Lady Mary Pelham (1816 ship) facts for kids
HMPacket Lady Mary Pelham, at Valletta, 1818; Nicolas S. Cammillieri, National Maritime Museum Cornwall
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Quick facts for kids History |
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 United Kingdom |
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| Name | Lady Mary Pelham |
| Namesake | Mary Pelham, Countess of Chichester |
| Builder | John Pelham of Rotherhithe |
| Launched | 1816 |
| Fate | Wrecked 31 August 1849 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Falmouth Packet |
| Tons burthen | 193, or 202, or 206, or 207 (bm) |
| Length | 84 ft 2 in (25.7 m) |
| Beam | 24 ft 0 in (7.3 m) |
| Sail plan | Brig, later barque |
| Complement | 21 (packet) |
| Armament | 2 × 9-pounder guns (Packet) |
The Lady Mary Pelham was a sailing ship launched in 1816. She started her life as a Falmouth packet, which was a special ship that carried mail, passengers, and valuable goods across the oceans for the British Post Office.
Later, she was changed from a brig (a ship with two masts) to a barque (a ship with three or more masts). In 1836, she became part of the South Australia Company's fleet, helping to transport people to Australia. After that, she worked as a whaler, hunting whales, and also carried goods and people between Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and Portland, Victoria. Sadly, the Lady Mary Pelham was wrecked in 1849.
Contents
Early Journeys and Mail Service
The Lady Mary Pelham first appeared in official records in 1816. Her first captain was James Hay, who took charge on February 10, 1816.
Another captain, Henry Cary, took over on January 5, 1821. In 1822, under Captain Anselm Hatch, the ship carried Irish people who were moving to New York City in the United States.
In 1826, the Packet Service started a new route. This route went from Falmouth, England, to Vera Cruz and Tampico in Mexico, stopping in Jamaica. Then it returned to Falmouth via Havana, Cuba. The Lady Mary Pelham was the first ship to test this new route between October 1826 and January 1827. This route became very profitable because the ships carried valuable metal, like gold and silver, for the Mexican government. They also carried mercury, which was used to process gold ore.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
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| 1830 | H.Carey | Symmons & Co. | Packet | LR |
On December 5, 1832, the Lady Mary Pelham sailed from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, directly to Britain. She was carrying 800,000 dollars, which was a lot of money! This money was for merchants and had been transferred from other ships. The Lady Mary Pelham arrived in Britain around February 8, 1833.
Voyages to Australia
In 1836, the Lady Mary Pelham was owned by the South Australian Company. She was used for journeys between London and Australia. The ship had undergone a large repair in 1830 to get ready for these long trips.
George Fife Angas hired the Lady Mary Pelham for a special journey. She left Portsmouth, England, for Adelaide, Australia, on March 30, 1836. Her captain was Robert Ross. She was the third ship in a fleet of ships heading to South Australia.
The ship carried a few passengers, including Cornelius Birdseye and his wife, who paid for their journey. There were also five other people who received help with their travel costs. Some of these assisted passengers also worked as crew members on the ship. Sadly, the ship's first mate, James Doine Thompson, died during the voyage. The Lady Mary Pelham arrived at Nepean Bay on Kangaroo Island on July 30, 1836. Some records say she had 29 adult passengers on board.
After arriving in South Australia, the Lady Mary Pelham sailed to Hobart to get ready for a whaling trip. She arrived there on September 25. On October 15, 1836, Captain Ross took her from Hobart to the South Sea Fishery, an area where whales were hunted.
She sailed around the Solomon Islands and was seen at Carteret Harbour, New Ireland. There, she met another whaling ship from the United States called Mechanic. In April 1837, the ship arrived in Surabaya, Indonesia, but she was leaking. The crew was also very unhappy, possibly because of the captain's behavior. Since they had only caught a small amount of whale oil, they decided to change the trip into a trading voyage. So, the ship loaded 2,000 bags of sugar and sailed to Sydney, Australia, arriving on May 2, 1838.
S.G. Henty & Co., a company from Portland, Victoria, bought the Lady Mary Pelham. They refitted her in Hobart Town to be a whaler again. Her first captain for the Henty company was John Mills. After him, John Harper was captain in 1841, and then William Dutton took command in 1844. William Dutton was a famous whaler who caught 100 whales in his career. He is also considered one of the people who helped found Portland. He stopped being captain of the Lady Mary Pelham in 1847, and Rosevear took over. Henty sold the ship that same year. She then had repairs in Launceston and was put under the command of Captain Thomas Wing.
The Ship's Final Voyage
The Lady Mary Pelham was wrecked on August 31, 1849, near Port Fairy, Victoria, which was officially called Belfast at the time. She was anchored off the port, waiting for good wind conditions to sail. However, a very strong storm broke her anchor chains.
Captain Wing made a quick decision to deliberately run the ship aground on the beach. This brave action meant that no one died, and most of the ship's cargo was saved. Unfortunately, the ship's main structure was broken. By mid-October, the waves had completely broken the ship apart.
In Art and Public Monuments
- A group of monuments can be found overlooking Reeve's Point on Kangaroo Island. These monuments mark the place where passengers first stepped ashore from the first four ships that arrived there. These ships included the Duke of York, Lady Mary Pelham, Rapid, and Cygnet.
