Captain Charles Sheldon (1807)

Born:

Died:

According to records held in Cape Town of the National Archives of South Africa, Captain Charles Sheldon and the Abby & Sally arrived in 1807 to "land and dispose of cargo". Captain Sheldon also paid "import duty in local currency". (Source: National Archives of South Africa)

Then, in a record dated 1808, Captain Sheldon filed an application "to lay ship, Abby and Sally, on shore to be broken up and disposed of."

The record states that: "The memorial of Charles Sheldon, Master of the American ship Abby and Sally of Providence, respectfully sets forth that in a severe gale of wind on the First of February last, the aforementioned ship went on shore on some rocks near the Amsterdam Battery, that with much difficulty she was got off again, and a survey taken on her by the carpenters of this place, and by the estimate they made, your memorialist finds, that her repairs would amount to much more than her value." (Source: KAB CO 3868 Ref: 118, National Archives of South Africa)

There is some dispute over dates between some sources:

The site "Blaauwberg Tourism" lists the Abby & Sally, as being wrecked on 6 December 1807 in Table Bay.

However, according to a transcription of the "1808 African Court Calendar Book" (Source: Ancestry24.co.za), Captain C. Sheldon and the American Ship Abby & Sally, having departed from Providence & Maldanoda, arrived at Table Bay on 6 December 1808, a full year after the ship was supposedly at the bottom of the sea.

The 1808 date is likely the one in error; the "Strategic Environmental Assessment for the Port of Cape Town" (PDF), from Vliz.be, supports the 1807 date. It describes the Abby & Sally as: American, wrecked in Table Bay, made of Mafter Wood, wrecked on 1807-12-6, from Providence, USA, and carrying a cargo of Provisions, Spirits, and Wine.