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(continued)
PART TWO
The
Voyage to Australia
Immigrant Ship Papers
for the Amazon provide a unique insight into the conditions onboard the vessel as she made her way
to South Australia. The
papers include a brief description on the ship, the accommodation and diet of
the emigrants, the surgeon’s reports, and many
other things of interest. According to the papers.
The Amazon
was moored at West India Dock (London) and was to be ready to be fitted out
for passengers by the
middle of October 1855. Her previous cargo was coffee.
The
Commissioners laid down specific conditions for the fitting out of the ship,
and the equipment to be carried.
The
ship is to be seaworthy and well found. She
shall also be provided with not less than two chronometers, (used for fixing
longitude at sea) with suitable anchors, cables (two of chain) lightning
conductors, an efficient fire engine and also fire annihilators, four
lifebuoys, a sufficient number of good boats, including a long boat, two
cutters, a life boat and a jolly boat, with a sufficient number of properly
fitted scuttles in each side of the ship, and such deck light ventilators and
ventilating apparatus as may be required...
Once the ship was fitted out, she was loaded with cargo. The cargo was
put onboard in London before she sailed to Plymouth to pick up her passengers.
The South Australian Register newspaper gave a good account of the
cargo she was to bring to South Australia.
Below are some of the items carried.
Fifty
cases of white wine, confectionery, two cases of candles, 100 cases of glass,
10 cases of cutlery, 8 bundles of broom handles, one case of books and
stationery, 33 casks of beer, agricultural implements, 2 cases of snuff, 2
trunks of boots and shoes, one winnowing machine, one dog cart, 50 boxes of
clay pipes, body of waggon wheels and drills, a cart and harness...
The Amazon ‘cleared out’ of London on the 30 November and sailed
the following day. She
arrived in Plymouth Sound on the 2nd of December 1855.
Back
home in Fowlmere the family would have been making their final preparations to
leave. Saying those final goodbyes to family, friends and neighbours must have
been hard, especially so
for Mary. She left behind
her father James, her sister and
five brothers when she
emigrated. Not long after her sister Susan and brother Frederick
joined her in South Australia.
The family
would have made their way to Plymouth by train. Moored in Plymouth harbour in readiness for the voyage to
Adelaide was the 791-ton Amazon. The ship was to be ready to receive her
passengers no later than the 10 December.
Food and drink, which included fresh meat and bread was to be provided
at the owner’s expense.
With the ship properly fitted-out and all the necessary provisions
placed onboard, there was a problem.
There were not enough emigrants to fill up the ship.
This resulted in a delay of departure until the required number of
emigrants could be found. The South
Australian Register newspaper reported the matter on the 7 April 1856, which
coincidently was the day the Amazon arrived in Port Adelaide. The article
was written in England by a British newspaper correspondent and dated the 20
December 1855.
Emigration
is at a standstill. The
Commissioners have now three ships for your colony lying, two at Southampton
and one at Plymouth, for which they are unable to find emigrants.
The Violet has been at Southampton ever since the 22nd of November, and
is now on demurrage; so also is the Amazon at Plymouth; the Auroa at the
former port has still some “lay days” to run; each is short of the minimum
number. The Commissioners have,
however, at length done what they should have done years since, viz, sent a
special officer into the country districts to select emigrants.
Mr. Chant, the dispatching officer at Birkenhead, who has had the
entire selection of the Scotch emigrants for the Highland Society under Sir
Charles Trevelyan, has been sent into Wales, and he has already sent forward
45 emigrants to Plymouth for the Amazon, which it is expected will enable her
to get away at last...
The following is another of the above correspondent’s reports.
Although it was dated London, January 7th 1856, it too was published in
the Register the day the family arrived.
Emigration
is almost brought to a standstill. One
ship has departed for Adelaide since my last letter, (20 Dec.) viz, the
Amazon, which sailed from Plymouth on the 2nd inst, having onboard 45 married
couples, 79 children, 94 single men, and 35 single women, making a total of
298 souls, equal to 255 statute adults. Of
these 212 were English, 22 Scotch, and 64 Irish.
The
Commissioners have been compelled to put off the sailing of most of the ships
at present under engagement, for periods varying from 10 days to three weeks,
from their inability to obtain a sufficient number of emigrants. Mr. Chant, who is still in Wales, has been very successful in
obtaining candidates, and the Commissioners have sent another gentleman from
Park street into the north of England for the same purpose.
They have also reduced the amount of payment required for your colony
(South Australia) to the amount in force for Victoria.
