In association with this Treasure Hunt we are making reciprocal links with selected maritime history websites which we invite our readers to explore:

Blenden Hall's first and most famous wreck
Blenden Hall is named after Tristan da Cunha's most famous wreck of the 450 ton East Indiaman Blenden Hall on 23rd July 1821. In calm but misty conditions, the ship became stuck in the thick kelp which surrounds the islands and swept ashore by the strong current. Two sailors drowned as the passengers and crew used lifeboats and a makeshift raft to rescue the rest of the passengers and crew who scrambled ashore, many with injuries sustained in the process, They survived mainly on sea birds and their eggs for over three months. A first attempted sailing to Tristan da Cunha in a makeshift craft failed as six further crew members were lost at sea, but in a second attempt on 9th November a group managed to reach Tristan da Cunha and in the next few days islanders managed to rescue the remainder of the survivors who were shipped to the tiny Tristan Settlement (of about 16 people, including William Glass, his wife Maria (the only woman) and five Glass children). The arrival of about 50 newcomers stretched food supplies and caused hardship in the small community until all but two of the survivors secured a passage to The Cape in January 1822.
There are records of some goods salvaged from the Blenden Hall wreck, including mahogany, but also of other visiting ships coming ashore and helping themselves to the wreckage (eg the schooner Dart is alleged to have taken away blocks and ropes stored in huts built ashore.). So can sleuths eliminate the Blenden Hall itself as the source of this brass figure, or did it escape the beachcombers and lie undetected for 186 years on the wild Blenden Hall beach?