Name/TitleReid’s Mistake
About this objectThe headland by the entrance to Lake Macquarie, at the north eastern corner of Swansea, is known as Reid’s Mistake after Captain William Reid who, in 1800, became the first European to make his way into the lake. Sent from Sydney to collect coal from the mouth of the Hunter River he mistook the channel for the river estuary, ventured inside and there encountered some members of the Awabakal tribe, who directed him to some embedded in the headland. It was only upon his return to Sydney that he realised he got the wrong coal. The lake was known as Reid’s Mistake until 1826 when it was renamed in honour of Governor Lachlan Macquarie.
MakerJames Wallis - Artist
Maker RoleArtist
Date Made1816
Period19th century
Medium and MaterialsPencil and paper
Place MadeLake Macquarie, Australia
Object TypeLandscape Paintings
Object numberSF000711
Copyright LicenceAttribution - 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