Hawkesbury Packet

Last updated

History
Name:Hawkesbury Packet
Owner: Solomon Wiseman
Launched: 1811
Fate: Wrecked, August 1817
General characteristics
Type: Sloop
Tons burthen: 21 tons bm

Hawkesbury Packet was a sloop constructed for Solomon Wiseman that helped him 'rise' from being just a convict to a wealthy colonial landholder in Australia.

Sloop sail boat with a single mast and a fore-and-aft rig

A sloop is a sailing boat with a single mast typically meaning one headsail in front of the mast, and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. This is called a fore-and-aft rig, and is known as a Bermuda rig. Sailboats can be classified according to type of rig, and so a sailboat may be a sloop, catboat, cutter, ketch, yawl, or schooner. A sloop usually has only one headsail, although an exception is the Friendship sloop, which is usually gaff-rigged with a bowsprit and multiple headsails. If the vessel has two or more headsails, the term cutter may be used, especially if the mast is stepped further towards the back of the boat.

Solomon Wiseman Australian settler

Solomon Wiseman was a convict, merchant and ferryman. The town called Wiseman's Ferry, New South Wales, Australia is named after him.

A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convicts, especially those recently released from prison, is "ex-con" ("ex-convict"). Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences tend not to be described as "convicts".

Constructed in 1811, Hawkesbury Packet was a 21-ton coastal trader. Prior to its final wrecking in 1817 it was blown ashore in 1816. On 24 May 1816 it sailed from Sydney to Newcastle but was hit by a gale and was forced into Port Stephens on 20 June 1816. Unable to exit the port because of contrary winds and with supplies nearly exhausted, two crew, George Yates and Nicholas Thompson chose to walk to Newcastle. They took an Aboriginal guide with them who took them to a tribe who stole all their clothes. Thompson died shortly after from exposure, hunger and exhaustion and Yates managed to make Newcastle by crawling the last three miles. The Commandant in Newcastle ordered provisions to be sent to Port Stephens and when they arrived they found that the ship had been driven ashore. It was eventually refloated and returned to Sydney around 15 August 1816. [1]

Sydney State capital of New South Wales and most populous city in Australia and Oceania

Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Port Jackson and extends about 70 km (43.5 mi) on its periphery towards the Blue Mountains to the west, Hawkesbury to the north, the Royal National Park to the south and Macarthur to the south-west. Sydney is made up of 658 suburbs, 40 local government areas and 15 contiguous regions. Residents of the city are known as "Sydneysiders". As of June 2017, Sydney's estimated metropolitan population was 5,230,330 and is home to approximately 65% of the state's population.

Newcastle, New South Wales City in New South Wales, Australia

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas. It is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area which includes most parts of the local government areas of City of Newcastle, City of Lake Macquarie, City of Cessnock, City of Maitland and Port Stephens Council.

Port Stephens (New South Wales) estuarine lake in New South Wales, Australia

Port Stephens, an open youthful tide dominated drowned valley estuary, is a large natural harbour of approximately 134 square kilometres (52 sq mi) located in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia.

On 14 August 1817 the ship sailed for the Shoalhaven, under the command of T. Walker, to pick up a load of cedar. However, on an unknown date in August the ship ran aground at Minnamurra near Kiama and was totally wrecked. [2]

Cedar wood comes from several different trees known as cedars that grow in different parts of the world, and may have different uses.

Related Research Articles

Sydney was an East Indiaman of 900 tons that carried a crew of 130 men. The ship had been constructed in Java and was registered in Calcutta. Sydney, Austin Forrest, master, sailed from Port Jackson, Australia on 12 April 1806 for Calcutta, India. On 20 May 1806, she wrecked off the coast of New Guinea, with no crew lost. Captain Forest arrived in Calcutta on 9 October 1806 on board Varuna from Penang, having sailed from there on 4 October. A letter from Captain Forrest put the locus of the wreck at 3°20′S146°50′E.

