Extract from the logbook of the Queensland Government Steam Yacht Lucinda kept by the Chief Engineer on the voyage from Dumbarton towards Brisbane

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Background

Commissioned in 1884 to replace the ageing government steamer Kate, the QGSY Lucinda arrived in Brisbane during May 1885 to a rousing reception. Named in honour of Jeannie Lucinda Field, second wife of Governor Sir Anthony Musgrave, the steamer was used for ministerial visits along the coast, Cabinet meetings on the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay, picnic outings for various associations and excursions for school children. The Lucinda was also flagship of the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron. A high point came in 1891 when the vessel conveyed Premier Sir Samuel Walker Griffith to Sydney, where he attended the National Australian Convention to discuss federation of the Australian colonies. Griffith was elected Vice-President of the Convention and Chairman of the Constitutional Committee, charged with the task of drawing up a draft Constitution. Griffith and his colleagues completed their work during a cruise to the Hawkesbury River on board the Lucinda. The government vessel was involved in a far less happy incident in 1896, when the ferry Pearl ran onto her anchor chain in the Brisbane River and capsized with the loss of 57 lives: it remains as Australia’s worst river tragedy. The Lucinda was withdrawn from government service in 1921 and sold two years later for use as a coal barge. In 1937 the vessel joined a number of other hulks forming a breakwater on the artificial Bishop Island near the mouth of the Brisbane River.

 

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