Wrecks and relics

The booklet, Wrecks and Relics: Looking After Maritime Archaeological Finds in the Robe Region was generated as part of the museum’s ongoing Koning Willem de Tweede Shipwreck Project, and addresses Dutch connections to Robe’s maritime history, conservation and stabilisation of maritime cultural heritage, and relevant State and Commonwealth heritage legislation. While the booklet’s focus is on maritime archaeological finds in Robe and its surrounds, the conservation methods outlined within have wider applicability to shipwreck and other underwater artefacts in the waters of South Australia and beyond.

Koning Willem de Tweede was an 800-ton Dutch barque that wrecked near Robe, South Australia on 30 June 1857 with the loss of 16 lives. Only days prior to the loss, more than 400 Chinese miners destined for the gold fields at Bendigo and Ballarat in Victoria were discharged from the vessel.

The primary purpose of the project is to search for, locate, and archaeologically survey the remains of this historic shipwreck. In addition, the project team—in consultation with the local community—would like to document any privately- or publicly-held material recovered from the wreck site and provide conservation advice to assist in its future preservation. The booklet has been produced as an outcome of the latter initiative.

The Koning Willem de Tweede Shipwreck Project has been assisted by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Embassy of Kingdom of the Netherlands, Australia and was executed in collaboration with the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands.