HMS LILY Log
Author
Midshipman William Howorth
(1834 - 1881)
Date18th January - 7th May 1855
Object number00056165
NameJournal
MediumPaper
ClassificationsBooks and journals
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection
DescriptionThis log details the voyage of Royal Navy brig-sloop HMS LILY from Melbourne to Portsmouth in 1855. It was written by the ship’s mate, Midshipman William Howorth, who is believed to have been part of the naval shore party who participated in suppressing the December 1854 Eureka uprising.
Although HMS LILY’s voyage was uneventful, apart from observations of massive icebergs and anchoring at Rio de Janeiro, the vessel was carrying 300 kilograms of gold, valued at £40,000. It is accompanied by charts and original watercolour artworks.HistoryHMS LILY was a 16-gun Racer-class brig-sloop built for the Royal Navy in 1837. Deployed from the China Squadron under Commander John Sanderson, it arrived in Melbourne just after Christmas 1854. Departing on 23 January 1855, LILY was bearing 11,000 ounces (over 300 kg) of gold from the Victorian goldfields, worth £40,000. This high-value cargo suggests why an Admiralty vessel was employed on the otherwise standard clipper route to England via South America.
The author of the LILY log was the ship’s mate, Midshipman William Howorth. Howorth had reportedly served aboard the sloop HMS ELECTRA in 1854, at the time when it operated alongside the brig HMS FANTOME as the primary naval defenders of Melbourne. Many of ELECTRA’s crew and guns were deployed to assist in suppressing the Eureka uprising in November 1854 (these events are related in the ship’s 1852–57 log, held by the State Library of Victoria). After he left LILY, Howorth was promoted to Lieutenant (1856) and Commander (1867). His postings include the Crimean War (1855), China (1859–63), the West Indies and North Atlantic (1873–75), where he became involved in surveying and overseeing fishing rights and the independence of Newfoundland. For this reason he is recorded in the Canadian Dictionary of Biography.
The 1855 log of HMS LILY is therefore linked not only with transhipment of gold during the height of the 1850s rush, but also with maritime defence of the nascent colony of Victoria and one of the pivotal events in the development of Australian democracy.SignificanceThe log of brig-sloop HMS LILY directly connects Britain’s Royal Navy with several significant developments in Australian history. In 1854 the author, Midshipman William Howorth, was stationed aboard HMS ELECTRA in Port Phillip Bay. It was the primary warship tasked with protecting the city of Melbourne at the height of the 1850s gold rushes. Howorth is believed to have been among the naval shore parties sent to Ballarat to suppress the Eureka uprising in December 1854.
Written during the Crimean War between Britain and Russia, the log of HMS LILY reminds us of the importance of British maritime supremacy in maintaining the security and profitability of the Australian colonies.
1857
