Divers claim discovery of Nancy shipwreck of 1784

London, September 18 : Two divers have claimed to have found the Nancy shipwreck of 1784, which has eluded treasure hunters for more than 200 years.

The whereabouts of The Nancy, which sank off the western shores of the Isles of Scilly in 1784, has long remained a mystery.

The loss of the ship was all the more tragic because on board was Ann Cargill, a famous 18th century opera singer who was returning from India with her illegitimate child.

Her body - still clutching the baby - was recovered and then buried, but the wreck of the The Nancy was never traced.

A total of 49 people were on board the London bound vessel when it got into difficulty during a violent storm. It was thought she broke up as she sank.

Numerous expeditions searched for the wreckage in vain.

Now, according to a report in the Telegraph, two Scilly Isles residents, Todd Stevens and Ed Cumming, have said that the previous expeditions had been looking in the wrong place.

Cumming said that a record of the event had confused the ship with its lifeboat.

"It had been written that they 'were driven' onto Rosevear Island by the stormy sea and most people took it that meant 'The Nancy'," he said.

"We realised that after the ship had hit the rocks, the passengers had got into a smaller boat and that was the one that was 'driven' onto Rosevear. So, people were looking in the wrong place for The Nancy, they should have been looking further out," he explained.

According to Stevens, who moved to the Isles of Scilly 10 years ago, they had discovered a number of wrecks while searching for The Nancy.

"Doing this has been so rewarding. We are still trying to piece together the human stories around the wreck; it has been a real thrill. This kind of discovery is what you go diving for," he said.

The apparent location of the wreck was found last year, but has only just been disclosed to protect the site.

The divers, who have written a book entitled The Ghosts of Rosevear, have yet to discover any treasure on board, but plan to hand all material over to the Isles of Scilly Museum.

ANI