Flinders Island to secure iconic vessel

• The Auxiliary Ketch Lady Jillian has been moored in Launceston since retiring from service in the 1990s.

July 26, 2023

By Rachel Williams 

An iconic Bass Strait trading ship, much maligned for its appearance in the Tamar River, is set to be a star attraction at a new history centre to be built on Flinders Island.

The Auxiliary Ketch Lady Jillian has been moored in Launceston since retiring from service in the 1990s. 

The Furneaux Maritime History Association is in the process of acquiring the 1948-built vessel, which joined the Flinders Island Shipping Co. fleet in 1964.

It will soon become a fixed artifact for the proposed Furneaux Maritime History Centre in Lady Barron. 

The late Les Dick’s son Warren has agreed to gift the Lady Jillian to the association, which is also in the process of acquiring a site at Sydney Cove Park in Lady Barron for
the centre.

Association secretary Peter Rhodes said it was hoped the “timeless artifact” could be relocated  later this year before the construction of the $3.6 million Safe Harbour. Safe Harbour is a joint Flinders Council and TasPorts initiative to improve access for visiting boats and yachts.

Funding and a timeline for the construction of the history centre is still being finalised with the project scope still being determined.

“We hope to raise the funds required through community support, cash and in-kind,” FMHA Secretary Peter Rhodes said.

“We will initiate fundraising shortly, hopefully when we lock in Council's support. We will submit the two relevant motions to the next Council meeting on July 26.

“When we get sufficiently ahead with our fundraising, have planning permits and are as close as possible to ‘shovel-ready’, we will submit an application for Federal assistance under a remote area funding program of some description.”