Tasmania
In June 1803, the Lady Nelson took the first settlers, ten convicts and three soldiers, to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), landing on 7 September 1803 at Risdon. Colonel David Collins soon found the site unsatisfactory and moved the settlement to the present site of Hobart. In October 1804, the ship was again dispatched to Van Diemen's Land, this time with troops and settlers for Port Dalrymple (now Launceston).
After much storm damage and a complete refit in Sydney, she was sent again to Jervis Bay to investigate a report that a Spanish armed schooner was anchored there. The vessel, the Estramina, was crewed by Americans who had taken her as a prize in the American war against Spain. She tried to escape, but surrendered after Lady Nelson commanded by James Symons fired a shot across her bows; Lady Nelson then escorted her back to Sydney.
In May 1807 Lady Nelson came under the command of Lieutenant William G.C. Kent. She was then paid off in 1808.,
In 1813 Lady Nelson, with the Minstrel, brought the last of the evacuees (except the clean-up party), this time to Port Dalrymple in Van Diemen's Land. With this voyage, Lady Nelson had brought a total of 568 men, women and children from Norfolk Island to begin a new life in Van Diemen's Land. These people became an important part of the new settlement and many descendants still live in what is now known as Tasmania.
Read more about this topic: HMS Lady Nelson (1798)