Name/TitleIndenture – William Bligh
About this objectThe Indenture relates to the controversial ‘Camperdown’ land grant bearing the signature of Governor Philip Gidley King (See SF000064), an early colonial document of prime historical importance.
Bligh arrived in Sydney on 6 August 1806 to assume his appointment as Governor of the colony. However, in an unprecedented move, he did not make his official landing until the 8th, and he was not sworn in as Governor until 14th August. This intervening period, which he spent with the outgoing Governor King at Government House, was to become the centre of a storm of controversy when it was revealed that certain grants of land were made between the incoming and outgoing governors during this time.
This present land grant “for a private residence near Sydney” to be known as “Camperdown”, named after the sea battle in which Bligh had recently distinguished himself, was one of three that Governor King granted to Bligh at this time. The others were for residences near Parramatta and at Rouse Hill.
MakerWilliam Bligh - Author
Maker RoleAuthor
Date Made1838
Period19th century
Place MadeSydney, Australia
Medium and MaterialsInk (iron gall ink), Vellum, Paper
Object TypeManuscripts and Ephemera
Object numberSF000138
Copyright Licence
Attribution - Non-commercial - No Derivatives (cc)
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The mug is decorated with an underglaze and a blue transfer print. On the body, it is titled ‘Emigrants to Australia’. This type of body and glaze was discontinued by 1840. Comparison of the handle shape and the profile of the foot, point to the attribution of manufacture by the Davenport Factory.
Delta was a ship-rigged vessel with two decks and three masts. It was built in Dordrecht, Netherlands in 1839 at the shipyard of Jan Schouten and registered in the same port. Its hull was constructed of oak and sheathed in ‘yellow metal’. Delta was owned by H. van der Sande at the time of its loss and was engaged as a cargo trader.
The Delta carried 29 crew and passengers, while sailing from Melbourne to Batavia in ballast when wrecked at Kenn Reefs on 30 May 1854 whilst under the command of Captain J.G. Kunst. This vessel loss supports the pattern of shipwrecks located on a well-travelled shipping route that was poorly charted until the mid-nineteenth century. The crew of the Delta could see four other shipwrecks at Kenn Reefs at the time of their vessel’s loss.
Important image of a ship associated with Matthew Flinders, that would shortly become one of the most famous early shipwrecks in eastern Australian waters. This is a fine ship’s portrait, by one of the great exponents of the art