With two hundred and ninety-eight
emigrants onboard,
their luggage stowed away in the hold, and the final farewells said, the
Amazon made its way out of Plymouth harbour and into the English Channel.
When she set sail on
Wednesday 2 January, there were
thirteen members of our family onboard. They spanned three generations
and were the largest family group on the ship. Charles’s mother Elizabeth at
65 was the oldest immigrant. Charles
was 44 and Mary was 43. Their
children’s ages were, Alfred 21, Charles junior 20, William 18, Harriet 16,
Arthur 14, Allen 12, Elizabeth 9, Mary 7, Stephen 5 and Frederick the youngest
family member was 2. On the passenger list, Charles and his three eldest sons
Alfred, Charles and William’s occupations were given as labourers. The term
labourer included agricultural or farm workers.
Elizabeth senior and Harriet gave their occupations as (domestic)
servants.
The
occupations of the ship’s emigrants were as follows. Ninety-three labourers,
three shoemakers, one joiner (furniture maker) one wheelwright (maker or
repairer of wagon wheels) one brickmaker, fourteen carpenters, six masons,
eight miners, one baker, one smith, one miller, three gardeners, two
bricklayers, one sawyer (timber cutter) one cooper (maker or repairer of
casks) and two servants. Of
the female emigrants thirty-three were domestic servants and two
were seamstresses.
Before sailing from Plymouth and for the first couple of days after
sailing, each adult emigrant received one and a half pounds of fresh bread,
two thirds of a pound of fresh meat, a pound of potatoes
and a suitable supply of vegetables.
They were also entitled to tea, coffee, sugar and butter.
Under
full sail and headed out into the North Atlantic Ocean the
emigrants entrusted their lives to the officers and crew of the ship.
The ship’s captain was Frederick Coote, the Chief Mate Christopher
Johnston, and the Issuer of Stores James Owens.
The crew numbered about 27, half of which had to be able
bodied seamen. They were to
receive the same rations as the emigrants and if required had access to
medical attention from the surgeon.
As far as the emigrants were concerned one of the most important people
onboard the ship was Dr Doman the ship’s doctor.
He was appointed to look after the health and welfare of all those
onboard. His responsibilities were wide ranging. Among other things he was responsible for ensuring
the cleanliness of the vessel and making sure that the quality and
quantity of the food was
adequate. He
was required to maintain
discipline and
settle any disputes that would inevitably arise from time to time.
Dr. Doman was entitled to his own cabin and a pint of ‘good’ wine
each day. He and other first class passengers dined with the captain at the
captain’s table. This was Dr. Doman’s fourth voyage as
surgeon-superintendent. He received 12 shillings for each emigrant who
survived the voyage.
Elizabeth Morson was the ship’s nurse and Thomas Cook was the
hospital assistant. Eliza Goodrich was the matron.
Her primary responsibility was to supervise the single women onboard.
Eliza was either selected or volunteered for the role of matron.
She appears on the passenger list as a 30 year old, unmarried domestic
servant from Middlesex. The
immigration agent reported that the matron ‘acted well’ and as such
received five shillings for services rendered.
The
sub-matron was Charlotte Daly. She too was from Middlesex.
She was 29, single, and had worked as a servant.
Dr. Doman in his report on the behaviour of the passengers had this to
say...
With one or two exceptions
amongst the married people the general conduct has been good. The conduct of the single women has been very good with the
exception of three who have given the matron some trouble their names are Mary
Ann Prince, Alice Skinner and
Flora McLardy they being desirous of attracting the attention of the crew
whilst on the poop. I have found
it necessary to keep them below...
Mary Ann Prince 18, and Alice Skinner 28, were servants from Middlesex.
Flora McLardy 16 was from Renfrew, near Glasgow in Scotland.
She also gave her occupation as a servant. Keeping them below probably
meant that the young women were confined to the single women’s quarters in
the steerage.
Married men took on the role of ship’s constables.
Part of their job was
to patrol the married quarters at night as a safeguard against fire,
theft or anything else untoward. Forty-four
year old Charles Allwood a labourer from Middlesex was chief constable. Other constables were the labourer
William Mc Leary, 33, Charles Gray, a 34 year old
bricklayer, John Buckland 34, a carpenter from Hertfordshire, Henry
Jeffery, James Murphy and John Brazill a 32 year old, carpenter from Warwick.
Accommodation for the emigrants was in the ‘between decks’ or
steerage. The between deck, more commonly referred to as the steerage
was divided into three sections with a partition between each section.
