The Rosetta Joseph vessel struck Elizabeth Reef on 1 December 1850 (180km north of Norfolk Island) when on a voyage from San Francisco to Sydney.
The vessel left San Francisco on 15 October 1850 with 48 crew and passengers with a cargo of 100 cases of anchovies, 2 casks of ginger, a large quantity of cedar, 3 houses and 1 case of daguerreotype apparatus (an early camera).
On the day following the wreck, all hands set to preparing the ship's long boat, jolly boat and pinnace for what was to be a most testing open boat voyage. There were 28 people in the long boat, fourteen in the pinnace and five in the jolly boat. They set sail and steered a course for Lord Howe Island on 3 december. Three days after the ship was lost, the skies bcame cloudy and a nort-west wind increased to a gale.
By 6 December much of the bread had been damaged and they were carried along on a strong current setting to the north-west.
It was not until 10 December that they sighted Port Macquarie and some hours later were safely ashore.
The 27 metre wooden barquentine was built at the Manning River by Moses Joseph, New South Wales in 1847 and was registered in Sydney.The vessel was reportedly made of the best materials and with very good sailing qualities.
(Source: Shipwreck Atlas of New South Wales pB16)