''Golden Grove'' was built at

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

in 1780 as ''Russian Merchant'', and was renamed ''Golden Grove'' in 1782. She served as a storeship for the

First Fleet The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the History of Australia (1788–1850), European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessel ...

to Australia. Thereafter she sailed to the Mediterranean and the Baltic. In 1805 a privateer captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. She is last listed in 1811–1813.

Early career

''Russian Merchant'' first appeared in ''

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (LR), is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research ...

'' in 1781 with T. Parker, master, Leighton, owner, and trade

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

—London.''Lloyd's Register'' (1781), Seq.№R169.
/ref>

First Fleet

''Golden Grove''s master was William Sharp. The Fleet's

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

Richard Johnson and his wife and servant travelled to

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

on this ship. She left

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

on 13 May 1787, and arrived at

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal language, Dharawal: ''Kamay'') is an open oceanic embayment, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point a ...

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

, on 26 January 1788 but left for Port Jackson soon after. On 2 October 1788 she took 21 male and 11 female convicts to

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

, returning to Port Jackson on 25 October. She left Port Jackson on 19 November 1788, keeping company with until losing sight of her on 11 April 1789 after several days at the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

for the recovery of crew members who were sick with

scurvy Scurvy is a deficiency disease (state of malnutrition) resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum d ...

. She arrived back in England on 9 June 1789.

Later career and fate

''Lloyd's Register'' for 1791 shows ''Golden Grove'', with Sharp, master, and trade London—Botany Bay, changing to London—Stettin.''Lloyd's Register'' (1791), Seq. №G90.
/ref> ''Lloyd's Register'' for 1805 listed ''Golden Grove'', of 333 tons (bm), built in 1780 at Whitby, F. Blair, master, J. Sutton, owner, with trade London—Elsinor.G191 ''Lloyd's Register'' (1805), Seq. №G191.
/ref> This entry continues unchanged until 1811. The ''Register of Shipping'' carries an identical entry until 1811.

Capture and recapture

On 9 May 1805, a Spanish privateer schooner captured ''Golden Grove'', Blair, master, as she was sailing from Virginia to Liverpool. The privateer also captured the brig ''Ceres'', Meffervey, master, which had been sailing from Virginia to Guernsey. The Spaniards took both into Florida where they were condemned as prizes. On 7 July the boats of ascended the St Mary's River. There they recaptured ''Golden Grove'' and the British brig ''Ceres'', and captured the Spanish privateer schooner that had captured the two British vessels. A British sailor and marine were killed, and 14 were wounded. The Spaniards suffered 25 men killed (including five Americans), and 22 wounded. Most of the casualties occurred on ''Golden Grove'', on which the Spaniards had put 50 men; she was armed with eight 6-pounder guns and six swivel guns. ''Cambrian'' arrived at Bermuda on 4 August, in company with ''Golden Grove'', ''Ceres'', and the privateer ''Matilda''. The Royal Navy took ''Mathilda'' into service as . U.S. sources reported that the Spanish privateer had fitted out at St Augustine. Her captain was an American, as were a number of her officers and men; her owner was also an American. She had captured a Bermudian sloop and ''Golden Grove'' in the Chesapeake, and ''Ceres'' just outside. The privateer had then taken her prizes to St Augustine, where they were condemned. The privateer's commander, Captain Hooper, died when the British cut her out. Captain Francis Blair wrote a letter of protest to the U.S. Government. The letter named the Spanish schooner privateer as ''Atrevido'', and argued that the capture was illegal as ''Altrevido'' had not waited 24 hours after ''Golden Grove''s departure before herself setting out in pursuit. Furthermore, Hooper had concealed his armament and crew with the result that none of the British ships captured had known that he was a privateer. The U.S. government made further inquiries as to whether the privateer in question was "abusing American waters." ''Cambrian''s capture of the privateer and her prey may have rendered the matter moot.

Postscript

A former inner-city suburb of Sydney was named after the ship. This suburb has now been largely subsumed into a small locality, part of Newtown and Camperdown and the name today is carried only by some maps and a street in the area. An Urban Transit Authority First Fleet ferry was named after ''Golden Grove'' in 1986.Sydney Ferries Fleet Facts
Transport for NSW

Citations

References

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External links

* {{cite web , url = http://dictionaryofsydney.org/artefact/golden_grove , title = Golden Grove , accessdate = 2 October 2015 , author = Penny Edwell , date = 2015 , work= Dictionary of Sydney CC-By-SA">Creative_Commons_license.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Creative Commons license">CC-By-SA/nowiki> 1780 ships Ships built in Whitby Ships of the First Fleet Convict ships to Norfolk Island Age of Sail merchant ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom