National Maritime Museum grant
to finish Lady Denman deck
They did not expect it to operate for more than 20 years, but the 1911-built Lady Denman ferry is
nearly ready for its 100th birthday.
Using a $4745 grant from the Australian National Maritime Museum and some enthusiastic
volunteer labour, shipwrights have replaced the old deck of New Zealand Kauri with more durable
Oregon.
The new deck will enable visitors to safely experience the vessel on board.
“Lady Denman has always been a vessel of the people,” said Museum Director at the Lady Denman
Heritage Complex Robyn Williams. “A major attraction of the new deck is that visitors can get the
feeling of being on a real ferry out at sea.”
The deck was one of the recommendations laid out in a 2006 conservation report funded by the
National Maritime Museum.
Lady Denman is one of the last surviving wooden double-ended ferries in Australia.
Built in Huskisson in 1911, it was intended that the vessel service the Lane Cove and Parramatta
river routes until the Sydney Harbour Bridge opened in the early 1930s.
However, it joined the Sydney Ferries fleet after the bridge opened and went onto service smaller
routes like Taronga Zoo until its retirement in 1979.
The vessel might have been lost to history entirely without the determination of a group of
Huskisson maritime enthusiasts who recognised its potential as a tourist attraction.
Their mission appeared challenged to say the least. They had no funding, no site and no
certification for the ferry.
Their first attempt to tow the leaky vessel to Jervis Bay failed to get far beyond Sydney Heads. On
their second mission in 1981, they stole out of Sydney Harbour in the dead of night only to hit bad
weather at Jervis Bay.
They reached the port of Huskisson with the assistance of a local Navy Frigate whose captain
reluctantly agreed to tow the vessel. “It was in a terrible state at the time,” explained Robyn
Wright.
The vessel has since evolved into a major cultural complex in the region.
“Lady Denman Ferry has an intriguing history,” said Australian National Maritime Museum
Director, Mary Louise Williams. “We are pleased to be able to support its preservation through the
Maritime Museums of Australia Project Support Scheme (MMAPPS).”
The MMAPPS scheme, which the museum funds with Australian Government’s Distributed
National Collection Program, helps regional museums, community groups and volunteers to
promote and protect Australian maritime heritage. For more information, phone (02) 9298 3777 or
12 February 2010
Australian National Maritime Museum - Bill Richards (02) 9298 3645; 0418 403 472
Images and interviews are available upon request from brichards@anmm.gov.au
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