Sydney Cove and Her Preservation

This episode we discuss the story of the Sydney Cove, a ship that set sail from Calcutta bound for its eponymous port in 1796. The Sydney Cove never quite made it the whole way, but after countless misadventures just under half of her crew did. Join us as we discuss a story that is not only all but unbelievable but is one of the most significant stories of first contact between First Nations people and visitors from across the British Empire. This tale was more or less lost to time for much of the 20th century but from the unearthing of the shipwreck in 1977 there was no putting this tale back in the rum bottle, as it were. The original inspiration for this story came from reading Jock Serong's work of historical fiction: Preservation. The factual heavy lifting was largely courtesy of Mark McKenna's book: From the Edge; Australia's Lost Histories. If you'd like to read the full text of William Clark's published account of their journey you can find it, and an assortment of other relevant correspondence, here. And if you know where we an get a carton of James Squire's Preservation Ale we'd love to hear from you!