Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre will be the permanent home for all the artifacts and related materials from the HMS General Hunter Shipwreck Project.
Director, Cathy McGirr says the shipwreck hull was discovered buried on the Southampton Beach in 2002 and fully excavated in 2004. Until now, the artifacts found on the wreck have been the responsibility of Marine Archaeologist Ken Cassavoy who held them in trust for the people of Ontario.
They have been on display in a series of exhibits since 2005, but formal ownership was officially approved by the province earlier this month. The physical transfer of the remaining materials will take place over the next 12 months.
Cassavoy says he is extremely pleased with the official transfer arrangement which he and the Museum have been working on for years."This means the collection of artifacts from our rare Royal Navy shipwreck, along with all the excavation and research documents, wreck plans, photographs, and all other visual and physical materials will continue to be available to the general public, historians and researchers for all time. I know the General Hunter collection will be both appreciated and protected in the professional and very capable hands of the Museum staff. I couldn't be happier."
The British Royal Navy warship HMS General Hunter was built in Amherstburg on the Detroit River and came into Upper Great Lakes transport and patrol service in 1806. Six years later, the brig then played a very active role in the War of 1812 as part of the British/Canadian squadron on the Upper Great Lakes. During the war, General Hunter took part in numerous engagements including the capture of Detroit - before being lost to the U.S. Navy in the famous Battle of Lake Erie in 1813. After the war, the captured ship ended her days as a U.S. Army transport vessel when she came ashore in a violent Lake Huron gale on August 19, 1816. The shipwreck hull was discovered in 2002, fully excavated in 2004 and is now still buried under the protective sands of Southampton Beach, marked with a large descriptive plaque, serving as a headstone on the grave of a unique War of 1812 veteran.