This mezzotint was a high-quality subscription print of the original oil painting of similar size by Stothard, painted early in 1786 for the engraver and publisher Edmund Scott, showing the roundhouse (see ZBA4537 for the original painting) - the passenger saloon under the poop - of the outward-bound East Indiaman 'Halsewell' in the early hours of 6 January 1786, after a storm drove her ashore at 2 a.m. across a hollow or cave in the cliffs at Seacombe, between St Albans Head and Anvil Point, Dorset. Unfortunately the print itself is undated and as a subscription issue may not have been further advertised: they often took some time to make, however, and it is not yet clear exactly when it appeared. Stothard’s source was 'A Circumstantial Narrative of the Loss of the Halsewell', published by the two senior ship’s officers who escaped, the second and third mates Henry Meriton and John Rogers. This first appeared on 21 January 1786, only fifteen days after the wreck, but Stothard also had direct advice from Meriton whom Scott recruited to supply it. These two officers were the last survivors to leave and reach safety on a ledge in the hollow cliffs, where well over 100 of the crew and troops on board managed to take refuge, though many were washed off before day brought rescue to the remaining seventy: the total loss was about 170. The 'Halsewell' was also carrying seven female passengers, including the two daughters and two nieces of the captain, Richard Pierce, whose nephew and first mate, Thomas Burston, was also lost in the incident. None of the women were able to escape and were among about 100 who died in the ship, which disintegrated within two hours of striking. Pierce heroically remained with them and is shown on the right, seated between and comforting his daughters. Meriton and Rogers stand on the left, on the point of departure, as calm observers of the group of largely female figures on the floor.

The name of the artist and engraver inscribed below as follows: ‘Painted from the communication of two of the surviving Officers by T Stotthard [sic]’; and ‘Engraved by E Scott Engraver to his Royal Highness the Duke of York’. The Scene shows some passengers in the Halsewell at the time of her wreck in 1786.