Lady of St Kilda
Encyclopedia
The Lady of St Kilda was a schooner which served from 1834 before being shipwreck
ed at Tahiti
after sailing from Sydney
sometime shortly after 1843.
The Lady of St Kilda was built in Dartmouth, Devon
, England
to carry fruit from the Mediterranean to London
.
The schooner was bought by Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (a member of a prominent British political family) in 1834 and named Lady of St Kilda for the island of St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides
of Scotland
to commemorate a visit to the island by his wife, Lydia, in 1810. Acland had named the vessel after a Lady Grange, who in 1734 was imprisoned by her husband on the St Kilda archipelago in Scotland for 17 years for protesting about his scheme to restore Bonnie Prince Charlie to the Scottish throne.
Thomas Acland sold the vessel in 1840 to Jonathan Cundy Pope of Plymouth. The vessel was again used as a trading vessel and sailed for Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne in February 1841. The vessel was usually moored off the foreshore, which was soon known as "the St. Kilda foreshore."
In July 1842, the Lady of St Kilda sailed for Canton
.
The ship is of cultural importance to the suburb of the City of Melbourne
, Victoria
, Australia
known as St Kilda
, and the former municipality the City of St Kilda
(now Port Phillip) which was named after the ship after it was moored off the beach there in the 1840's.
The ship also has a trivia connection to the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League
– with the clubs name originating from the suburb of Melbourne
where the club was formed in 1873 and played its home games in until 1964.
The ship's legacy includes the naming of the town (and later city) St Kilda by the former ship master Lieutenant James Ross Lawrence.
One of the town's main streets, Acland Street
, was named after the former owner Sir Thomas Dyke Acland.
There is a mural of the Lady of St Kilda on the Sandringham Railway Line overpass at Balaclava, Victoria
commissioned by the City of Port Phillip
.
Despite its huge popularity, a 2006 art installation depicting a mock shipwreck at St Kilda Main Beach was later disassembled by the City of Port Phillip because of public safety concerns despite calls to keep it.
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
ed at Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
after sailing from Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
sometime shortly after 1843.
The Lady of St Kilda was built in Dartmouth, Devon
Dartmouth, Devon
Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to carry fruit from the Mediterranean to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
The schooner was bought by Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (a member of a prominent British political family) in 1834 and named Lady of St Kilda for the island of St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides also known as the Western Isles and the Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. The islands are geographically contiguous with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland...
of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to commemorate a visit to the island by his wife, Lydia, in 1810. Acland had named the vessel after a Lady Grange, who in 1734 was imprisoned by her husband on the St Kilda archipelago in Scotland for 17 years for protesting about his scheme to restore Bonnie Prince Charlie to the Scottish throne.
Thomas Acland sold the vessel in 1840 to Jonathan Cundy Pope of Plymouth. The vessel was again used as a trading vessel and sailed for Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne in February 1841. The vessel was usually moored off the foreshore, which was soon known as "the St. Kilda foreshore."
In July 1842, the Lady of St Kilda sailed for Canton
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
.
The ship is of cultural importance to the suburb of the City of Melbourne
City of Melbourne
The City of Melbourne is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. The city has an area of 36 square kilometres and has an estimated population of 93,105 people. The city's motto is "Vires acquirit eundo" which means "She gathers strength as she...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
known as St Kilda
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
, and the former municipality the City of St Kilda
City of St Kilda
The City of St Kilda was a Local Government Area located on Port Phillip about south of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1855 until 1994.-History:...
(now Port Phillip) which was named after the ship after it was moored off the beach there in the 1840's.
The ship also has a trivia connection to the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
– with the clubs name originating from the suburb of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
where the club was formed in 1873 and played its home games in until 1964.
Legacy
One of the town's main streets, Acland Street
Acland Street, Melbourne
Acland Street is a street in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda, which enjoys great popularity as a recreational area, mainly due to its many restaurants and its proximity to the entertainment areas along St Kilda beach...
, was named after the former owner Sir Thomas Dyke Acland.
There is a mural of the Lady of St Kilda on the Sandringham Railway Line overpass at Balaclava, Victoria
Balaclava, Victoria
Balaclava is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, in Australia. It is situated in the south-east of the city in the St Kilda East area and is bounded by Inkerman Street to the north, Chapel Street to the west, Hotham Street to the east and Oak Grove and Los Angeles Court to the south. In terms of its...
commissioned by the City of Port Phillip
City of Port Phillip
The City of Port Phillip is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located on the northern shores of Port Phillip, south of Melbourne's central business district. It has an area of 20.62 km² and has an estimated population of 96,110 people....
.
Despite its huge popularity, a 2006 art installation depicting a mock shipwreck at St Kilda Main Beach was later disassembled by the City of Port Phillip because of public safety concerns despite calls to keep it.