Bee was a sloop of 11 tons that was employed by the colonial government of New South Wales between 1801 and 1804. It sank in 1806 off the coast of Newcastle, Australia.

Contest was an Australian sloop wrecked in 1807. She was a sloop of some 44 tons (bm), built in Port Jackson by James Underwood, owned by Kable & Co, and registered on 20 July 1804. On 28 February 1807 she was sailing for Newcastle but the wind would not allow her to make the harbour and so she continued north. A little short of Port Stephens a heavy storm drove Contest ashore, where she was smashed to pieces. All the crew were saved but no cargo was salvageable.

Recovery was a sloop that was wrecked near Port Stephens, New South Wales, Australia in 1816.

Windsor was a ship wrecked on Long Reef near Sydney, Australia in 1816.

Edwin was a ship that was wrecked near Cape Hawke, New South Wales, Australia in late June 1816.

Governor Hunter was a 35 tons schooner built by Isaac Nichols in Sydney and launched 17 January 1805. She was registered in Sydney on 18 January 1805. During a gale in July 1816, she was wrecked on the East coast of Australia.

His Majesty's colonial brig Elizabeth Henrietta was completed in 1816 for New South Wales service, but capsized on the Hunter River, Australia later that year with the loss of two lives. The ship was wrecked in 1825.

Trial was a ship that was seized by convicts and eventually wrecked on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia in 1816.

Hope was a small ship launched in 1802. She wrecked at Port Stephens, New South Wales, Australia in 1817.

William Cossar was a small 20 ton wooden New South Wales Colonial Government schooner that was wrecked in 1825.

The Young Lachlan was a schooner that was stolen and wrecked by convicts in 1819. Between 1812 and 1817 as the Henrietta Packet it provided passenger and cargo transport between colonial ports, and was possibly involved in exploration in the present-day Tasmania.

HMS Porpoise was a 12-gun sloop originally built in Bilbao, Spain, as the packet ship Infanta Amelia. On 6 August 1799 HMS Argo captured her off the coast of Portugal. Porpoise wrecked in 1803 on the North coast of what was then part of the Colony of New South Wales, now called Wreck Reefs, off the coast of Queensland, Australia.

Francis was a 41 tons (bm) colonial schooner that was partially constructed at the Deptford Dockyard, England, and sent in frame aboard the Pitt to Australia to be put together for the purposes of exploration. The vessel had originally been designed for George Vancouver’s discovery voyage of the west coast of North America.

Admiral Gambier was launched on 24 September 1807 for J. W. Buckle & Company. She made two trips to Australia as a convict transport and one trip from China to Britain for the British East India Company (EIC) before she was wrecked in 1817.

Albion was a sailing ship of two decks and three masts, built at Bristol, England, and launched in 1813. She made three voyages transporting convicts to New South Wales. She also traded with Jamaica, India, and Quebec. For two of the voyages to India she was an "extra" ship to the British East India Company (EIC).

<i>Waterloo</i> (1815 ship) merchant ship built at Bristol, England in 1815

Waterloo was a merchant ship built at Bristol, England in 1815. On her first voyage she suffered a short-lived mutiny. She then made one voyage under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). She made four voyages transporting convicts from England to Australia, and two voyages from Ireland to Australia. On her seventh convict voyage Waterloo wrecked on 28 August 1842 in Table Bay with great loss of life.

Elizabeth was a merchant ship built at Chepstow, Wales in 1809. She made three voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. Elizabeth is no longer listed after 1832 and may have been lost in 1831.

Fame was built at Quebec in 1812 and was lost in 1817 after transporting convicts to New South Wales.

References

Notes
  1. Bateson (1972), p.54
  2. Bateson (1972), p.57
Bibliography
Charles Bateson Australian historian

Charles Bateson was a maritime historian, journalist and author.

International Standard Book Number Unique numeric book identifier

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.

Coordinates: 34°37′28″S150°51′45″E / 34.6244°S 150.8624°E / -34.6244; 150.8624

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.