Fire and loss of the East Indiaman Kent

Background. East Indiamen were merchant ships that operated under charter or licence for European trading companies trading with the East Indies between the 17th and 19th centuries, and were among the largest merchant ships regularly built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The Kent was an East Indiaman sailing for the British East India Company, launched in 1820.

Voyage Details. The Kent departed The Downs on 19 February 1825 for its third voyage. The passenger manifest included 20 officers and 344 soldiers from the 31st Regiment of Foot, along with 43 women, 66 children, 20 private passengers, and a crew of 148 men. The ship was en route to Bengal and China when the disaster occurred.

Aftermath and Representation. A narrative titled 'A Narrative of the Loss of the Kent East Indiaman, by Fire, in the Bay of Biscay on the 1st March 1825' records the disaster. Artists who dealt with the tragedy included William Daniell, Théodore Gudin, Thomas Marie Madawaska Hemy, and Thomas Buttersworth, who painted 'The East Indiaman Kent on Fire in the Bay of Biscay'. An anonymous lithographer's 'Loss of the Kent' is in the National Maritime Museum, which holds a number of other renditions; the National Maritime Museum Cornwall has an aquatint of Daniell's painting.