Thanks to the hint about Peter Petrie from Phil - I have been busy looking into Peter Petrie who Captained the Drummore & Betsey amongst other ships which went out to Australia but couldn't prove it was my Peter Petrie.
I eventually found in a Times Article the evidence to put this Peter Petrie in Australian waters & fills in a lot of his history for me - so thank you Phil for he prompt.
The Times article was about the trial he was involved in (see below) but it explains how he had been at sea since 1803 & was in the Navy in 1807 where he passed from the rank of midshipman to Lieutenant during the war & "being without any influence to assist his advancement", he entered the merchant service in 1816 after retiring from the Navy on half pay . He was "some time a ship carpenter" in Liverpool but found it unprofitable and moved to the Isle of Man
The following article talks about the court case he was involved in:
The Maitland Mercury, and Hunter River General Advertiser Saturday 11 August 1855
Page 2
INSURANCE OF GOLD DUST.-At Liverpool assizes, on the 14th of April, Mr. Peter Petrie sued Mr. Ellis, a London underwriter, for his proportion of £3.200, insured by a Policy of Insurance on a box of Gold dust. The case was singular. Mr. Petrie bought a small vessel in 1852 to make a speculative voyage to Australia ; he made a good deal of money by selling goods and conveying passengers between Adelaide and Melbourne, and he also got something by a gold-digging trip ; when about to return to England, he wrote over for insurances to be effected here on the ship, cargo, and treasure. In the British Channel the weather was bad at night, and there was much shipping about ; to warn other vessels of his proximity, he burnt a blue light ; by some means a blue light in a box of lights in Mr. Petrie's cabin took fire ; a barrel of gunpowder was stowed there ; he thought this would explode ; he managed to hurl the burning light from the cabin, but other things had then caught fire ; amid the flames, he seized a box of gold-dust, hurried on deck, and orderedall bands to the boats. In attempting to enter one of these, he stumbled, and the box of gold fell into the sea. It seems that the fire in the cabin was then putout, the box of blue lights thrown overboard, and the ship was brought safely to port. Mr. Petrie lost his eyesight, by entering the cabin to save the gold. As the box had been thus lost on the voyage, he sought to recover its value from the insurers. Witnesses were called to support the story told by the plaintiff. ....The jury returned a verdict for the amount claimed.- Herald, Aug. 9.
I hope this is of interest Phil.
regards
Liz
