Oil painting of the ship called the Lady Nelson, which helped to establish the first European settlement in Tasmania

The Lady Nelson was built at Deptford in England in 1799 and selected by the Admiralty in 1800 to provide exploration services to the Colony of New South Wales. After an illustrious career as a survey craft, including its use by Lieutenant James Grant and Matthew Flinders (as an accompanying craft of HMS Investigator), and as a supply vessel, the Lady Nelson was seized by pirates off Timor in 1825. The crew were killed and the vessel scuttled at Baba Island. The historical significance of this painting covers three key themes: the ship's association with the settlement of Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Tasmania, Port Phillip and northern Australia; the importance of detailed surveying in the exploration of the Australian coastline; and the early efforts to exploit Australia’s natural resources, in particular the discovery of coal.