author

Joseph Darvall

d. 1859

A little-known 19th-century English writer, he is remembered for turning a dramatic real-life shipwreck into a vivid narrative of survival and rescue. His best-known work, The Wreck on the Andamans, draws on authentic documents to recount the loss of the troop ships Runnymede and Briton in 1844.

1 Audiobook

The wreck on the Andamans : being a narrative of the very remarkable preservation and ultimate deliverance, of the soldiers and seamen, who formed the ships' companies of the Runnymede and Briton troop-ships, both wrecked on the morning of the 12th of November, 1844, upon one of the Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal

The wreck on the Andamans : being a narrative of the very remarkable preservation and ultimate deliverance, of the soldiers and seamen, who formed the ships' companies of the Runnymede and Briton troop-ships, both wrecked on the morning of the 12th of November, 1844, upon one of the Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal

by Joseph Darvall

About the author

Joseph Darvall was an English author associated with Reading, Berkshire, and records found during this search identify him as having died there in 1859. He is chiefly known for The Wreck on the Andamans, a nonfiction account centered on the wreck of the troop ships Runnymede and Briton on 12 November 1844.

The book presents the episode as an extraordinary story of endurance and deliverance, and contemporary cataloging notes that Darvall had access to authentic documents and facts when preparing it. That gives his writing a grounded, documentary quality that will appeal to listeners interested in maritime disaster, imperial travel, and true stories of survival.

Very little easily verifiable biographical information about Darvall survives in the sources consulted here, which makes him one of those authors best known through a single memorable work. Even so, that work has lasted because of its strong premise, historical setting, and clear sense of human resilience under extreme conditions.