The Logbooks of the Lady Nelson | Page 4

vessel to sail through Bass Strait. But discovery cannot claim her solely
for itself. While she was stationed at Sydney there was scarcely a
dependency of the mother colony that was not more or less indebted to
her, either for proclaiming it a British possession, or for bringing it
settlers and food, or for providing it with means of defence against the
attacks of natives.
In the early history of Victoria the Lady Nelson occupies a niche
somewhat similar to that which the Endeavour fills in the annals of
New South Wales, but while Cook and the Endeavour discovered the
east coast and then left it, the Lady Nelson, after charting the bare
coast-line of Victoria, returned again and again to explore its inlets and
to penetrate its rivers, her boats discovering the spacious harbour at the
head of which Melbourne now stands.
The Lady Nelson also went northward as well as southward, and
though many of her logbooks are missing, some survive, and one
describes how, in company with the Investigator under Captain
Flinders, she examined the Queensland shore as far as the Cumberland
Islands. Later she accompanied the Mermaid, under Captain King, to
Port Macquarie when he followed Flinders' track through Torres Strait,
and during her long period of service she visited different parts of the
coast, including Moreton Bay, Port Essington, and Melville Island.
Precisely how many voyages she made as a pioneer will probably never
be known. The ship, at least, played many parts: now acting as King's
messenger and carrying despatches from the Governor to Norfolk
Island; now fetching grain grown at the Hawkesbury, or coals from
Newcastle for the use of the increasing population at Sydney; and at
another time carrying troops and settlers to the far distant north. She

made other memorable voyages; for example, when she conveyed
bricks burnt in Sydney brick kilns to Tasmania and to New Zealand, in
order to build homes for the first white settlers in those lands. She
helped also to establish Lieutenant Bowen's colony at Risdon. On that
occasion we read that the little ship lent the colony a bell and half a
barrel of gunpowder. The logbooks do not record to what use the bell
was put, but whether it served as a timekeeper or to call the people to
worship, it was doubtless highly valued by the early Tasmanian
colonists.
At the time of her sailing to Australia the Lady Nelson was a new ship
of 60 tons. She was built at Deptford in 1799, and differed from other
exploring vessels in having a centre-board keel. This was the invention
of Captain John Schanck, R.N., who believed that ships so constructed
"would sail faster, steer easier, tack and wear quicker and in less room."
He had submitted his design to the Admiralty in 1783, and so well was
it thought of that two similar boats had been built for the Navy, one
with a centre-board and one without, in order that a trial might be made.
The result was so successful that, besides the Cynthia sloop and Trial
revenue cutter, other vessels were constructed on the new plan, among
them the Lady Nelson. She was chosen for exploration because her
three sliding centre-boards enabled her draught to be lessened in
shallow waters, for when her sliding keels were up she drew no more
than six feet.
In 1799 the news reached London that the French were fitting out an
expedition to survey unknown portions of Australia; the Admiralty
were quickly stirred to renewed activity, and decided to send the Lady
Nelson to Sydney. At first it was believed that Captain Flinders would
be placed in charge of her, but he was eventually given a more
important command, and Lieutenant James Grant was appointed to the
Lady Nelson. She was hauled out of Deadman's Dock into the river on
January 13th, 1800, with her full complement of men and stores on
board. She carried provisions for 15 men for a period of nine months,
and enough water for three months. Her armament consisted of only
two brass carriage-guns.

On January 16th she sailed to Gravesend. So small did she look as she
made her way down the Thames that the sailors on board the ships in
the river ridiculed her appearance and ironically christened her "His
Majesty's Tinderbox." Grant says that many expressed a doubt that she
would ever make her port of destination.
A heavy gale was blowing when she reached the Downs, but from the
first she proved herself a good sea-boat, and it was found that lowering
the keels greatly steadied her. Grant now had a good opportunity for
testing her capabilities. A large convoy ready to sail for the West Indies
lay at anchor here, and on the evening of the 23rd, as