''Golden Grove'' was built at

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

in 1780 as ''Russian Merchant'', and was renamed ''Golden Grove'' in 1782. She served as a storeship for the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...

to Australia. Thereafter she sailed to the Mediterranean and the Baltic. She is last listed in 1811–1813.

Early career

''Russian Merchant'' first appeared in ''

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...

'' in 1781 with T. Parker, master, Leighton, owner, and trade

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

—London.''Lloyd's Register'' (1781), Seq.№R169.
/ref>

First Fleet

''Golden Grove''s master was William Sharp. The Fleet's

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

Richard Johnson and his wife and servant travelled to

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 ...

on this ship. She left

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on 13 May 1787, and arrived at

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

, on 26 January 1788 but left for Port Jackson soon after. On 2 October 1788 she took 21 male and 11 female convicts to

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

, returning to Port Jackson on 25 October. She left Port Jackson on 19 November 1788, keeping company with until losing sight of her on 11 April 1789 after several days at the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

for the recovery of crew members who were sick with

scurvy Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding ...

. She arrived back in England on 9 June 1789.

Later career and fate

''Lloyd's Register'' for 1791 shows ''Golden Grove'', with Sharp, master, and trade London—Botany Bay, changing to London—Stettin.''Lloyd's Register'' (1791), Seq. №G90.
/ref> ''Lloyd's Register'' for 1805 listed ''Golden Grove'', of 333 tons (bm), built in 1780 at Whitby, F. Blair, master, J. Sutton, owner, with trade London—Elsinor.G191 ''Lloyd's Register'' (1805), Seq. №G191.
/ref> This entry continues unchanged until 1811. The ''Register of Shipping'' carries an identical entry until 1811.

Postscript

A former inner-city suburb of Sydney was named after the ship. This suburb has now been largely subsumed into a small locality, part of Newtown and Camperdown and the name today is carried only by some maps and a street in the area. An Urban Transit Authority First Fleet ferry was named after ''Golden Grove'' in 1986.Sydney Ferries Fleet Facts
Transport for NSW

Citations and references

Citations References * *

External links

* {{cite web , url = http://dictionaryofsydney.org/artefact/golden_grove , title = Golden Grove , accessdate = 2 October 2015 , author = Penny Edwell , date = 2015 , work= Dictionary of Sydney

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