Norfolk (brig)

The Norfolk was a 56-ton, 6 gun brig built in Quebec in 1797 and registered in London in 1797 as Harbinger. It was wrecked at Tahiti in 1802.

In 1801 Harbinger, under John Black, was the second vessel to sail through Bass Strait on route to Port Jackson. She reached the coast near Cape Otway on 1 January 1801, then veered sharply south-west to the north-western tip of Governor King's Island (now King Island), which Black named after the Governor of New South Wales, Philip Gidley King. She then sailed easterly towards Wilsons Promontory. Proceeding around the tip of the promontory, Black discovered the Hogan Group, which he named after the ship's owner Michael Hogan. The Harbinger arrived in Port Jackson on 12 January 1801.

Governor King purchased her in 1801 and renamed her the Norfolk. She had a crew of eight. The ship was visiting Matavai Bay, Tahiti when a hurricane struck on 25 March 1802. Captain William House ran Norfolk aground, as the alternative was for her to be smashed on the rocks. She grounded and the crew escaped to safety. The hull was salvaged but as it was being towed to another island it sank.

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