Mermaid HMS
Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 10:00 am
Norfolk Island settlement was abandoned from 1814 until 1824, when it became a convict settlement for the worst type of criminals. The first contingent of these arrived in the survey cutter Mermaid, and another vessel, the Brutus.
The Mermaid, a vessel of 92 tons, was built of teak and arrived at Sydney from Bengal in December 1817. She had been bought for £2,000 by Governor Macquarie to enable Lieut. King, R.N., to undertake a voyage of discovery and survey around the Australian coast. In this small vessel Philip Parker King was employed for several years, adding considerably to Cook's and Flinder's maps. The Mermaid was wrecked in Torres Strait in 1829.The stamp illustration was obtained from an original picture in the King family papers held by the Mitchell Library, Sydney, and was used by permission of that institution.
The Mermaid is also shown on the £2 stamp of the Australian "Navigators" issue, together with a portrait of King, and on the current $4 stamp.
Norfolk Is SG82. Australia SG360 and 403