Historic sail trading vessel celebrates 158th birthday

Birthday celebrations for May Queen at Constitution Dock, Hobart

On Friday 6th June, the 158th birthday of SV May Queen was celebrated by a large crowd of supporters at Constitution Dock in Hobart, Tasmania.

Patron of the May Queen Trust, federal MP for Clark Andrew Wilkie, was joined by relatives of past crew, descendants of previous owners, volunteers and supporters, and members of southern Tasmanian communities, many of whom remembered the exciting arrival of a trading ketch carrying who knew what goods from Hobart for the local store.

May Queen under sail during a regatta in 1911

May Queen is Australia’s oldest surviving sail trading vessel. It was built at Franklin, on the banks of the Huon River, in 1867 and spent the next 105 years working between Hobart and southern Tasmanian communities.

With shallow draft and retractable centreboard, ketches could navigate the shallow reaches of creeks and rivers to deliver cargo and passengers, and collect sawn timber and apples, the staple products of these remote coastal townships.

Crew and owners developed great pride in their ketch, and ketches were raced at annual Regattas throughout the south of Tasmania as well as the Royal Hobart Regatta. Here, ketches competed for the coveted ‘Cock of the River’, a trophy May Queen first won in the year after its launching in 1868!

May Queen at Constitution Dock, Hobart

Today, May Queen is cared for by a team of enthusiastic and hard-working volunteers and is moored opposite Maritime Museum Tasmania in Constitution Dock, the heart of Hobart’s historic waterfront.

More information on May Queen’s long life can be found at Maritime Museum Tasmania’s website, and on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels.