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Built in 1844 as a three-masted Barque at North Shields the "Nelson" was a merchant ship and in 1870 on the 16th August she left the port of Aquilas for the journey home to the Type with a cargo of lead and iron ore. She had a crew of 13 including Captain Henderson's nephew. By the 6th October she had already passed the Isle of Scilly, running under foresail and reefed topsails with a SSW force 5 running. The local weather conditions began to worsen and a thick fog descended and at about 3pm when Captain Henderson took the deck watch the "Nelson" struck hard either the Flemish Ledge or the Seven Stones. She sank by the head within 15 minutes taking down with her Captain Henderson, his nephew and an able seaman named Moon.
The remainder of her crew survived the impact and all took to the Jolly Boat and managed to reach the lightship before nightfall where they remained over the weekend and were then taken off by the Scilly pilot boat. By this time news has spread of the wreck and fragments came ashore around the Bude area including a nameboard. How and when the figurehead was recovered is not known.