''William Cossar'' was a small 20 ton wooden New South Wales Colonial Government schooner that was wrecked in 1825. The ship was named after the Government master boat builder, William Cossar. On 7 July 1817 a party of convicts stole ''William Cossar'' from

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

.Rootsweb timeline
/ref> In late November the ship was seen to have been driven ashore at Port Stephens. ''Nancy'' was sent to investigate and on 10 December 1818 ''William Cossar'' was found to be lying on a beach at the high tide mark. The rigging, sails, gaffs, booms, bowsprit and rudder were missing, as was most of the

copper sheathing Copper sheathing is the practice of protecting the under-water hull of a ship or boat from the corrosive effects of salt water and biofouling through the use of copper plates affixed to the outside of the hull. It was pioneered and developed by ...

. There were no signs of the convicts. They may have been killed by aborigines although it was reported that one survivor returned to Sydney on 1 May 1819. The ship was repaired and refloated after much effort. On 11 March 1824, the ship capsized near

Fort Macquarie Fort Macquarie was a square castellated battlement fort built in 1798 at Bennelong Point, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on the site where the Sydney Opera House now stands. It was demolished in 1901 to make way for the Fort Macquarie Tra ...

, Sydney Harbour, in a squall, and three men drowned. The ship was righted and repaired but then on 14 February 1825, while under the command of Captain Wise, she was wrecked on the Sow and Pigs Reef in Sydney Harbour, after towing the ship out to sea.

References

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''William Cossar'', noerror 1788–1850 ships of Australia 1825 in Australia Coastal trading vessels of Australia Individual sailing vessels Maritime incidents in March 1824 Maritime incidents in February 1825 Schooners of Australia Ships built in New South Wales Shipwrecks of the Sydney Eastern Suburbs Region