I don't know about Bird's accident pyramid, but I am going to have to Google it (because it sounds like an ideal displacement activity from what I should actually be focussing on,) but does it apply to the early 19th century? Without antibiotics and so on, the death rate from bad accidents would be even higher than now, so I'd expect more than 1 death per serious accident. I probably have some figures somewhere (for 19th century industrial deaths, rather than Bird, although mostly around collieries, which are generally at the worst end of dangerous industries.)
Surely Stringer must survive and somehow come into enough money to be able to study architecture (probably following the death of old Stringer, who will no longer be there to tell him his place in life cannot change.)
Also, I reckon the death could be the stupid mate of Babington who is lazy and feckless and careless and upended their boat in the rowing race by trying to cheat. He certainly deserves to be.