The Logbooks of the Lady Nelson: With the journal of her first commander Lieutenant James GrantLee, Ida
History
The Logbooks of the Lady Nelson: With the journal of her first commander Lieutenant James Grant
Lee, Ida
Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Grant, James, 1771 or 2-1833; Lady Nelson (Ship)
The Lady Nelson reached Sydney on the 14th of March after a passage of
eight days, and no sooner had she anchored in the harbour than Governor
King instructed her commander to refit and prepare to embark yet another
colony of settlers. These he proposed to send to Newcastle.* (* Or
Kingstown, as it was then called, in honour of Governor King; shortly
afterwards he renamed it Newcastle.) Hitherto only some colliers and a
guard had been stationed there, in order to ensure a supply of coals for
Sydney and for the Government ships, but now the Governor directed that
the spot should be raised to the dignity of a settlement. The colonial
cutter Resource, and the James sloop, belonging to Mr. Raby, were ordered
to sail with the Lady Nelson. The three vessels got under weigh to sail
to Newcastle on Tuesday, March 27th, having on board all the persons
appointed by the Governor, to proceed there. Embarked in the Lady Nelson
were:--
Lieutenant Menzies, Commandant.
Mr. Mileham, Surgeon.
Mr. F. Bauer, natural history painter.
Mr. John Tucker, storekeeper.
One overseer, two carpenters, three sawyers, a gardener, a salt bailer
and sixteen prisoners.
In the Resource were one sergeant and four privates of the New South
Wales Corps:--
Mr. Knight, superintendent.
Twelve convicts.
In the James:--
Mr. George Caley and three miners with implements, and stores and
provisions for six months.
In consequence of a north-east wind, the ships were not able to leave
Sydney harbour on that evening, but were obliged to anchor in Lookout Bay
until the following morning, when they again weighed and in a short time
cleared the Heads. They arrived at Newcastle safely on the day after
their departure, and disembarked the little colony. All three vessels
were then loaded with coals and cedar for Sydney, the Lady Nelson
receiving on board "twenty-six fine logs of rich cedar." The homeward
voyage was unfortunate, as the James was lost off Broken Bay. Leaving
Newcastle in a very leaky condition, and encountering a gale, the water
gradually gained fast upon her and stopped her progress. Two days
afterwards the pumps became choked, and the five men who composed her
crew had to bale with buckets. Eventually they stood on to a sandy beach
where their vessel, being nearly full of water, was dashed to pieces by
the tremendous surf. The crew were picked up on the north head of Broken
Bay by the Resource and brought to Sydney.* (* For this portion of the
Lady Nelson's story no log has been available. The material has been
derived principally from the columns of Sydney newspapers.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account