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Sketch of Edward Lombe from part of wreck, Midd...

Sketch of Edward Lombe from part of wreck, Middle Head, New South Wales 1834

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National Library of Australia

[PIC Drawer 61 #R212]

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The wreck of the Edward Lombe

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Accidents and disasters Shipping Ships

Artefacts

Edward Lombe

Events

Edward Lombe shipwreck 1834

Natural features

Middle Head Sydney Harbour

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Russell, Robert

Architect, surveyor and artist.

National Library of Australia

The wreck of the Edward Lombe

In August 1834 one of the worst maritime disasters in Sydney waters took place when the Edward Lombe was wrecked off Middle Head. The story has been overshadowed by the catastrophic wreck of the Dunbar in 1857, but at the time, the wreck of the Edward Lombe was a significant and distressing incident for the colony. Never before had the colony witnessed the destruction of a large sailing vessel with a resulting loss of life and the event generated widespread debate in the colony about the safety of shipping in the harbour.

Accidents and disasters

Shipping

Ships

Edward Lombe

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A three-masted timber barque of 347 (imperial) tons (352.6 tonnes) that was built in Yorkshire in 1828 and named after a local politician. The ship travelled between England and Australia in 1830 and again in 1832-3, carrying goods and passengers, including immigrants and convicts, before her final voyage in 1834. She was wrecked on Middle Head on 25 August 1834, the first time a shipwreck occurred in Sydney with an associated loss of life. Eleven of the 29 people on board died.

Edward Lombe shipwreck 1834

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Wreck of the barque, the Edward Lombe, on Middle Head on 25 August 1834. It was the first shipwreck in the harbour with an associated loss of life and was one of the worst maritime disasters to have occurred in Sydney waters.

Middle Head

Headland in Sydney Harbour, now part of the Sydney Harbour National Park, which from 1806 to the 1960s contained important defensive fortifications.

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Sydney Harbour

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The largest arm of Port Jackson, which extends west from the Heads past Balmain and meets the estuaries of the Lane Cove and Parramatta rivers.