Oxley's Mermaid

The Mermaid is famous for its role in surveying the Australian coastline, under the charge of Lieutenant Philip Parker King, and its later role as a colonial vessel. The Mermaid was a schooner built in Calcutta, India in 1816.

The ship was used in 1823 on a voyage to locate a new site for a penal colony, under Captain Charles Penson. Also on board were Lieutenant John Oxley and surveyor John Uniacke. It was on this voyage, on 31 October 1823, that the Mermaid encountered bad weather and sheltered near Cook Island off the coast of Fingal Head. The mouth of a large river was sighted, and the next day Oxley and John Uniacke went up the river by whaleboat, investigating both the river itself and the surrounding land. In his diary, John Uniacke wrote

The scenery here exceeded anything I had previously seen in Australia – extending for miles along a deep rich valley, clothed with magnificent trees, the beautiful uniformity of which was only interrupted by turns and windings of the river, which here and there appeared like small lakes, while in the back ground Mount Warning .... reared its barren and singularly shaped peak....

John Oxley named the river the Tweed, after a river in his native Scotland.

The crew of the Mermaid encountered a community of Aboriginal people on arrival in the area. Uniacke noted that when they entered the river

On the right bank of the river were standing one man and several women and children, all perfectly naked. They did not appear so timid as the natives usually are but remained quietly while we landed to search for fresh water, the river being still brackish. The man was curiously scarified all over the body, the flesh being raised as think as my finger all over his breasts. He talked very loudly for some time using much gesticulation and frequently pointing to the other side of the river where we had observed a number of native huts.

The Mermaid was wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef in 1829. The wreck was only recently discovered, in January 2009. You can read more about the wreck of the Mermaid on the Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database.

Model of the Mermaid

This model of the Mermaid was constructed by Bill Spencer, using a sketch of the ship by Phillip Parker King, who was the first captain of the Mermaid.

It is made of balsa wood and cotton and was constructed in the 1980s.

Model of the Mermaid, made by Bill Spencer. Donated by Bill Spencer. TRM Collection TH2003.85.