Maritime record MWX1937 - De Hoop (Hope, Hop)

1749 wreck of Dutch West Indiaman which stranded at Chesil Cove en route from Jamaica and/or America to Amsterdam, laden with gold and silver coin, linen and woollen goods, and tobacco. Constructed of wood, she was a sailing vessel and was armed. Her possible remains may be those recorded at 1147244.

Armament: 30 cannon Master: Boii Cornelizs (4); Cornelus (3) Crew: 74 (4); 90 (2) Owner: Hentrick Hogenberg, Amsterdam (of some of the gold and silver) Date of Loss Qualifier: A At this period the Julian Calendar was still used in Great Britain, with the New Year beginning on 25th March. Therefore the dates from 1st January to 24th March (inclusive) in modern reckoning (New Style) are one year later than the year printed on the Lloyds List issues (but not always those of other publications which follow New Style). The date of loss has therefore been given as 1749, following sources (2) and (4). `On Sunday night last a Dutch ship of 500 tons and 90 men drove ashore at Fleet, 4 miles from Weymouth, but all the crew were saved to have the misery to see a very rich cargo plundered by a merciless set of people from Portland, which consisted in linen and woollen goods, and 300,000l in Spanish gold and silver. The Captain had 75,000l of his own in the cabin and they have only saved 2 wagon loads of the goods and 1200 dollars for themselves, and in parting even of the small share that fell to two of them, they drew their knives and killed each other on the spot. (2)

`The HOPE, Cornelus, from America for Amsterdam, was lost the 16th inst. on Portland Beach - the crew saved. (3)

Carrying a cargo worth over 50,000l became embayed in the Deadmans and went ashore. Her mast, in falling, made a bridge with the beach across which her entire crew crawled to safety. There followed many acts of wrecking, a number of local men being brought before the local magistrates. One example was Augustin Elliott, labourer of Portland, who appeared in the dock at Dorchester during the summer assize of 15-JUL-1749 charged with `feloniously stealing and carrying away 10 oz. of gold and 20 oz of silver from the ship HOPE, the property of Hentrick Hogenberg, a merchant of Amsterdam. The court case stressed that many hundreds of people were involved. The captain and some of his crew managed to reach Fleet House with some goods they had saved hoping that the Kings Officers would assist them, but they too were involved in theft of goods from the wreck. After a trial of six hours Elliott was found `not guilty. (4)

The HOPE wreck site is off Chesil Beach at a place opposite the tongue of land on the mainland across the Fleet which is marked Herbury on the OS map. Anything that might remain of the vessel is now well buried beneath the pebbles of the beach. (5)

HOPE of Amsterdam, believed to be carrying more than 5000 in specie and other valuables, the results of successful trading in South America and on the Spanish Main, the ship ran onto the Chesil in the early hours of 16 January 1749. It was very dark and no light from Portland lighthouses, either by reason of the great mist, or the neglect of the persons there. The HOPE struck with great force and broke up very quickly. Her crew were fortunately able to scramble to safety across abridge formed by a broken mast. A mob from Portland and Weymouth were soon on the scene, followed by men from all over Dorset. and the neighbouring counties as news of the wreck spread. For ten days the beach was the site of frenzied digging as the shingle was turned over and over in the search for gold. It was later estimated that some ten thousand people had been on the Chesil and rioting broke out continually. A few even died of exposure in raw January weather in their determination not to leave the beach without treasure. Armed men eventually dispersed the mob, and for many of the looters their efforts had been in vain, for much of the wealth of the HOPE was later recovered. (7)

Source (4) expresses the name of the vessel in Dutch as DE HOOP; all other sources use the Anglicised version of HOPE.
Source 8 gives the name as HOP
Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index: An account of the HOPE, by a Gentleman, published in 1749,


Translated from the original Dutch by compiler:

'The ship HOOP (Hope), Capt. Cornelius, bound from Curacao for Amsterdam, was destroyed near Weymouth. This ship carried 30 pieces of ordnance and 100 men, and has been trading in the West Indies for the past two years; and the cargo is valued at 100,000 p.s.'<9>

'The HOPE, Cornelius, bound from Curassoa to Amsterdam, was lost the 16th inst. near Weymouth. She mounted 30 guns, with 100 men, had been out three years trading in different parts of the West Indies, and is reckon'd to be worth 100,000l.' <10>


The building date for this vessel is an estimate based on an average age at wrecking of twenty years. This average is derived from those vessels wrecked on the Dorset coast whose age at wrecking is known.

<1> Larn, Richard, 1992, United Kingdom shipwreck index, Extracted 23 November 1992 (Index). SWX5030.

<2> Sherbourne Mercury, 23-JAN-1749 (Serial). SWX4820.

<3> 1745 onwards, Lloyds list, 24-JAN-1748, No.1374 (Serial). SWX8434.

<4> Larn, R, and Larn, B, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 1 : Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset Section 6, Dorset (AJ) Vol 1 (Monograph). SWX4541.

<5> Hinchcliffe, J and V, 1990, Dive Dorset: a diver guide (2nd Edition), Wreck No.75 p73-74 (Monograph). SWX5640.

<6> Hinchcliffe, J and V, 1999, Dive Dorset: a diver guide (3rd Edition), Wreck 109, p96 (Monograph). SWX1.

<7> 1975, Dorset magazine : the county magazine vol. 48, p13 (Article in serial). SWX4573.

<8> Taylor, Isaac, 1765, Map of Dorsetshire (Cartographic materials). SWX7290.

<9> Cumming, E, The Dorset shipwreck and maritime incident directory, 26 (Monograph). SDO16406.

<10> 1749, Oprechte Haerlemsche Courant. 13 February 1749 (New Style), No.7, accessed via < http://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010811426:mpeg21:p001 > on 28-AUG-2015 (Serial). SDO20302.

<11> 1749, Newcastle Courant. Saturday January 21, to Saturday January 28, 1749 (New Style), No.875, accessed via < www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk > subscription-only service, on 28-AUG-2015 (Serial). SDO20301.

<12> Historic England, Historic England Archive, ADU01/02/18 (Index). SDO14738.

De Hoop Wreck Subject Folder. Data relating to the De Hoop wreck. Contains: site record, correspondence, application for designation and licenced diving, salvor's report, legal declaration of wreck ownership, copies of publications, site sketch, and two charts.

<13> National Record of the Historic Environment, 900465 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 16 2023 3:28PM