Matilda (1790 ship) explained

Matilda was a ship built in France and launched in 1779. She became a whaling ship for the British company Camden, Calvert and King, making a whaling voyage while under the command of Matthew Weatherhead to New South Wales and the Pacific in 1790.

She enters Lloyd's Register in 1791 with Weatherhead as master, Calvert & Co., as owners, and trade London—Botany Bay.^[1] That year, either owned or leased by Samuel Enderby & Sons, she transported convicts from England to Australia as part of the third fleet.

She departed Portsmouth on 27 March 1791 and arrived on 1 August in Port Jackson, New South Wales. She had embarked 250 male convicts in England, 25 of whom died during the voyage. Nineteen officers and men of the New South Wales Corps provided the guards. On her arrival at Port Jackson the ship required repairs.

After he had delivered his convicts, Weatherhead took Matilda whaling in the New South Wales fishery or off Van Diemen's Land.^[2]

New South Wales records show Matilda as leaving for India in November.^[3] She apparently sailed via the Marquesas Islands. Other records have Matilda leaving Port Jackson on 28 December, bound for Peru.^[4]

Loss

Matilda was wrecked on 25 February 1792 on a shoal, later named Matilda Island.^[5] The crew were saved and returned to Tahiti on 5 March 1792.^[4]

The survivors, 21 crew members and one convict stowaway, were later rescued. Captain William Bligh, on, picked up some at Matavai Bay, while and rescued others.^[6] Six (James O'Connor, James Butcher, John Williams, William Yaty, Andrew Cornelius Lind and Samuel Pollend) refused to return, and chose to settle in Tahiti.

References

• Book: Bateson, Charles. 1959. The Convict Ships, 1787-1868. Brown, Son & Ferguson. 978-0-85174-195-6 .
• Book: Bligh. William. William Bligh. Lee. Ida. Captain Bligh's Second Voyage to the South Sea. Andesite Press. 2015. 978-1-296-80333-9.
• Book: Clayton, Jane M.. 2014. Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775-1815: An alphabetical list of ships. Berforts Group. 978-1-908616-52-4 .
• Book: David, Andrew. 2016. [{{Google books|5auXCwAAQBAJ|page=209|plainurl=yes}} William Robert Broughton's Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific 1795-1798]. Routledge. 978-1-134-76750-2.
• fr. Houzel. Ghislain. 2006. Le naufrage de la Matilda à Moruroa en 1792. Tahiti-Pacifique. 179. 15–18 .
• Book: Langdon, Robert. 1968. Tahiti. Island of Love. Pacific Publications. Sydney. 978-0-85807-043-1 .
• Book: Quanchi, Max. 2005. Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands. The Scarecrow Press. 978-0-8108-5395-9.
• Book: Schuft, Laura. fr. 2010. Couples 'métropolitain' – 'polynésien' à Tahiti. Enjeux de l'ethnicité, du genre et du statut socioéconomique dans un contexte postcolonial. Université Nice-Sophia-Antipolis. 108.
• Book: Vancouver. George. George Vancouver. Vancouver. John. A voyage of discovery to the North Pacific ocean, and round the world. G.G. & J. Robinson, and J. Edwards. 1798. London.

External links

• Web site: Convict Ships to NSW 1788-1800.
• Web site: Convict Ship Matilda 1791. Free Settler or Felon?.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Lloyd's Register (1791), Seq. № M538. HathiTrust.
2. Web site: Matilda Crew List. Whaling History.
3. Arrival of Vessels at Port Jackson, and their Departure. Australian Town and Country Journal. 3 January 1891. 17. 23 August 2012.
4. Web site: British Southern Whale Fishery database – Voyages: Matilda. .
5. Central Polynesia. The Sydney Morning Herald. 30 June 1857. 3. 20 July 2011.
6. The World of Books. The Mercury. 18 March 1921. 6. 20 July 2011.