Governor Hunter (ship)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Governor Hunter was a ship that was wrecked on the East coast of Australia in 1816.

The Governor Hunter was a schooner of 35 tons that had been registered in Sydney on 18 January 1805.

On 11 February 1815 the ship, under the command of Captain Murrell, left Sydney for Kangaroo Island and there was no recording of the ship being seen again until July 1816 when it was spotted by the convict ship Atlas off Cape Howe. Atlas was struck by a gale and driven northwards and took an extra week to beat its way back to Sydney where it landed finally on 22 July 1816. It is likely the Governor Hunter was hit by the same gale. The ship was not heard of again until 1818 [1] and its remains were discovered by the Lady Nelson when on an expedition to find the wrecked William Cossar. The remains of the Governor Hunter were found fifty miles North of Port Stephens, possibly in Wallis Lake. The hull was nearly completely buried in sand but the ship's figurehead was given to its owner, Isaac Nichols. The crew had disappeared without trace and were thought to have been killed by Aborigines. [2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Naval Historical Society of Australia
  2. ^ Australian Shipwrecks - vol 1 1622-1850, Charles Bateson, AH and AW Reed, Sydney, 1972, ISBN 0 589 07112 2 p55


 This article about a specific civilian ship or boat is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.