The Royal Charter was a steam clipper which was wrecked off the beach of Porth Alerth in Dulas Bay on the northeast coast of Anglesey on 26 October 1859. The precise number of dead is uncertain as the complete passenger list was lost in the wreck although people say that 40 of the 480 passengers survived; an incomplete list (not including those who boarded just before departure) is retained in the Victorian Archives Centre in Victoria, Australia. About 450 lives were lost, the highest death toll of any shipwreck on the Welsh coast. It was the most prominent victim among about 200 ships wrecked by the Royal Charter Storm.

The Royal Charter was built at the Sandycroft Ironworks on the River Dee and was launched in 1855. She was a new type of ship, a 2719-ton iron-hulled steam clipper, built in the same way as a clipper ship but with auxiliary steam engines which could be used in the absence of suitable winds. The ship was used on the route from Liverpool to Australia, mainly as a passenger ship although there was room for some cargo. There was room for up to 600 passengers, with luxury accommodation in the first class. She was considered a very fast ship, able to make the passage to Australia via Cape Horn in under 60 days.

Subject: Tom Russell's Wales Song From: fsharpdim7 Date: 29 Jul 03 - 04:52 PM I just got Tom's Modern Art and was really surprised to hear "Issac Lewis." Here is his explanation: "I'm not a sea-going man, but I heard the seed of this story in a bar in Northern Wales. Issac Lewis sails around the world and drowns aboard a clipper ship, then washes up on shore right outside his father's door. I doubted the old drunk who told me the story, then the next day he gave me a book called "The Golden Wreck." It was all true. It's in the book. This may be one of the only songs I've written with a "message." The moral is: "tell your loved ones what they mean to you before it's too late." Eliza Gilkyson sings harmony and Elana Fremerman plays string parts. This song goes well with a Guinness. And two shots of Tullamore Dew." American folksingers William Pint and Felicia Dale covered the song "Isaac Lewis" on their 2017 album Midnight on the Sea.