Lady Elliot

The Lady Elliot was a ship that was wrecked north of Cardwell, Queensland, Australia in 1816.

It was a ship of 353 tons and had been constructed in Bengal, India. The ship was registered in Calcutta and was under the command of Thomas Stewart. The ship arrived in Sydney from Calcutta on 23 June 1816 with a cargo of mixed merchandise. The ship left sometime between 12 and 22 September for Batavia. The ship was carrying a cargo of hats, indigo, sealskins, turpentine, tar and white lead. The ship never reached Batavia and the wreck was not found until some years after. The crew of 54 who were mostly Lascars probably drowned or perished on reaching shore.^[1]

NB: Research details compiled for the Queensland Museum Wreck Register (see also Australian National Historic Shipwrecks Database) indicates the vessel was refloated, as a Dutch newspaper reference (Javaasche Courant) announced the vessel's arrival in Java in November 1816, i.e. after the supposed date of loss. The captain's name for this voyage was Joshua Abbott.

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