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Otago (barque)

1869 three-masted iron merchant ship

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionDec 16, 2025
Entity authoritySource title only
Source-derived summary

Otago was a three-masted iron merchant ship of 367 gross register tons (GRT). The Otago was built in Glasgow, launched in 1869, and sailed initially to New Zealand in 1871. The ship was sold to Adelaide businessmen in December 1871 and then remained in Australian management and was scrapped near Hobart.

Editorial summary

“Otago (barque)” enters the record as 1869 three-masted iron merchant ship. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Otago, barque and three-masted can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1869, 1871—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Otago, barque and three-masted.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Otago (barque)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Otago, barque and three-masted provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 16, 2025. The first chronological checks are 1869 and 1871.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Otago (barque)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Otago (barque) primary sources, Otago (barque) archive and Otago research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Otago (barque)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.