Young Lachlan
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The Young Lachlan was a schooner that was stolen and wrecked by convicts in 1819.
The Young Lachlan was originally constructed as the Henrietta Packet was in October 1818 was purchased by a Captain Howard who lengthened the ship and renamed it.
On the night of 27 February 1818 the Young Lachlan was moored outside the residence of Captain Howard on the Derwent River, Hobart, Tasmania. Around midnight a group of thirteen convicts, four of them seaman, boarded the ship and stole it. Whilst the ship was never seen again, four sailors (who had been aboard at the time of the stealing) were found on Bruny Island. Most of the remaining convicts disappeared although five turned up at Java and were promptly imprisoned. Four were returned to Hobart for trial via Calcutta in 1821 and were found guilty of ship stealing. From evidence they provided it appears that the ship was wrecked off an island in Java and burnt to the waterline. [1]. It is unclear what happened to the remaining convicts. [2]
[edit] References
- ^ Report on the Court Case, 17 Feb 1821
- ^ Australian Shipwrecks - vol 1 1622-1850, Charles Bateson, AH and AW Reed, Sydney, 1972, ISBN 0 589 07112 2 p58
