Overseas readers of the list might not have seen this report in the
newspapers this week
Caernarfon Herald
Shipwrecked family heirloom found in North Wales after 128 years
http://www.caernarfonherald.co.uk/caernarfon-county-news/local-caernarfon-ne
ws/2009/08/17/shipwrecked-family-heirloom-found-after-128-years-55578-244554
76/
http://tinyurl.com/mvp5yf
Aug 17 2009 by Owen R Hughes, Daily Post
Shipwrecked family heirloom found after 128 years
A SILVER pocketwatch that sank to the seabed in a 19th century shipwreck
will be returned to the family of the ship's captain - 128 years on.
Captain Richard Prichard, of Abersoch, died on board the Barbara Barque rice
ship on its journey from Liverpool to Rangoon in Burma in May 1881. He was
aged 38.
His engraved pocketwatch was due to be brought back to his family on its
return but the ship never arrived back in Liverpool. It foundered on rocks
and sank off Freshwater Bay, Pembrokeshire, in November 1881.
The pocketwatch lay in the wreck for 119 years until divers Rich Hughes and
Nick Hammond discovered it on a diving expedition in April 2000.
Using the inscription - 'Richard Prichard 1866 Abersoch North Wales' - diver
Mr Hughes tried for years to track surviving relatives of Capt Prichard.
His search had hit a brick wall until he contacted the organisers of website
Rhiw.com who put amateur historian David Roberts on the case in March.
Daily Mail
Sea captain's pocket watch lost in a shipwreck 130 years ago finally
returned to his family
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1207390/Captains-silver-pocket-watch
-lost-ocean-finally-returned-family-130-years-later.html
http://tinyurl.com/r54wp6
Sea captain's pocket watch lost in a shipwreck 130 years ago finally
returned to his family
A silver pocket watch discovered near the site of a shipwreck has been
returned to the family of its original owner 130 years after it was lost.
Diver Rich Hughes spotted the timepiece glinting in the sand as he explored
the seabed near a wreck off the Welsh coast.
After bringing it to the surface, he saw the words "Richard Prichard 1866
Abersoch North Wales" engraved on the casing.
Mr Hughes turned detective to trace the family of ship captain Richard
Prichard and hand over the long-lost heirloom.......
________________________________
Martin Briscoe
Fort William
M&LFHS | Gwynedd FHS