Richard William Howard Vyse
Expedition leader and published narrator
What the sources connect to this person
Published the excavation description and explanation of removal. His text also transmits later shipping and loss information.
Limits of that knowledge
He explicitly states that he was absent when the wooden coffin and bones were discovered. The loss report is not his eyewitness account.
John Shae Perring
Survey and visual documentation
What the sources connect to this person
Present when the passages became accessible; associated with the technical documentation and sarcophagus plate.
Limits of that knowledge
The restored lid is a reconstruction. Statements transmitted in Vyse’s prose should retain that chain of attribution.
Mr Hill
Work at Giza and transport arrangements
What the sources connect to this person
Appears in Vyse’s excavation account. Campbell’s letter, quoted by Nielsen, records the arrangement for transport from Giza to Alexandria.
Limits of that knowledge
The £150 transport arrangement concerns that leg. The original contract has not been separately examined. The full name is not expanded here.
H. Raven
Extraction and a direct find letter
What the sources connect to this person
Vyse credits Raven in the physical extraction account. Raven’s own letter describes the wooden coffin fragments and bones in the upper-room context.
Limits of that knowledge
His account of what he observed should be distinguished from his interpretation of how the material came to be there.
Patrick Campbell
Consular administration and shipment correspondence
What the sources connect to this person
Reported export permission and shipment, and corresponded about transport. The relevant letters are cited or quoted in Nielsen.
Limits of that knowledge
The firman itself is not available in the inspected corpus. Administrative knowledge of shipment does not make Campbell a witness to the sinking.
Edward Hawkins
British Museum acquisition correspondence
What the sources connect to this person
As Keeper of Antiquities, received the offer and supported accepting the sarcophagus, according to the correspondence described by Nielsen.
Limits of that knowledge
The full original letters have not been separately inspected. This is evidence about institutional decision-making, not a firsthand discovery or loss account.
Richard Mayle Whichelo
Owner and usual master of Beatrice
What the sources connect to this person
Nielsen reconstructs his ownership and earlier voyages, and concludes that he remained in Alexandria when Beatrice left on its final voyage.
Limits of that knowledge
No personal statement by him about the loss has been examined. Illness or business as explanations for remaining behind are hypotheses.
John R. Whichelo
Son, earlier first mate and reported final commander
What the sources connect to this person
Nielsen associates him with command on the final voyage. The 1836 record documents an earlier crew and role.
Limits of that knowledge
No firsthand final-voyage account is available here. The printed initials F. R. in the Malta newspaper remain visible in the source; the 1836 crew is not a verified 1838 crew list.
Later researchers and participants
Nicky Nielsen’s 2024 article is a modern archival study. Iván Negueruela’s 2003 account is participant testimony concerning the 1997 search. Their different relationships to the events should remain explicit.
N24NEG03