The wreck of the Zuytdorp, 1712

Public Lecture | Updated 10 years ago

An artists depiction of the wrecking of the Zuytdorp ship
An impression of the Zuytdorp ashore
Artwork by Stanley Hewitt

Presented by Dr Phillip Playford.

Part of the WA Museum’s 2014 In the Wild West Lecture Series.

The Zuytdorp, one of the great ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), disappeared after leaving the Cape of Good Hope in April 1712. Its wreck was found by Tom Pepper in 1927 and was positively identified as that of the Zuytdorp by Phil Playford in 1954.

The third and final voyage of the Zuytdorp had been disastrous long before it was wrecked at the foot of towering cliffs near Kalbarri. 

Join Dr Phil Playford as he describes the story of identifying the Zuytdorp, and presents his conclusions that survivors of the wreck may have joined with local Aborigines to become the first European inhabitants of Australia.

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