Exploration: James Kelly

Captain Kelly (1791 1859) was a dominant figure in seafaring and port activities during the formative years of Hobart. He made his living from whaling and sealing. Born on 24 December 1791 at Parramatta, New South Wales, He was probably the son of James Kelly, a cook in the convict transport Queen, and Catherine Devereaux, a convict transported for life from Dublin in the same ship.

Kelly was first apprenticed as a seaman in 1804 and sailed in vessels engaged in the sealing and sandalwood trades as well as making a voyage to India. In 1812 he was chief officer of the full-rigged ship Campbell Macquarie on a sealing voyage when the ship was wrecked on Macquarie Island. He became the first Australian-born master mariner with voyages in the sealing industry and general trade between Hobart and Sydney.

By 1814, Kelly was captain of the brig Sophia, which was involved in whaling for Dr T. W. Birch. On one outing was responsible for capturing five whales in the River Derwent. Captain Kelly was also the commander of the Henrietta Packet, another one of Birch's vessels, which was engaged in the sealing business. Around 1816 Birch and Kelly explored Port Davey, which was discovered by Kelly in 1815 when he voyaged around Tasmania in a whale boat.

Replica of the whale boat 'Elizabeth' in which Capt John Kelly sailed round Van Diemen's Land in 1815. It is on display at the Bass and Flinders Centre, George Town, Tasmania.

Kelly made the voyage around Tasmania in an open whale-boat with five oars, named Elizabeth. The party made the official discovery of Macquarie Harbour on the central west coast on 28 December 1815. Features within the harbour were named the Gordon River after the owner of the Elizabeth and Birchs Inlet after Kelly's employer and sponsor Thomas Birch. Birch was granted a monopoly to exploit Huon Pine on the west coast as a reward.

Meanwhile, another adventurous and enterprising seafarer, Dennis McCarty was investigating the coasts of Tasmania for opportunities for whaling or trading. McCarty had come to Tasmania from Norfolk Island as a convict and later became a constable and an inspector of government live stock.

As soon as McCarty heard of Captain Kelly's voyage around the island of Tasmania, he fitted out a schooner to explore the west caost more thoroughly. This schooner was unfortunately lost. However Dennis McCarty, undaunted set sail in the brig Sophia and entered Macquarie Harbour. It was after his return that he sold the Sophia to Birch, and she was commanded first by Captain Feen and then by Captain James Kelly in whose charge she made many voyages, some of them displaying the fine seamanship of her captain and the sturdiness of the little ship.

In November 1817, commanding Birch's Sophia, Kelly sailed on a sealing venture to New Zealand and entered Otago Harbour. With him was William Tucker who had settled in the area in 1815 and was returning. The harbour chief, Korako, would not ferry across Maori from Whareakeake, two miles north along the coast, where Tucker had established himself, and whose people now wished to receive their returning Pakeha's gifts. A few days later, when Kelly, Tucker and five others went in a long boat to Whareakeake they were at first received peaceably but then attacked.

In May 1819 Governor Macquarie confirmed Kelly's appointment as pilot and harbourmaster at the Derwent River. In December 1821 as master of the Sophia he assisted in transporting convicts to the newly established penal station at Macquarie Harbour, and in 1825 he helped to set up the secondary penal station on Maria Island. Business interests, mostly in whaling, banking and insurance, saw him resign from Government service in the late 1820s.

Kelly was financially ruined by the economic depression of the early 1840s and spent most of the remainder of his life back in the employ of the port authorities. He died suddenly in Hobart on 20 April 1859, survived by only three of his ten children.



Kelly's name is perpetuated by a number of geographical features including Kelly's Steps in Battery Point, Hobart, Kelly Basin at Macquarie Harbour, Kelly Island off Forestier Peninsula and Kelly Point on Bruny Island (later renamed Dennes Point).