Sydney Packet (1826–1837)

Last updated

History
Owner
Launched1826
FateWrecked 1837
General characteristics
Tonnage84 tons
Sail plan Schooner

Sydney Packet was a ship built in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in 1826 [1] for Alexander Brodie Spark (1792-1856) [2]

The ship was a two-masted schooner of 84 tons and the captain was James Bruce. After participating in the rescue of Elizabeth and Mary in 1831. In 1833 she was purchased by George Bunn to deliver cargo to Sydney from Bunn’s Preservation Station in New Zealand. George Bunn suddenly died in August 1834. In 1835, Johnny Jones, a waterman of Sydney Cove in partnership with Edwin Palmer, bought Sydney Packet for 800 pounds, appointed Captain Bruce, fitted her out for bay whaling, and she sailed for Preservation. Bay. She was wrecked at Moeraki, Otago, 17 July 1837, [3] a strong gale breaking her free from three anchors and driving her ashore. [4]

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As sealing at Bass Strait and the Antipodes Islands declines, Foveaux Strait becomes the focus for sealers from the middle of the year. The Bounty and Auckland Islands are also visited. Whaling is carried out on the east coast of New Zealand with the Bay of Islands being the usual port of call for provisioning. As many as nine ships whaling together for months at a time can occur. The behaviour of the whalers at the Bay of Islands is again commented on unfavourably, this time by a former missionary on one of the whaling ships. There are also a number of vessels collecting sandalwood from Tonga or Fiji; the majority call at the Bay of Islands en route.

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References

  1. "Portail d'informations".[ dead link ]
  2. Spark, Alexander Brodie (1792–1856). Australian Dictionary of Biography .
  3. "Jones, John (1809–69)". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . 1966.
  4. McNab, Robert (1913). "The Old Whaling Days: A History of Southern New Zealand from 1830 to 1840". Whitcombe and Tombs. p. 183. Retrieved 1 October 2009 via New Zealand Electronic Text Collection.