The Hope was a small ship of 16 tons owned by Solomon Wiseman

Solomon Wiseman

Solomon Wiseman was a convict, merchant and ferryman. The town called Wiseman's Ferry, New South Wales, Australia is named after him....

 which was wrecked at Port Stephens

Port Stephens

Port Stephens is a large natural harbour located about north-east of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. It lies wholly within the Port Stephens Local Government Area although its northern shoreline forms the boundary between the Port Stephens and Great Lakes LGAs...

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 in 1817.

The crew of two, Benjamin Waterhouse (previously mate of the Lady Nelson

Lady Nelson

The Royal Navy purchased Lady Nelson in 1799. She spent her career exploring the coast of Australia in the early years of the 19th century. She was the first known vessel to sail eastward through Bass Strait, the first to sail along the South coast of Victoria, as well as the first to enter Port...

) and James Cohen dropped anchor and rowed ashore to prospect for cedar

Cedar wood

Cedar wood comes from several different trees that grow in different parts of the world, and may have different uses.* California incense-cedar, from Calocedrus decurrens, is the primary type of wood used for making pencils...

. They did not return to their ship, with the presumption that they had been murdered by aborigines. The ship was subsequently blown ashore and wrecked.