[1] The ship was probably[weasel words] named after Anna Maria Elliot, the wife of Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto, a Scottish politician who was Governor-General of India between 1807 and 1813.
[2] An alternative story suggests that it was named after Margaret, wife of Gilbert's brother, Hugh Elliot, a diplomat and Governor of Madras from September 1814 to June 1820.
According to Loney (Wrecks on the Queensland Coast, 1993, p. 31) the Lady Elliot left Sydney for Batavia (Jakarta) in late September 1816 but did not arrive.
Wreckage at the mouth of a small creek at Cardwell was identified as the Lady Elliot, and it was presumed that all on board were lost.
Paterson states that the identification of wreckage at the mouth of a creek 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north of Cardwell was later found to be false, as the Lady Elliot was finally wrecked near the Caroline Islands.