Thanks for that Jim, this is what Mudcat is all about. This is the first time that I have heard that Andrew Rose actually died of his ill treatment as the first time I heard the song the last verse started "He has his friends and kind relations, to comfort him after his woes"
Also the Sunderland connection is interesting as many years ago, in a Sunderland folk club, someone told me that Andrew Rose, a devout Methodist, actually came from Sunderland and antagonised the captain by constantly singing hymns while at sea. Where he was born or hailed from has been hotly disputed but clearly the Sunderland connection is still there.