''Hawkesbury Packet'' was a sloop constructed for

Solomon Wiseman Solomon Wiseman (16 April 1777 - 28 November 1838) was a convict, merchant and ferryman. The town called Wisemans Ferry, New South Wales, Wiseman's Ferry, New South Wales, Australia is named after him. Life Wiseman was born in Southwark, Engl ...

that helped him 'rise' from being just a

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convicts ...

to a wealthy colonial landholder in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Constructed in 1811, ''Hawkesbury Packet'' was a 21-ton coastal trader. Prior to its final wrecking in 1817 it was blown ashore in 1816. On 24 May 1816 it sailed from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

but was hit by a gale and was forced into Port Stephens on 20 June 1816. Unable to exit the port because of contrary winds and with supplies nearly exhausted, two crew, George Yates and Nicholas Thompson chose to walk to Newcastle. They took an Aboriginal guide with them who took them to a tribe who stole all their clothes. Thompson died shortly after from exposure, hunger and exhaustion and Yates managed to make Newcastle by crawling the last three miles. The Commandant in Newcastle ordered provisions to be sent to Port Stephens and when they arrived they found that the ship had been driven ashore. It was eventually refloated and returned to Sydney around 15 August 1816. On 14 August 1817 the ship sailed for the

Shoalhaven The City of Shoalhaven is a local government area in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is about south of Sydney. The Princes Highway passes through the area, and the South Coast railway line traverses the norther ...

, under the command of T. Walker, to pick up a load of

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae * Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona ...

. However, on an unknown date in August the ship ran aground at Minnamurra near

Kiama Kiama may refer to: * Electoral district of Kiama, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Kiama, New South Wales, a town * Kiama (spider), a genus of spiders *Municipality of Kiama The Municipality of Kiama is a local government ar ...

and was totally wrecked.Bateson (1972), p.57

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Shipwrecks of the Illawarra Region Ships built in New South Wales Sloops of Australia Individual sailing vessels Maritime incidents in 1817 1817 in Australia 1811 ships 1788–1850 ships of Australia Coastal trading vessels of Australia {{Merchantship-stub