Elizabeth Bass

Elizabeth Bass, born in 1768, was the eldest daughter of William Waterhouse and his wife Susanna. Her brother Henry was a naval officer and rose to the rank of captain. She married George Bass, naval surgeon and explorer, in secret on 8 October 1800, at St James's Church, Piccadilly, London. They had no children. George Bass embarked on a commercial voyage to Australia soon after their marriage, but never returned. Elizabeth died in 1824.

George Bass

George Bass, born in 1771, was the only child of tenant farmer George Bass and his wife Sarah. Bass attended grammar school and then was apprenticed to a surgeon's apothecary. He was admitted to the Company of Surgeons by 1789 and went on to pass the qualifying examination for naval surgeons in the same year. In 1794 he joined Reliance, under the command of Captain Henry Waterhouse. Reliance was bound for New South Wales to deliver Governor John Hunter to the colony. Matthew Flinders was also on this voyage, and whilst in the colony Bass and Flinders conducted several exploratory expeditions. They charted and explored many rivers and bays, including the Derwent River. They also produced the first chart of Van Diemen's Land and the Bass Strait. Suffering poor health, Bass returned to England in 1799 and obtained leave from the navy to return to Australia to undertake a commercial venture. He married Elizabeth Waterhouse shortly before sailing in 1800. The venture did not go well, and unable to sell the cargo, Bass set sail for South America in 1803. He was never heard from again and was presumed dead.

Philip Bowes Vere Broke

Philip Bowes Vere Broke was born in 1776 at Broke Hall in the small village of Nacton, near Ipswich, Suffolk. Broke was the eldest son and heir of a family of three sons and five daughters. He trained at the Naval Academy at Portsmouth before entering the navy in 1792, joining the sloop Bulldog as a midshipman under Captain George Hope. Broke then received a commission as third lieutenant aboard the frigate Southampton on 18 July 1795.