One end of the steerage
accommodated the single females. They
were required to share a bunk, six feet by three feet. On
the passenger list we find
Elizabeth senior and her
granddaughter Harriet 16, listed together as single women.
They were part of the thirty-five
single females who shared accommodation together in the single women’s’
quarters.
Charles and
Mary together with Arthur, Allen, Elizabeth, Mary-Ann, Stephen and Frederick
shared accommodation
in the married persons quarters with forty-five other married couples
and their seventy-three children. There
were thirty-four boys and thirty-seven
girls between the ages of one and twelve.
There were two male and five female infants under the age of one.
Married couples were allocated a bunk six feet by three feet, which
they shared. The bunk below was occupied by two
of their children. There
was very little privacy with the sleeping arrangements.
On either side of a couple were another couple separated by a plank.
Sometimes this plank ran from the floor of the deck to the ceiling.
In some ships this dividing plank was no more than twenty-three inches
high. Where curtains were fitted
as they were in the Amazon, these were suspended on rings and could be drawn
across the open ends or sides of the bunks.
Alfred 21, Charles 20 and William 18 were listed as single men.
They were part of the ninety-four single males who were housed together
in the single men’s quarters. The
single men’s bed space was six feet by two feet, a foot narrower than the
space allocated for couples. This
was because single men were required to sleep alone.
Accommodation onboard the Amazon was no doubt similar
to the accommodation provided on many other sailing ships for that
period. Government immigrants ate, slept and passed away the
hours in the steerage.
The steerage
in the Amazon was one
hundred and thirty six feet, by twenty-eight feet four inches
at its widest part. The
height between decks (head space for the passengers) was seven feet two
inches.
In many
immigrant ships the beds in the steerage were double bunks, which ran all the way round
the sides of the vessel. When
in position, feet pointed towards the centre of the ship.
Beneath the lower bunk was
a space of about six inches to store some of the passenger’s belongings.
Meals were eaten in the steerage on
a long central table that often ran the length of the between decks area. The
seats were fixed on both sides of the table.
The edge of the table was raised to stop knives and forks and the plates with the emigrant’s
meals on them from disappearing over the edge, in heavy seas. When the weather was fine, passengers quite
often chose to eat their meals on deck.
Joshua Fergo was the ship’s cook and Tobias Blackler his assistant.
Blackler was a 23-year-old, labourer from Middlesex, England.
He either volunteered or was selected from the passengers to act as the
cook’s assistant. Just three
weeks after landing in Adelaide he sailed for Portland, Victoria on the White
Swan.
On some immigrant ships each adult passenger was given a mess form
which listed what he and his family were entitled to. This ensured that he or
she would not be short changed by the issuer of stores.
This was all very good provided the immigrant could read.
The Issuer of Stores on our ship was James Owens. He was to be paid
one shilling for each immigrant landed alive.
He was paid fourteen pounds and seventeen shillings in wages for
his hard work.
As far as meals were concerned each passenger was allocated the
following rations during the voyage.
Sunday’s rations included eight ounces of biscuit, 8 ounces of
preserved meat, 6 ounces flour, 3 ounces of oatmeal, 2 ounces of raisins, one
and a half ounces of suet, 4 ounces of preserved potatoes, 1/4 ounce tea 2
ounces of treacle and 3 quarts of water.
‘As
for the biscuits which figure so largely in the dietary and in immigrant’s
complaints, these were four inches square and at least an inch thick.
They were baked very hard, presumably as a way of preserving them, and
that made it impossible to bite them.’
Monday: The immigrants received eight ounces of biscuit, eight ounces
of pork. The pork had to be prime
Irish India pork, six ounces of flour, 3 ounces of oatmeal, 1/4 of a pint of
peas. The peas must be issued in a cooked state, as the surgeon may direct.
Half an ounce of ground coffee, 4 ounces of sugar, 1/4 ounce tea, 2 ounces of
butter and 3 quarts of water.
Tuesday’s
rations were much the same as the previous days.
The obligatory eight ounces of biscuit
(biscuit was on the menu every day) eight ounces of preserved meat, six ounces
flour, three ounces of oatmeal, two ounces of raisins, one and a half ounces
of suet, four ounces of rice, a quarter of an ounce of tea, two ounces of
treacle and three quarts of water.
Wednesday’s rations included eight ounces of biscuit
six ounces of pork, six ounces flour, three ounces of oatmeal, 1/4 of a
pint of peas, half an ounce of ground coffee, four ounces of sugar and three
quarts of water.
