Logbook of the Marquis of Rockingham [H.M.S. Adventure], 1771-1773 / George Law

MLMSS 9933

fonds

5 June 1771 - 13 June 1773

1001694

0.01 meters of textual material (1 volume in folder) - 30.6 x 20.5 cm - manuscript

The Marquis of Rockingham, a North Sea collier, was launched at Whitby in 1770. She made her maiden voyage the following year and it is this voyage that is recorded in the log book.

Soon after his return from his first voyage in 1771, James Cook was commissioned by the Royal Society to make a second voyage in search of Terra Australis Incognita. He arranged for the Navy to purchase two ships, the second and smaller of which was the Marquis of Rockingham. The Navy renamed her Adventure. Cook was given the command of the Resolution, with Tobias Furneaux accompanying him in command of the Adventure.

The Resolution and Adventure left Plymouth in 1772 and in January 1773 became the first European ships to cross the Antarctic Circle. The following month the two ships were separated in a fog and Furneaux sailed the Adventure towards the prearranged meeting point of Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand. On the way to the rendezvous, the Adventure surveyed the southern and eastern coasts of Tasmania where Adventure Bay was named after the ship and Furneaux made the earliest British chart of the coast. After meeting up both ships explored the Southern Pacific together until October when they were again separated in a storm. The Adventure returned to England in July 1774 and served as a store ship until 1779. The Navy sold her in 1783 and she resumed a civilian career, but retaining the name Adventure. She was lost in May 1811.

George Law was a Liverpool sugar merchant and ship owner who sailed on both the Marquis of Rockingham and the Bridge.

Reference:
Library Correspondence File
http://www.captaincooksociety.com/home/detail/adventure [accessed 4/5/2017]

Journal describing two voyages made by Captain James Cook in search of Terra Australis, in the Southern Hemisphere and around Terra Australis. The journal is divided into two parts, as Law, one of the men on board, recounts the two voyages: 'Journal of a Passage from Jamaica in the Ship Marquis Rockingham John Barrow Master for Liverpool’ and 'Journal of Passage from Liverpool in the ship Bridge, William Rogerson, master, for Kingston, Jamaica'. Entries are made in 3-4 day intervals. Inserted inside the journal is George Law's recount of the visit to Monserrat in 1773. Law wrote describes Plymouth Town in Montserrat in this recount, which he wrote during his second voyage.

Copyright status:: In copyright - This collection has multiple rights owners
Research & study copies allowed: Author has been deceased for more than 50 years
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales