Lady Denison (ship) - Freighting Convicts

Freighting Convicts

Although South Australia prided itself as a colony not founded by convict transportation, locally convicted felons were sent to Van Diemens Land secured below decks on commercial sailing vessels. The Lady Denison was engaged in this trade when she sailed from Port Adelaide for Hobart on 17 April 1850 under Captain Hammond with a crew of 12, 16 paying passengers, 11 convicts, and three prison guards. She failed to arrive and dark rumours of her fate spread rapidly. Several months later a large quantity of wreckage positively identified as coming from the vessel was found on the Tasmanian coast south of Cape Grim. The anti-transportation press asserted that the convicts had thrown the articles overboard to hide their crime. During the Australian gold rush there were rumours that James Coyle, one of the convicts by the ship had been seen in Victoria, Australia and another had sent letters to Australia from California.