‘Oliver Frost’, 1856

The ‘Oliver Frost’ was a 27-metre, 150-ton brigantine built in Canada in 1851.

She left Sydney on 3rd October 1856 and, during the next evening whilst travelling south, her skipper ‘fancied the schooner was going out of her proper course, but owing to the darkness of the night he could discover nothing wrong’.

Four hours later ‘he discovered she had lost her rudder. Breakers were then just ahead, and she shortly afterwards struck on a rocky reef, about half a mile from the shore’.

The ‘Oliver Frost’ was about nine miles south-east of Eden, off Mowarry Point.

The cutter ‘Ebenezer’ from Eden was chartered to transfer the ship’s cargo to Twofold Bay, because ‘it is anticipated the first strong easterly wind will break her up’.

The ‘Oliver Frost’s’ cargo included 29 packages of cigars, 241 tons of sugar, 50 casks of ale, 48 casks of beer, 33,000 feet of cedar, 30 tons of coal, 514 bags of maize, 252 bags of oats and 79 coils of manila rope. Most of the cigars, ale and manila rope were offloaded by the ‘Ebenezer’, as was some of the maize and oats. It seems all the cedar and the coal went down with the ship.