they built a raft of debris from whatever was left they could salvage from the wreckage. They elected two men, one being the Swede, to take the raft and try to find help. They launched the craft during high tide amid the high seas with instructions to light a fire on shore once they landed to signal their comrades on the island. As the raft came within a few miles of the mainland, it overturned, and the two men perished in the icy waters.
Days passed, and no sign of the raft making the shore was observed. Food was unavailable, except for some pieces of frozen seaweed, as their plight was now in its third week after the incident. The carpenter, a 47-year-old portly man, had perished from illness and exposure. The men, who were now driven to madness by starvation, came to the captain with a plea to eat the flesh of their comrade to survive. After much moral deliberation, Captain Dean decided to allow this horrific act to hopefully stay a few more days, hoping that someone would find them soon before they all perished.
Dean knew what to do as a previously trained butcher before becoming the ship’s captain. He first dehumanized the poor man by cutting off his head, hands, and feet and dressing the flesh. He proceeded to slice the flesh for the crew and dip it in the salt water. The members placed the meat between the seaweed pieces. The men ate so ravenously that Captain Dean became very concerned they would devour the corpse in one day. He and a few men moved the body and stored it safely away from the tent and the crew. He proceeded to deal out the ghoulish delight in small portions each day. The captain would later write of the change into irrational behavior of the men, as they became fierce and reckless and the most “pitiful objects of despair.”
Sunset over rocky coast in York, Maine, after snowfall.
On January 2, over three weeks after the wreck, remains of the makeshift raft appeared on the shore. The tide carried the body of one of the pair of men to the main beach and was discovered by local fishermen, while the body of the Swede was never found. The York County coroner, Lewis Bane, was summoned to examine the lifeless body frozen in a tangle of seaweed on the beach at Wells, Maine. He went to Cape Neddick, where he convinced local fisherman John Stover to take him to Boon Island, as no local fishermen were reported missing. He had a hunch that the body had to have been a survivor on Boon Island from a shipwreck. With a crew of three, they boarded Stover’s fishing shallop and headed out to sea. They saw a flapping white tent-like structure with figures outside it waving their skinny arms as they approached.
The starved and delirious crew saw the fishing boat approaching the island and mustered as much strength as they could, waving their arms frantically. The seas were heavy as the rescue crew could only bring the fishing boat within a few hundred yards of the survivors. They sent one man in a canoe to provide materials to build a fire. When he returned, the poor rescuer told his captain how shocked he was upon setting eyes on the shipwrecked crew, that he was frightened. He observed the skeletal captain, covered with sores and blood, which rendered him speechless, and the men in the tent were even in worse shape. They promised to help the next day if they could not bring the crew on the vessel due to the high seas. The next day came, as the waters were too rough for a rescue, but the captain would later write that they could at least build a fire to warm themselves and boil their “meat.”
The survivors, looking like skeletons closer to death than alive at this point, were rescued on January 4, 1710, nearly four weeks after shipwrecking on Boon Island. They were brought by canoe to the fishing boat, two or three at a time, and were given bread and spirits, which made them violently sick as their bodies became accustomed to their ghastly diet. When the ten survivors arrived at a tavern around 8 p.m. by the shore, most were near death from starvation and exposure. Many had hands and feet blackened by frostbite and had lost the use of their limbs.
Captain Deane wrote his relatively “harmless” report at the tavern, stating they got caught in a storm and had to eat the carpenter out of desperation. However, only three of his men signed it, while the others strongly objected to his many claims. They blamed him for the shipwreck, stating he had cried and panicked when the ship ran aground and that he was the one who had suggested cannibalism. The crewmembers further noted that he had even tried to deliver the ship to French privateers to collect the insurance money.
Boon Island without the lighthouse
The First Mate’s Contrasting Account and Controversy
The first mate, Christopher Langman, made the contrasting account in his writing, in which most of the crew agreed with and signed. He claimed that Captain Dean was deliberately planning to wreck the ship previously to get insurance money for himself and his brother, who were both boat owners. Other crewmembers supported Langman’s claim of overhearing conversations between Dean and his brother. Langman would write that Captain Dean placed the crew on short rations and beat several dissenters to break the will of any opposing him as the Nottingham Galley crossed the Atlantic from England.
Schooner passes by Boon Island shore.
Langman further stated that the Nottingham Galley was circling in the Gulf of Maine looking for more French privateers interested in purchasing the ship without consideration for the crew, especially with a nor’easter approaching. Langman wrote that he tried to get Captain Dean to steer further out to sea, but Dean put a pistol to his head and confined him to his bunk until the Nottingham Galley hit the rocks of Boon Island.
Langman returned to England to publish his side of the story but unfortunately died shortly afterward, which many believe resulted from his body’s grueling experience at Boon Island. Captain Dean survived the ordeal but left England in disgrace when newspapers got hold of the story, and the court sided with Langdon and most of the crew. Deane would spend the rest of his life trying to restore his good name.
Boon Island Lighthouse at sunset.
Although the Nottingham Galley incident occurred long before the present Boon Island Lighthouse was built on this forsaken rock, the incident spawned the need for some light or warning device to aid mariners around this tiny rock island. The government later funded lighthouses built all over the coast during the latter part of the 1700s, well into the nineteenth century. Boon Island Light was built on the island in 1799 because of so many wrecks nearby. Years later, many of Boon Island’s light keepers, who had duty on this barren, isolated island, would speak mainly of its terrible solitude and fearful loneliness surrounding the enclosed area.
Today Boon Island Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse structure in New England. In 1995, nine small iron cannons and other artifacts were discovered just off Boon Island in about 25 feet of water. They have been assessed to have been from the Nottingham Galley wreck.
Books to Explore
The Rise and Demise of the Largest Sailing Ships
The Rise and Demise of the Largest Sailing Ships: Stories of the Six and Seven-Masted Coal Schooners of New England. In the early 1900s, New England shipbuilders constructed the world’s largest sailing ships amid social and political reforms. These giants were the ten original six-masted coal schooners and one colossal seven-masted vessel, built to carry massive quantities of coal and building supplies and measured longer than a football field! This self-published book, balanced with plenty of color and vintage images, showcases the historical accounts that followed these mighty ships.
Available also from bookstores in paperback, hardcover, and as an eBook for all devices.
Enjoy a 10% discount on the hardcover version. Printed and distributed by IngramSpark.
Book – Lighthouses and Coastal Attractions in Southern New England: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts
Lighthouses and Coastal Attractions of Southern New England: Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. This 300-page book provides memorable human interest stories from each of the 92 lighthouses. You can explore plenty of indoor and outdoor coastal attractions, including whale-watching excursions, lighthouse tours, windjammer sailing tours, parks, museums, and even lighthouses where you can stay overnight. You’ll also find plenty of stories of hauntings around lighthouses.
Book – Lighthouses and Coastal Attractions in Northern New England: New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont
Lighthouses and Coastal Attractions of Northern New England: New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont. This 300-page book provides memorable human interest stories from each of the 76 lighthouses. It also describes and provides contact info for plenty of indoor and outdoor coastal attractions and tours. These include whale watching, lighthouse tours, unique parks, museums, and lighthouses where you can stay overnight. There are also stories of haunted lighthouses in these regions.
Book- New England Lighthouses: Famous Shipwrecks, Rescues & Other Tales
New England Lighthouses: Famous Shipwrecks, Rescues & Other Tales contains over 50 stories, including the wreck of the Nottingham Galley. This image-rich book also contains vintage images provided by the Coast Guard and various organizations and paintings by six famous Coast Guard artists.
You can purchase this book and the lighthouse tourism books from the publisher Schiffer Books or in many fine bookstores such as Barnes and Noble.
Copyright © Allan Wood Photography; do not reproduce without permission. All rights reserved.
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