The Mystery of the St Michael : Site Formation Processes and River Wrecks at Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia

In the 1820s European settlement had extended inland along the Hunter River, initially led by convict gangs. In 1827 the former South Seas trade vessel St Michael sailed from Newcastle (where it had operated as a floating storeship since 1826) up the Hunter to the small settlement of Morpeth. The vessel was converted to a private hulk/floating wharf and supply depot, and reportedly also as an administrative base for convict timber gangs. The storeship was eventually towed across to the other side of the river where it turned turtle and sank in 1841. Despite preparation for its recovery for use as a coal vessel and partial limited salvage, the vessel was never recovered and is believed to have settled in place, where it presumably remains. This paper details collaborative research undertaken by the University of New England with a local avocational historian to locate/identify the vessel and details the complexities of searching for early riverine wrecks in flood-prone areas. This paper builds upon ongoing research undertaken for the NSW Rivers Project, which is documenting and recording all aspects of use of rivers in NSW.