George III (ship)
Encyclopedia
The George III was a British
penal transportation
convict ship
that was shipwreck
ed with heavy loss of life during its last voyage when she was transporting convicts from England
to the Australian Colonies. She was a full rigged ship
of 394 ton
s on measurements of 114 feet length, 28 feet 3 inches beam, built at Deptford
in 1810. The ship was acquired by J. Heathorn and J. Poore in the mid 1830s. She was registered at the Port of London
.
on 14 December 1834 for Hobart Town
, Van Diemen's Land
under the command of Captain William Hall-Moxey with a total of 308 persons on board. There were 220 male convicts, plus guards, their families and crew. On 27 January 1835, a fire broke out on board while the ship was nearing the equator
. It was only extinguished with great difficulty and all on board were put on reduced rations as the fire had destroyed part of the ship's stores. An unbalanced diet caused an outbreak of scurvy
and fourteen convicts died before the ship reached the coast of Van Diemen's Land on the morning of 12 March 1835.
In order to avoid being blown offshore and thus delaying arriving in Hobart Town, the master decided to enter the torturous D'Entrecasteaux Channel
between Bruny Island and the Tasmanian mainland. At about 9.15 pm that evening George III hit a rock and over a period of several hours broke up in the heavy swell. The convicts were kept below to allow the women and children to be safely evacuated by the ship's boats. The guards fired their guns in order to quell rising panic
; this gunfire is believed to have killed between one and three of the convicts. Many others drowned below decks, including many of the sick in their beds. In all, 133 lives were lost in the disaster, of whom 128 were convicts.
s of the Tasmanian coast so that mariners were warned of its many hazards to shipping, and the tightening up of regulations concerning provisions for the transport of convicts.
"Forty Juveniles were among the 220 convicts, but the Captain's wife was not on board the ship." More than likely this part of the legend relates to a painting by H. E. Dawes, which was also produced as a lithograph, depicting a soldier's wife, Mrs Martin, heroically described:
The lithograph is also inaccurate in that all the survivors had been rescued by the next morning, rather than "48 hours". The George III had been anchored after it hit a submerged rock, the ship was lying on its side in shallow water with the survivors perched on the high side. The ship's longboat
made two trips to shore and the schooner Louisa arrived from Hobart Town, alerted by the ship's cutter which had been sent by Captain Moxey to get help. The lithograph, too, is a verbal history artefact with typical Victorian Era melodrama.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
penal transportation
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
convict ship
Convict ship
The term convict ship is a colloquial term used to describe any ship engaged on a voyage to carry convicted felons under sentence of penal transportation from their place of conviction to their place of exile.-Colonial practice:...
that was shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
ed with heavy loss of life during its last voyage when she was transporting convicts from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to the Australian Colonies. She was a full rigged ship
Full rigged ship
A full rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel with three or more masts, all of them square rigged. A full rigged ship is said to have a ship rig....
of 394 ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
s on measurements of 114 feet length, 28 feet 3 inches beam, built at Deptford
Deptford
Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...
in 1810. The ship was acquired by J. Heathorn and J. Poore in the mid 1830s. She was registered at the Port of London
Port of London
The Port of London lies along the banks of the River Thames from London, England to the North Sea. Once the largest port in the world, it is currently the United Kingdom's second largest port, after Grimsby & Immingham...
.
Last voyage
The George III sailed from WoolwichWoolwich
Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
on 14 December 1834 for Hobart Town
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania...
under the command of Captain William Hall-Moxey with a total of 308 persons on board. There were 220 male convicts, plus guards, their families and crew. On 27 January 1835, a fire broke out on board while the ship was nearing the equator
Equator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
. It was only extinguished with great difficulty and all on board were put on reduced rations as the fire had destroyed part of the ship's stores. An unbalanced diet caused an outbreak of scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
and fourteen convicts died before the ship reached the coast of Van Diemen's Land on the morning of 12 March 1835.
In order to avoid being blown offshore and thus delaying arriving in Hobart Town, the master decided to enter the torturous D'Entrecasteaux Channel
D'Entrecasteaux Channel
The D'Entrecasteaux Channel is a region of water between Bruny Island and the south-east of the mainland of Tasmania. It extends between the estuaries of the Derwent, and the Huon Rivers...
between Bruny Island and the Tasmanian mainland. At about 9.15 pm that evening George III hit a rock and over a period of several hours broke up in the heavy swell. The convicts were kept below to allow the women and children to be safely evacuated by the ship's boats. The guards fired their guns in order to quell rising panic
Panic
Panic is a sudden sensation of fear which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and frantic agitation consistent with an animalistic fight-or-flight reaction...
; this gunfire is believed to have killed between one and three of the convicts. Many others drowned below decks, including many of the sick in their beds. In all, 133 lives were lost in the disaster, of whom 128 were convicts.
Inquiry
An inquiry refused to ascribe blame for the disaster. The disaster did, however, result in renewed efforts to accurately prepare nautical chartNautical chart
A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a maritime area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land , natural features of the seabed, details of the coastline, navigational hazards, locations of natural and man-made aids...
s of the Tasmanian coast so that mariners were warned of its many hazards to shipping, and the tightening up of regulations concerning provisions for the transport of convicts.
Legend
Local beliefs are that convicts were released into the sea and shot by the ship's officers, "A ten year old cabin boy was saved by the captain's wife who hid him under her dress. He was the only convict who survived the wreck." It seems this story is a verbal history artefact conflating various elements such as a lithograph of the wreck. Many former convicts settled in this part of Tasmania and the local legend would have been coloured by their attitudes."Forty Juveniles were among the 220 convicts, but the Captain's wife was not on board the ship." More than likely this part of the legend relates to a painting by H. E. Dawes, which was also produced as a lithograph, depicting a soldier's wife, Mrs Martin, heroically described:
The lithograph is also inaccurate in that all the survivors had been rescued by the next morning, rather than "48 hours". The George III had been anchored after it hit a submerged rock, the ship was lying on its side in shallow water with the survivors perched on the high side. The ship's longboat
Longboat
In the days of sailing ships, a vessel would carry several ship's boats for various uses. One would be a longboat, an open boat to be rowed by eight or ten oarsmen, two per thwart...
made two trips to shore and the schooner Louisa arrived from Hobart Town, alerted by the ship's cutter which had been sent by Captain Moxey to get help. The lithograph, too, is a verbal history artefact with typical Victorian Era melodrama.