Figurehead, Post Boy
Figurehead from Postboy, a two-masted wooden schooner of 62 tons, built in Port Adelaide in 1874 by John Lowen for John Kuhl & Partners.
The schooner Postboy traded in South Australian waters for 33 years. Originally built as a two masted schooner it was later rigged as a ketch and regularly traded between Port Adelaide and the Gulf ports. It is believed that the figurehead was a later addition to the vessel.
On 15 December 1876, on a voyage to Port Adelaide from Port MacDonnell with a cargo of bark and stone ballast, the vessel capsized in a sudden squall off Glenelg. Six people perished, including the captain. The first mate hung onto a dinghy for several hours before being rescued by the yacht, Hygeia. The vessel was retrieved and refloated in March 1877. Postboy was driven ashore again while loading wheat at Minlacowie in August 1895. It was refloated and repaired at Port Adelaide. It continued its career as a trading vessel before finally grounding at Arno Bay in 1907.
The figurehead is a rare and aesthetically striking remnant from one of the mosquito fleet. Small vessels such as ketches were not normally adorned with figureheads.
Associated locations: Port Adelaide, Port Macdonnell, Glenelg, Minlacowie, Arno Bay