Cygnet (barque)

{{Short description|Ship in the first fleet to South Australia}}

{{Use Australian English|date=April 2020}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}

{{Infobox ship begin |infobox caption= |display title= }} {{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship image size= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|UKGBI|civil}} |Ship name=Cygnet |Ship owner=Thomas Ward (from 1829) |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=John Gilmore and Company |Ship original cost= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=1827 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship captured= |Ship fate= |Ship status= |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship tons burthen=238 tons |Ship length={{convert|91|ft|1}} |Ship beam={{convert|24|ft|1}} |Ship draught={{convert|16|ft|1}} |Ship hold depth= |Ship propulsion= |Ship sail plan=Barque |Ship complement= |Ship armament= |Ship notes= }}

Cygnet was a barque built in 1827. It was {{convert|91|ft|1}} long with a beam of {{convert|24|ft|1}} and draught of {{convert|16|ft|1}}. It sailed as part of the First Fleet of South Australia in 1836.

Cygnet was built by John Gilmore and Company at Sulkea (across the Hooghly River from Calcutta) in India, and the primary material was teak. It first sailed from Calcutta to Singapore and Batavia. It then traded to Madras and Bombay before heading to London under Captain Morce in 1829. It was bought by Thomas Ward and registered in London with John Rolls as master.

Cygnet carried emigrants to the Swan River Colony, including George Lazenby who arrived in January 1833.{{cite web|url=http://www.daao.org.au/bio/george-lazenby/biography/ |title=George Lazenby |work=Design and Art Australia Online |date=2010 |first=Dorothy |last=Erickson}} Its next voyage was to Van Diemen's Land.

Cygnet was chartered in 1836 by the South Australian Colonization Commission to carry emigrants including many of the surveying staff for the new Colony of South Australia, including deputy surveyor George Strickland Kingston and assistant surveyor B. T. Finniss.{{cite web |title=Cygnet |first=Bob |last=Sexton |url=http://boundforsouthaustralia.com.au/journey-content/cygnet.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200306032329/http://boundforsouthaustralia.com.au/journey-content/cygnet.html |archive-date=2020-03-06 |website=Bound for South Australia |publisher=History Trust of South Australia, Government of South Australia |access-date=2020-04-11 }} Cygnet anchored in Nepean Bay on Kangaroo Island on 11 September 1836, and moved on to Holdfast Bay on 5 November 1836.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44579008 |title=THE INFANCY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SETTLEMENT. |newspaper=South Australian Register |location=South Australia |date=27 July 1886 |access-date=11 April 2020 |page=6 |via=Trove}}

Cygnet was posted at Port Lincoln to await the {{ship|HMS|Buffalo|1813|2}} carrying Governor Hindmarsh to advise him that the new capital would be near Holdfast Bay and he should continue to there. Both ships then proceeded to Holdfast Bay together.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65061644 |title=PROCLAMATION DAY, 1836. |newspaper=The Register (Adelaide) |location=South Australia |date=28 December 1923 |access-date=11 April 2020 |page=8 |via=Trove }}