Thursday. Eight ounces of
biscuit, eight ounces of preserved meat, six ounces flour, three ounces of
oatmeal, two ounces of raisins, one and a half ounces of suet, four ounces of
preserved potatoes, a quarter of an ounce of tea, two ounces of treacle and
three quarts of water.
Friday. Eight ounces of biscuit
six ounces of pork, six ounces flour, three ounces of oatmeal, 1/4 of a
pint of peas, half an ounce of ground coffee, four ounces of sugar, two ounces
of butter and three quarts of water.
Saturday. Eight ounces of biscuit, eight ounces of beef, (the beef had
to be prime new Irish or American East India beef) six ounces flour, three
ounces of oatmeal, two ounces of raisins, one and a half ounces of suet, four
ounces of rice, a quarter of an ounce of tea, two ounces of treacle and three
quarts of water.
In
addition to the above the immigrants received each week one gill of mixed
pickles, 1/2 an ounce of mustard, 2 ounces of salt and 1/2 an ounce of pepper.
Each person over the age of twelve
received six ounces of flour a day.
The flour was used by the immigrants to prepare bread for baking.
It was then taken to the baker for baking into bread and perhaps even
rolls. Baking tins and an oven
for baking the bread were
to be provided onboard. The ship employed a baker by the name of John Daly and
paid him to bake the
passenger’s bread.
On many immigrant ships the quality and quantity of the meals and water
left much to be desired. Large
quantities of water had to be carried onboard to cater for the passenger’s
needs. Storing water over any
length of time often resulted in the water turning foul.
Because of its scarcity supplies of water had to be rationed.
On the Amazon each person over the age of twelve received three quarts
a day.
The water and meals onboard the Amazon were according to the report
made by the emigration agent both ‘abundant
and good’ in terms of their quantity and quality. The report was made the
day after the ship landed at Port Adelaide.
Dr. Doman confirmed this in his report saying that that the provisions
and water were ‘ample and good’.
There were separate hospitals onboard for males and females. Each was
fitted out with beds and swing cots. Under
the direction of Dr. Doman, hospital patients were allowed additional daily
supplies of water. A detailed
list of medicines to be carried on the ship included; a tin bath, a set of
copper scales and weights, sponges, bed pans, saucepans of different sizes,
trusses for hernia, disinfecting powder, scissors an enema apparatus and a
bleeding porringer. All volatile medicines and acids were to be put in stopper
bottles.
After
one month at sea
a young boy by the name of Frederick Buckland died.
His death was attributed to inflammation of the lungs. Inflammation of
the lungs referred to pneumonia and related diseases.
He died on the 2 February, age just two years. Burials at sea usually
involved wrapping the body in
canvas, adding weights and placing it overboard following the
funeral service. In the
absence of a clergyman onboard, the ship’s captain would conduct the
service.
According to Dr. Doman…
There has not been any
sickness of any consequence- a few cases of diarrhoea at the early part of the
voyage. Some cases of dysentery
after reaching the 40th degree south latitude where we often experienced thick
foggy weather.
The days and nights spent onboard revolved around a
well-established routine, which may have helped relieve the boredom of being
confined to the ship for 3 months. The day began at 7 am when every passenger
was expected to rise. They
dressed, rolled up their beds, swept the decks including the space beneath the
bottom bunk, and threw the dirt overboard.
No breakfast until this was done.
Breakfast was between 8 and 9am. Dinner was at 1pm and supper at 6pm.
The
passengers had to be in their beds by 10pm, when the lights went out.
Three safety lamps were lit at dusk, at least one was to be kept
burning all night in the main hatchway. The
emigrant had to ensure that his berth was
brushed out, the beds were shaken
well and aired on deck at least twice a week. Two days in the week were
appointed as washing days. The
clothing was to be washed and dried on the deck weather permitting.
Every third or fourth week the passengers were able to choose what
clothing and luggage they wanted brought up from the hold. On Sunday the
passengers were to be mustered on deck at 10 am where they were expected to
appear clean and dressed in decent clothes. Divine service was held
‘regularly’ each Sunday weather permitting on the deck. In the absence of
a clergyman, the service was conducted by the captain.
On many emigrant ships it wasn’t uncommon for non-conformists to hold
their own services in the steerage.
The passengers were able to use the upper deck for exercise and to
escape the crowded and
uncomfortable conditions in the steerage. For the children with so much idle
time on their hands, attending school while at sea
was an great opportunity to
learn to read and write. Attendance at school does not appear to have been
compulsory, with many children on the Amazon deciding not to attend.
