I have recently gotten some information about an ancestor who supposedly was a ship captain and died in a shipwreck on the way back to England from America. He had left his son in America and gone to get the rest of the family. Fast forward to 1850. I have documentation (not great, mind you) that a descendant of this man who died received word from the British government that there was unclaimed family land that would revert back to the crown if not claimed by a certain time. No one went to claim it, so I guess it went back to the government.

2 questions:

1)How would I find information about those land records?
2)How would I find information about the shipwreck?

Are there any online databases for either of these? Good books? People/agencies to contact?

Thanks so much!