Matilda or Lady Nelson @ Jervis Bay 1791?

Mathew Whitehead's Matilda off Currambene Creek [Jervis Bay] 1791.

1. Introduction

Early in February 2025 the writer was sent an image (illustrated above) of a modern painting titled Mathew Whitehead's Matilda off Currambene Creek 1791. The sender [AC] queried whether the image was of the vessel Lady Nelson or the Matilda. This was a reasonable question, as the Lady Nelson is well known in the annals of early colonial period Australian history, as against the Matilda, of which no illustration is extant and its movement less well known. The following article attempts to answer that question through delving into the history of the earliest sailing ships to enter this bay which is located on the east coast of Australia, approximately 200 kms south of Sydney. The Matilda was one of the first European vessel to weigh anchor in Jervis Bay following the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Harbour in January 1788, though some confusion has arisen around whether this took place in July or November of 1791. It is also likely that other unnamed vessels had visited the area prior to the English occupation, including the Portuguese, though evidence for this is not definitive. There are references to Portuguese and Chinese having visited the east coast of Australia centuries earlier, with the famous Java La Grande map of 1547 evidence for such (Collingridge 1897, King 2013). Lt. James Cook had noted the bay on 25 April 1770 whilst sailing up the east coast, but the Endeavour never entered.

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2. Some history

According to a 1936 article published by historian James Jervis, during November 1791 the whaling vessel and 3rd Fleet convict transport Matilda (1779-1792), under the command of Captain Matthew Weatherhead (Wetherhead), visited Jervis Bay and made a chart of the area, including depth and other topographical information (Jervis 1936). This is cited in various Wikipedia entries, and by historians such as Ida Lee. However, it may not be correct. The Matilda appears to have anchored in Matilda Bay, Schouten Island, off the coast of Tasmania for repairs on 27 July 1791 and reached Sydney Harbour a couple of days later, on 1 August. Did it visit Jervis Bay late in July rather than early in November?

The 3rd Fleet convict transport Atlantic, under Captain Bowen, came into the bay on 19 August 1791, almost three weeks after the Matilda had passed up the east coast of Australia. Bowen named it in honour of Sir John Jervis, 1st Earl of Vincent and Royal Navy Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean fleet. It would also be known as Port Jervis during the early colonial period.

A brief account of the Matilda visit to Schouten Island is given by Watkin Tench, a First Fleet marine, and published in London during 1793:

Two of these ships also added to our geographic knowledge of the country. The 'Atlantic', under the direction of Lieutenant Bowen, a naval agent, ran into a harbour [Jervis Bay] between Van Diemen's land, and Port Jackson, in latitude 35 degrees 12 minutes south, longitude 151 degrees east, to which, in honour of Sir John Jervis, Knight of the Bath, Mr. Bowen gave the name of Port Jervis. Here was found good anchoring ground with a fine depth of water, within a harbour about a mile and a quarter broad at its entrance, which afterwards opens into a basin five miles wide and of considerable length. They found no fresh water, but as their want of this article was not urgent, they did not make sufficient researches to pronounce that none existed there. Just before I left the country, word was brought by a ship which had put into Port Jervis, that a large fresh water brook was found there. They saw, during the short time they stayed, two kangaroos and many traces of inhabitants. The country at a little distance to the southward of the harbour is hilly, but that contiguous to the sea is flat. On comparing what they had found here afterwards, with the native produce of Port Jackson, they saw no reason to think that they differed in any respect.

The second discovery was made by Captain Wetherhead, of the 'Matilda' transport, which was obligingly described to me, as follows, by that gentleman, on my putting to him the underwritten questions.

"When did you make your discovery?"

"On the 27th of July, 1791."

"In what latitude and longitude does it lie?"

"In 42 degrees 15 minutes south by observation, and in 148 1/2 east by reckoning"

"Is it on the mainland or is it an island?"

"It is an island, distant from the mainland about eight miles."

"Did you anchor?"

"Yes; and found good anchorage in a bay open about six points."

"Did you see any other harbour or bay in the island?"

"None."

"Does the channel between the island and the main appear to afford good shelter for shipping?"

"Yes, like Spithead."

"Did you find any water on the island?"

"Yes, in plenty."

"Of what size does the island appear to be?"

"It is narrow and long; I cannot say how long. Its breadth is inconsiderable."

"Did you make any observations on the soil?"

"It is sandy; and many places are full of craggy rocks."

"Do you judge the productions which you saw on the island to be similar to those around Port Jackson?"

"I do not think they differ in any respect."

"Did you see any animals?"

"I saw three kangaroos."

"Did you see any natives, or any marks of them?"

"I saw no natives, but I saw a fire, and several huts like those at Port Jackson, in one of which lay a spear."

"What name did you give to your discovery?"

"I called it, in honour of my ship, Matilda Bay."

After arriving in Sydney and landing its cargo of convicts, the Matilda remained at anchor until 8 November when it departed for Tahiti. However, on 18 November Governor Phillip, in a letter to Secretary Stephens, stated that Captain Weatherhead, master of the Matilda, had gone into Jervis Bay to stop a leak and the anchorage was exceedingly good. Obviously charting of the bay took place during this stopover, before heading back out to sea in a northeasterly direction. After working in the Tahiti area for a short period, the Matilda foundered approximately three months later on 25 February 1792, at Mururoa Atoll, located 630 miles southeast of Tahiti. All on board survived, though it was subsequently wrecked and dispersal of its cargo among the native resulted in a disastrous tribal war.

Whilst at Jervis Bay, Captain Weatherhead sketched a plan of the bay, which was subsequently despatched to England. Alexander Dalrymple eventually made a copy of the chart, and it was published on 11 March 1794.

Matthew Weatherhead, Plan of Jervis Bay, c.27-31 July 1791. Redrawn by Alexander Dalrymple. Printed by W. Harrison, London, 11 March 1794.

That later version of Weatherhead's chart added the following note referencing the local Aboriginal population:

In the Matilda many natives were seen and canoes on the beach; the natives were armed with spears but they could have no communication with them.

Natives, Jervis Bay, 1826 (German print).

Native Huts, Jervis Bay, 1826 (German print).

No contemporary image of the Matilda is known, though we do have a record of its physical features. She was a triple decked, fully rigged and triple masted, medium-sized 460 ton sailing ship. The Matilda had been constructed in France and during her lifetime saw a variety of uses as a whaling vessel in the southern oceans and transport of human and commercial cargoes between England and Australia. She was wrecked off Tahiti in 1792, a year after the visit to Jervis Bay.

A decade after the Matilda visit, between 10-14 March 1801, the Royal Navy Lady Nelson (1798-1825), under the command of Lieutenant James Grant, with Ensign Barralier and the naturalist George Cayley aboard, visited Jervis Bay to further survey that port and investigate the surrounding area.

The Lady Nelson (illustrated above) was a smallish, 60 ton survey vessel with two masts, and differed significantly from the Matilda in size and appearance.

Lady Nelson. Collection: State Library of New South Wales.

The above undated painting by an unknown artist is likely based on the engraved print of HMS Lady Nelson in The Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery, performed in His Majesty's Vessel the Lady Nelson … to New South Wales by James Grant, published in London in 1803. The Lady Nelson reached Sydney in 1800. The print may also have been based on the painting. The ship was specially built to an innovative design by Royal Navy captain, John Schanck. Three sliding keels reduced the draught of the ship when raised out of the water and allowed the Lady Nelson to carry out survey work close to the coastline in shallow water.

Between 5-7 November 1811, the Lady Nelson, with Governor Macquarie and party aboard, sheltered at Jervis Bay, where the Governor made a brief tour.

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3. Lady Nelson or Matilda?

It is clear that the modern painting reproduced at the head of this article can be accurately labelled: Matthew Weatherhead's Matilda off Currambene Creek [Jervis Bay] 1791, even though no contemporary image of the ship survives. The Matilda is a more substantial vessel which operated on the London to Botany Bay run, as opposed to the small, coastal surveyor HMS Lady Nelson. The differing tons of the two vessels - one just 60 (Lady Nelson) and the other 460 (Matilda) - is distinctive. Within the painting, the rather grand nature of the Matilda is appropriately portrayed in a picturesque setting, lying just off the coast with a wooded headland on the right (south) and a group of Aboriginal natives on a sandbar to the left and centre, with their canoes laid up upon the sand.

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4. References

Collingridge de Tourney, George, The First Discovery of Australia and New Guinea. Being The Narrative of Portuguese and Spanish Discoveries in the Australasian Regions, between the Years 1492-1606, with Descriptions of their Old Charts, Hayes Brothers, Sydney, 1895, 376p.

Convict Ship Atlantic, 1791, Free Settler or Felon - Convict and Colonial History [webpage], n.d., accessed 20 February 2025.

Convict Ship Matilda, 1791, Free Settler or Felon - Convict and Colonial History [webpage], n.d., accessed 20 February 2025.

Grant, James, The Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery, performed in His Majesty's Vessel the Lady Nelson … to New South Wales, London, 1803.

Jervis, James, Jervis Bay: its discovery and settlement, Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 22(2), 1936.

Lee, Ida, Early Explorers in Australia, Methuen and Co., London, 1925.

King, Robert, Java la Granda - A part of Terra Australis?, Mapping Our World: Discovery Day, National Library of Australia, 10 November 2013.

Tench, Watkin, A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson, in New South Wales, London, 1793.

Wikipedia, Java La Grande, accessed 22 February 2025.

-----, Jervis Bay, do,

-----, Lady Nelson, do.

-----, Matilda, do.

-----, Schouten Island, do.

-----, Sir John Jervis, do.

-----, Theory of the Portuguese discovery of Australia, do.

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Last updated: 22 February 2025

Michael Organ, Australia

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