HM Colonial brig ''Kangaroo'' (or HM hired brig, or HM armed brig), was a brig built at

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1811 or 1812. She belonged to the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

's Transport Board and was based at

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

. There she made voyages for the colonial government along the east coast of Australia with goods and troops. She made one voyage to

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

for merchandise and transporting military convicts from Ceylon to Australia. She returned to England in 1817 and the Navy sold her in 1818.

Career

Governor Lachlan Macquarie on 30 April 1810 requested the British Government supply the colony with two brigs (colonial ships) that would not be subject to the control of the Admiralty. The British government provided ''Kangaroo'' and Emu (ship), ''Emu''. The American privateer American privateer Holkar, ''Holkar'', captained by J. Rolland, captured ''Emu'' in 1812 on her outward-bound voyage. Lieutenant Charles Jefferys (or Jeffreys), received a letter of marque on 1 March 1813. ''Kangaroo'' arrived in Sydney on 10 January 1814 after a passage of seven months and eight days from England. On 28 February 1814 ''Kangaroo'' took off the last inhabitants of Norfolk Island. Then in May–June she carried 40 male convicts and 60 female convicts to Van Diemen's Land. The female convicts were being transshipped from , which had arrived at

on 4 May. She made one voyage to

, still under Jeffries' command, leaving on 19 April 1815 and arriving at Colombo Roadstead, Roads on 24 July. She was carrying troops of the 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot, 73rd Regiment of Foot and their families. She returned with merchandise, passengers and a number of military convicts, arriving in Sydney on 7 February 1816. On 14 April 1816 ''Kangaroo'' again carried 40 male and 60 female convicts to Van Diemen's Land. On 5 August 1816 ''Kangaroo'' left Port Jackson with 50 male convicts each to George Town, Tasmania, Port Dalrymple Hobart. Governor Lachlan Macquarie sent ''Kangeroo'' back to England after he determined that she was unsuitable for the colony. She left on 9 April 1817. Amongst her passengers were the Maori chiefs Tītore and Tui (also known as Tuhi or Tupaea.NZETC: Maori Wars of the Nineteenth Century, 1816
/ref> They visited Samuel Lee (linguist), Professor Samuel Lee at Cambridge University and assisted him in the preparation of a grammar and vocabulary of Māori, which was published in 1820 as the ''First Grammar and Vocabulary of the New Zealand Language''.

Fate

The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered the "Kangaroo brig, of 203 tons", "lying at Deptford", for sale on 13 August 1818.

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kangaroo (1812) 1812 ships Ships built in England Convict ships to New South Wales