&sq=&lang=&file=File:His_Majesty%27s_vessel_the_Lady_Nelson_-_1799.JPG) Print from an engraving by Samuel John Neele appearing in James Grant's The Narrative of a voyage of discovery, performed in His Majesty's vessel the Lady Nelson, of 60 tons burthen, with sliding keels, in the years 1800, 1801, and 1802, to New South Wales, published July 1803, by T. Egerton, Whitehall, London.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 New South Wales[a] | |
| Name | Lady Nelson |
| Operator | The Royal Navy |
| Builder | John Dudman |
| Launched | 1798 |
| Commissioned | 1799 |
| Fate | Lost 1825 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type | Armed Survey Vessel |
| Tons burthen | 60 (bm) |
| Length | 52 ft 6 in (16.00 m) |
| Beam | 17 ft 6 in (5.33 m) |
| Draught | 12 ft (3.7 m) (with keels lowered)[2] |
| Propulsion | Sail |
| Sail plan | Brig |
| Complement | 17 |
| Armament | Six brass carriage guns (3 and 4 pounder)[3] |
His Majesty's Armed Survey Vessel Lady Nelson was commissioned in 1799 to survey the coast of Australia. At the time large parts of the Australian coast were unmapped and Britain had claimed only part of the continent. The British Government were concerned that, in the event of settlers of another European power becoming established in Australia, any future conflict in Europe would lead to a widening of the conflict into the southern hemisphere to the detriment of the trade that Britain sought to develop. It was against this background that Lady Nelson was chosen to survey and establish sovereignty over strategic parts of the continent.
Lady Nelson left Portsmouth on 18 March 1800 and arrived at Sydney on 16 December 1800 after having been the first vessel to reach the east coast of Australia via Bass Strait. Prior to that date all vessels had sailed around the southern tip of Tasmania to reach their destination.
Lady Nelson's survey work commenced shortly after her arrival at Sydney, initially in the Bass Strait area. She was involved in the discovery of Port Phillip, on the coast of Victoria, in establishing settlements on the River Derwent and at Port Dalrymple in Tasmania, at Newcastle and Port Macquarie in New South Wales, and on Melville Island off the north coast of the continent.
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- ^ Winfield (2008), p. 337.
- ^ Grant to Banks, 31 January 1800; ML Banks Papers, Series 23.22, and HRNSW, Vol. IV, pp. 21–23.
- ^ Grant (1803), p. 3<.