The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is to hold an exhibition based on a ship's cargo

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is to hold an exhibition based on a ship’s cargo. Valuable art, antiquities, books and luxury goods were among the cargo of the armed merchant ship Westmorland when she was captured in January 1779. The Westmorland was sailing from Livorno to London when she was seized by two French warships. The contents of the ship’s hold (which included 32 wheels of Parmesan cheese) were being sent home by Britons enjoying the then fashionable Grand Tour of Europe, and her precious cargo acquired by King Carlos III of Spain.

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