Polly Woodside
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The Polly Woodside is an iron-hulled, three-masted barque currently forming the major attraction of the Melbourne Maritime Museum.
The Polly Woodside was originally built in Belfast by William J. Woodside and named for his wife. She was launched in 1884, and operated as a cargo vessel coal, nitrate, and wheat between England and South America. In 1904 she was sold and renamed Rona (a Māori name) and operated until 1921 between various ports in Australia and New Zealand. In 1921 she was repurposed as a coal hulk. She was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy during the Second World War, then returned to being a coal hulk until 1962.
The effort to restore the Polly Woodside began in 1962, and this campaign led to the National Trust of Australia purchasing her for one cent in 1968. In 1978 she was opened to the public, and is now permanently moored at the old Duke and Orr's Dry Dock on the Yarra River near Melbourne.
