View of the Yacht Oberon off the coast of Ireland : in which John Lyons sailed from Belfast, Ireland, 3rd March 1850, for Australia and from thence to California and all through the North and South Pacific Oceans

SV/371

fonds

March-July 1850

Graphic Materials, Watercolours

9659530

1 watercolour - sheet 19 x 28 cm - iron gall ink on wove paper

The Oberon was formerly part of the Royal Irish Squadron and won two cups at the Cork Regatta. Under the command of Richardson McCulley, the Oberon left Belfast in March 1850 and arrived in Sydney in July 1850. On the 2nd October 1850 it sailed from the port New Georgia arriving in Port Jackson 21 October.

During the 1850s, the Oberon made a number of cruises among the South Sea Islands. Under the command of John Lyons the Oberon made two trips to Tahiti. The first departed Tahiti in April 1851 and the second in October 1952 arriving back in Sydney in September 1981 and December 1852.

In 1854 under the command of Lewis Truscott the Oberon was commissioned to search for Benjamin Boyd who had disappeared in the Solomon Islands in 1851. After cruising among the South Sea Islands the Oberon had arrived in Sydney on 17 October 1854 with reports that Boyd was probably still alive and a prisoner. As a result, Captain Truscott was commissioned by a group of Sydney merchants, with the approval of the Governor-General, to make a thorough search of the island and rescue Boyd should he be discovered there.

The Oberon sailed from San Christoval on 8th November 1854 and returned to Sydney on 3 December with a skull said to be Boyd’s (which had been traded for 20 tomahawks) but later examination concluded that it was not Caucasian. The Oberon had a critical role in confirming the now widely accepted view that Boyd was killed by natives on Guadal canal after going ashore to shoot game.

References:
Library acquisition file
Larson, P. 2008. "Ozships: Australian Shipping on the net", Accessed 4 July 2022 http://www.ozships.net/ozships/
"Mr Boyd's Fate", Colonial Times (Hobart, Tas.), December 21, 1854, 2. Accessed 4 July 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page675577
NSW State Archives and Records, "New South Wales, Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826-1922", Ancestry.com, Accessed 4 July 2022, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.au/search/collections/1210/
NSW State Archives and Records, "Unassisted Immigrants Index 1842-1855", Accessed 4 July 2022, https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research/guides-and-indexes/unassisted-immigrants-index
NSW State Archives and Records, "Vessels Arrived in Sydney 1837-1925", Accessed 4 July 2022 https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research/guides-and-indexes/vessels-arrived-sydney
Warner, Mary-Anne, 2019. Mariners and Ships in Australian Waters, Accessed 4 July 2022, http://marinersandships.com.au/index.htm

Previously held in a private collection, Cambridge until 2012

Out of copyright:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Title from inscriptions on item and based on information supplied by vendor

Also titled 'The Cutter Yacht Oberon off the Coast of Ireland 1853 [i.e. 1850]' in vendor catalogue

Frame original to work located at F504.
Artist unknown

Inscribed 'Yacht Oberon / Northern Yacht Squadron / Belfast Ireland / Owner John Lyons / sailed to Australia, 1850' on label glued to wood frame backing board
Inscribed 'The Yacht Oberon in which Mr J. Lyons sailed from Belfast 3rd March 1850 for Australia and from thence to California and all through the North and South Pacific Oceans' on loose paper label on verso of item

Date of production (earliest March 1850) annotated on frame backing board and loose paper label on verso of item. Date of production (latest July 1850) estimated from period the Oberon arrived in Sydney.

This item was acquired in a contemporary wood frame, and mount. The gilded original frame and mount is stored separately.