ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Norfolk Island Museum is very appreciative of funding for this web site from:

The Commonwealth Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, through the Historic Shipwreck Program.

The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for any information or advice contained therein.

We would like to thank Myra Stanbury from the Western Australian Maritime Museum for the artefact text from HMS Sirius 1790, An illustrated catalogue of artefacts recovered from the wreck site at Norfolk Island, Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology Special Publication No. 7, 1994.

Our thanks to Patrick Baker and the Western Australian Maritime Museum who gave permission for the use of photographs in the Photo Gallery from the Official Expeditions.

Information in the Expedition and Conservation sections is largely from the Expedition Reports:

Report to the Australian Bicentennial Authority on the December 1983 Preliminary Expedition to the Wreck of HMS Sirius (1790) at Norfolk Island, by Graeme Henderson

Australian Bicentennial Authority Project 1985 Expedition Report on the wreck of HMS Sirius (1790, compiled by Graeme Henderson and Myra Stanbury with contributions by Ian MacLeod, Paul Clark, Mark Staniforth and Paul Brown

Australian Bicentennial Authority 1987 Expedition Report on the Wreck of the HMS Sirius (1790), complied by Graeme Henderson and Myra Stanbury with contributions from Sharon Towns, Bill Jeffery, Geoff Kimpton, Karen Atkinson and David Kelly

Norfolk Island Government Project 1988 Expedition Report on the Wreck of HMS Sirius (1790) compiled by Graeme Henderson with contributions by Ian Macleod, George Cresswell, Bill Jeffery, Gaye Nayton, Isabel McBryde, Alan Watchman, Geoff Kimpton and Tom van Leeuwen.

2002 HMS Sirius Expedition Report by Nigel Erskine with contributions from Patrick Baker, Jon Carpenter, John Clarke, Dr Adam Lewis and Myra Stanbury

Footage from “Search for the Sirius”:
Cinematography and Production by Richard Swansborough

Weekend Magazine footage:
Australian Broadcasting Corporation Library Sales

Flagship of the First Fleet

From the sixteenth century onwards the number of people convicted of crimes, many of which were seemingly trivial by today’s standard, was becoming a problem. The gaols in England were overcrowded, filthy and disease ridden resulting in many prisoners ...

The World of Norfolk

Norfolk Island was first brought to the attention of the rest of the world when it was discovered on a passage northwards from New Zealand in 1774 by James Cook, Captain of HMS Resolution. He named this tiny island “Norfolk” after “that Noble family”...

Shipwrecked March 19, 1790

By about February 1790, both settlements in Sydney and Norfolk Island were running low on hardware including items such as blacksmiths’ tools, uniforms and eating utensils. In fact supplies were low of everything but food, which was adequate at that time.

Artefacts Recovered

The Sirius carried four bower anchors and two stern anchors. Three of the bower anchors were recovered and one now dominates the Norfolk Island Museum’s collections. Two others are in Australia and one is still on the reef in a badly damaged condition...