DEBORAH

Location

Reclaimed Land, Newport, Port Phillip Bay, Yarra River entrance

VHR Number

S163

Date lost

1885

Year of construction

1847

Statement of Significance

Potentially historically significant as example of convict hulk. Archaeological significance could be limited due to ships being broken up. A the time of the first gold rushes, many vessels were abandoned by their crews on Port Phillip Bay. Lawlessness was rife, and existing penal institutions were unable to cope with the number of criminals being gaoled. The Deborah and Sacramento were therefore purchased by the Government in 1853 for hulking as prison ships and were moored off Williamstown with three other prison hulks Lysander, President and Success.

Physical Description

Construction Material Wood

Rig Hulk

Hull Details Hackmatack, beech, pine, spruce; felt and yellow metalled 1848; classified A1 Lloyd's 1849

Propulsion Sail

Length / Breadth / Depth 0.0 / 0.0 / 0.0

History

Built Date 1847

Built Port / Country Nova Scotia / Canada

Registration Port / Country Liverpool (1850) / Britain

Former Details of Registration Formerly owned by Darby & Co (UID 3)

Details
A barque, formerly owned by Darby & Co. arrived from Bristol on 15 Sept. 1852, carrying cargo, 18 first-class passengers and 236 steerage. Purchased as a convict hulk, the Deborah housed refractory seamen, mainly deserters, pending arrangements to ship them as crews on undermanned outgoing vessels. Other prisoners were to be used to build wharves. The Deborah and Sacramento became torpedo stores ships at Naval Depot, Fishermen's Bend. Lay alongside hulk Sacramento in Greenwich Bay in 1878. Recent extensive research by Wayne Manallack casts doubt on some secondary sources on the history of the convict hulks and whether the hulks, marked on a map as being under the reclaimed land at Newport, are indeed the convict hulks. However, if two convict hulks are buried there, it seems likely they are the Sacramento and Deborah - not Sacramento and President, as claimed by Wilson Evans, but not substantiated by documentary evidence.

Voyage Details

Date Lost 1885

Cause of Loss
Abandoned in Greenwich Bay, and later broken up

Further Details

Number of Passengers 0

Number of Crew Members 0

Physical Description
Construction Material	Wood
Rig	Hulk
Hull Details	Hackmatack, beech, pine, spruce; felt and yellow metalled 1848; classified A1 Lloyd's 1849
Propulsion	Sail
Length / Breadth / Depth	0.0 / 0.0 / 0.0

Built Date	1847
Built Port / Country	Nova Scotia / Canada
Registration Port / Country	Liverpool (1850) / Britain
Former Details of Registration	Formerly owned by Darby & Co (UID 3)
Details	A barque, formerly owned by Darby & Co. arrived from Bristol on 15 Sept. 1852, carrying cargo, 18 first-class passengers and 236 steerage. Purchased as a convict hulk, the Deborah housed refractory seamen, mainly deserters, pending arrangements to ship them as crews on undermanned outgoing vessels. Other prisoners were to be used to build wharves. The Deborah and Sacramento became torpedo stores ships at Naval Depot, Fishermen's Bend. Lay alongside hulk Sacramento in Greenwich Bay in 1878. Recent extensive research by Wayne Manallack casts doubt on some secondary sources on the history of the convict hulks and whether the hulks, marked on a map as being under the reclaimed land at Newport, are indeed the convict hulks. However, if two convict hulks are buried there, it seems likely they are the Sacramento and Deborah - not Sacramento and President, as claimed by Wilson Evans, but not substantiated by documentary evidence.


Date Lost	1885
Cause of Loss	Abandoned in Greenwich Bay, and later broken up

Number of Passengers	0
Number of Crew Members	0

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