The teachers onboard emigrant ships appear to have been appointed from
among the passengers. They were paid a gratuity or bonus in carrying out their
responsibilities. The
schoolmaster on the Amazon was William Henry Morson.
He was paid a gratuity of 5 shillings for teaching the children.
Lessons were, weather permitting, held on
deck. This presented
its own problems as is evident in Dr. Doman’s report.
The only suggestion I have to
make is that if possible a portion of the ship be fitted up for a school.
The difficulty of fixing the attention of the children was found very
great. The surrounding objects
constantly attracting their attention. I
would have used the washhouse but that I found it operated for the single
females. Thereby preventing the
necessity of their washing on the deck and the possibility of the sailors
mingling with them.
I think if such a plan could be adopted, the school would be attended
with greater benefit.
He went on to say that school
was ‘Attended with tolerable regularity.
Average numbers thirty-seven. Tolerable
results.’
The
Immigration agent commented
in his report that the schoolmaster ‘acted
well’, and that there were as far as complaints among the immigrants
‘None, except a dispute between the schoolmaster and another occupant.’
According
to Dr. Doman the behaviour
of the passengers during the voyage was good with the exception of several of
the young women and a number of young men.
I
have had a great deal of trouble with some of the young men who are of very
dirty and disorderly habits.
The
regulations have been very well observed, but amongst the single men I have
had to enforce things especially with regard to keeping their part of the ship
clear. None were reported for
punishment.
The only newspaper report of
the Amazons voyage to Australia appeared in the South Australian Register.
‘Miscellaneous’
The
voyage of the emigrant ship Amazon, elsewhere reported has been protracted by
a continuance of light winds. After
the departure from Plymouth the equator was reached in 30 days, and the
longitude of the Cape of Good Hope in 60 days.
The logbook entries of vessels spoken during the voyage do not happen
to posses any interest here.
An
event, which the family would no doubt have witnessed just two days short of
landing in Port Adelaide, was a solar eclipse.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly between the sun
and the earth, casting a shadow on the earth.
While a partial eclipse of the sun is of little scientific interest, a
total eclipse is quite rare, of great importance and
stunningly beautiful.
Charles
Todd, the Superintendent of the Magnetic Telegraph, wrote to the Editor
of the Register newspapers with his
account of the event.
The
wind throughout was very light, at times dying away to a calm.
It was southwest at 1.16 pm and gradually veered round to S.S.E by 5.33
pm. About
one tenth of the sky was covered with cloud between 1 and 2 o’clock
but less during the eclipse. Fine cumuli over the hills, patches of cirri and detached
cumuli here and there. A few
light clouds round the sun at sunset....
It
will be seen that the temperature of the air in the sun at the commencement of
the eclipse was about 89 degrees, and declined to 76 degrees shortly after the
greatest phase, after which it again rose to 83 degrees at the end of the
eclipse...
The
diminution of light was probably not so great as many of your readers
anticipated. All however must
have been struck with the peculiar somber (sic) hue of the sky and country,
altogether unlike that arising from the sun’s setting, when the
predominating red rays of the spectrum give a gorgeous glowing tinge to every
object. Towards the middle of the
eclipse the clouds became darkened, and very sharply defined.
In a room facing the N.N.E it was difficult to read small print.
The fowls manifested a desire to roost.
Venus, I believe, was visible to the naked eye, although I did not see
her myself.
This eclipse which began at 2.35 pm Saturday afternoon,
and ended at 4:51pm, was visible throughout Australia and was total in some
parts of the world.
The South Australian Register newspaper reported the arrival of the
Amazon in Port Adelaide on Wednesday 9 April.
The
Amazon. This government emigrant
ship, from Plymouth January 2, arrived as reported, after a voyage of 95 days,
which has been thus protracted by a prevalence of light winds. The
total number of souls arrived is 298, being one less than the number embarked,
which was not increased by any births during the voyage.
The only death was occasioned by inflammation of the lungs.
No sickness is reported; the emigrants, as a body, are described as
well suited to the requirements of the colony, and the surgeon superintendent
reports very favourably of the demeanour and general conduct of those
entrusted to his care...
Once docked
in Port Adelaide the passengers had fourteen working days to find alternate
accommodation or work before they had to leave the ship.
According to the immigration agent…
All the people were engaged before the termination of
the 14 days. The demand for
single men agricultural was steady, preference being given to the English.
Mechanical were not much in demand.
Single female domestics English were much sought after.
The objection to Irish was very general.
On the 3 May the Amazon sailed
without passengers for Guam
a small island in the western Pacific Ocean.
©
R J Sherwood. 2001
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