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Embarked 376 men |
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Voyage 111 days |
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Deaths 4 |
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Surgeon' Journal:
Yes Tons: 756
Previous vessel:
Royal Sovereign
arrived 19 January 1834
Next vessel:
Parmelia
arrived 2 March 1834
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Master Henry Ager. Surgeon Superintendent Alick
Osborne
An article written in London in 1834 was later
printed in the Sydney Monitor -
On
Saturday morning the ship
Lloyds, Thomas Ward,
Esq., owner, left Woolwich for Sydney with 200
male convicts on board, who are under sentence
of transportation for life and for 14 years.
Among them are a number of the most desperate
thieves, housebreakers, and swell-mob men who
have, during their career, levied heavy
contributions on the inhabitants of this great
metropolis. A large ship called the Fairlie
belonging to Mr. Ward, has been hired by
Government, for the purpose of sending out 376
male convicts to the same colony - a larger
number than has yet been sent away in a single
vessel. She will sail in a few days; and, we
understand, that his Majesty's Government do
not intend to employ many convicts at the
hulks and about the dock yards in future; but,
in lieu thereof, those who may be hereafter
convicted and sentence to transportation, will
be sent to our penal settlements and be
compelled to labour hard on the public works
in the Colonies.
The Fairlie
was the next convict ship to leave England
after the departure of the Amphitrite
in August 1833. The Fairlie departed
England on the
27 October 1833.
Alick Osborne kept
a Medical Journal
from 17 September 1833 to 8 March
1834...........
'In November on approaching the equator,
the fever made its appearance to a
considerable extent exhibiting a different
type according to constitution and habit in
the patient; with soldiers inflammatory and
prisoners low fever. It may be necessary for
me to state in accounting for medical
comforts, that it was my uniform practice to
have a bottle of broth prepared every day, two
or three pounds of barley and a canister of
meat; and what was not actually required for
patients in the hospital distributed in
portions among the aged and infirm. Two women
belonging to the Guard were confined on board
and another suckling an infant. They were
liberally supplied with every comfort at my
disposal.
On Christmas day and twelfth day, that
the prisoners might partake of the
exhilaration of the season, a few canisters of
preserved meat were added to the pea soup. I
beg here further to add the circumstance
of landing so many convicts in good health;
372 without a symptom of scurvy.'
The Military Guard
for the Fairlie consisted of 29 rank and file of 17th,
21st, 39th and 50th regiments including
soldiers Thomas Burgen, Joseph Crowden,
Michael Murphy, Patrick Conlon and Michael Scanlan; as well as 4
women, 12 children and 3 female servants.
Other
convict ships bringing detachments of the 21st
regiment included the
Asia,
Roslin Castle,
Java,
Bengal Merchant,
Camden,
Lloyds and
Mangles
The Fairlie
arrived in Port Jackson on
15 February 1834, a voyage
of 111 days. She was one of
fourteen convict ships arriving in New South
Wales in 1834.
The prisoners were mustered on board on 24th
February 1834 by the Colonial Secretary - 367
men mustered; sick on shore 3; committed for
trial 2; died at sea 4 ( Francis Long and
Francis Scaling + two others). The convict
indents include information such as name, age,
religion, education, marital status, family,
native place, occupation, offence, date and
place of trial, sentence, prior convictions
and physical description. There is also
occasional information regarding colonial
crimes and deaths and tickets of leave and
pardons. Twenty six of the prisoners were
under the age of 16. Two, - William Adams and
Edward Johnson were only 13 years old.
Distribution of
372 male convicts who arrived on the Fairlie
- 319 were assigned to private service; 3 in
hospital; 9 unfit for assignment; 24 placed in
an iron gang; 4 sent to Norfolk Island; 3 sent
to Port Macquarie (specials); 8 sent to
Carter's Barracks; and 2 in gaol committed for
trial. Eighty-seven men from the Fairlie
have been identified residing in the Hunter
region in the following decades. Find out more
about these men
HERE
Alick Osborne
was also employed as surgeon superintendent on
the convict ships
Lonach
in 1825,
Speke in
1826,
Sophia in
1829,
Sarah in
1829,
Planter in
1832,
Marquis of Huntley in
1835,
and
the
Elphinstone
in 1838
Find out more about bushranger Timothy Bowser
who arrived on the
Fairlie
Convict
Richard Herring did not last long in the
colony. He was 22 years old and gave his
occupation as merchant's clerk when he arrived
in February 1834. He was born in Lambeth c.
1812 and on 5th September 1833 was sentenced
at Middlesex to 14 years transportation for
embezzlement. After arrival in the colony, he
was sent to the
Phoenix hulk and while there met up with a
desperate character by the name of Henry Smith
who also had once been a merchant's clerk.
Herring and Smith together with two other
prisoners by the names of Michael Lahey and
Michael Lawless made their escape from the
Phoenix Hulk and robbed several
properties. Richard Herring was hung as a
bushranger on the 5th June 1834 just four
months after arrival.
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Embarked 200 |
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Voyage 150 days |
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Deaths 2 |
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Surgeon's
Journal: No Tons: 464
Previous vessel:
Lord Melville
arrived 24 February 1817
Next vessel:
Sir William Bensley
10 March 1817
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Master Henry
Dale. Surgeon Superintendent
John Mortimer
The Fame was built in Quebec in 1812.
The prisoners to be embarked on the Fame
came from different counties and cities in
England. After being transferred from various
county prisons they were held in prison hulks,
including the Leviathan and Perseus to await
transportation.
The Caledonian Mercury reported on
Saturday 28th September 1816 that on the
previous Wednesday 135 convicts were embarked
at Portsmouth for New South Wales, on board
the ship Fame and the next day 116
were sent to the Sir William Bensley
for the same colony. Both ships were expected
to sail immediately and planned to touch at
the Cape of Good Hope on the way.
The Fame was the
next convict ship to leave England for New
South Wales after the departure of the
Lord Melville in September 1816. The
Fame departed Spithead
9 October 1816
and arrived in Port Jackson
8 March 1817.
John Mortimer informed Governor Macquarie of
the state of the prisoners on arrival....While
I have to lament the decrease of our original
number of two by the demise of William
Collins an aged man of sixty five years
without much previous indisposition and of
William Banks an invalid from the day he
joined, it is satisfactory to state that
throughout the passage the prisoners and
others on board enjoyed good health and that
at this time our list is made up rather of the
debilitated than of their suffering from
actual disease.
The men were mustered by Captain Thomas Gill
on 11th March 1817. Captain Gill later
informed the Governor that... they are
generally country men, young and healthy, a
good proportion of carpenters but neither
stone cutters or stone masons and few other
mechanics of any useful description. They
appear to have been well treated both by the
Captain and Surgeon against whom no complaints
were made of any moment.
The prisoners
were landed on Friday Morning 14th March and
at 10 o'clock were inspected by Governor Macquarie; to whom they
unanimously declared that during the entire
passage they had experienced the most humane
treatment.
Thirty three men were assigned to the
Parramatta district, twenty to Liverpool and
twenty nine to the Windsor district.
Thirty privates and non-commissioned
officers of the 46th regiment under the orders
of Lieutenant Orange arrived as Guard on the Fame.
Passengers included Captain Thomas Laycock and
wife Isabella (nee Bunker) Laycock with their
two children. Isabella died soon after
arrival. Their daughter Margaret Hannah
Laycock was residing with Arnold Fisk and his
wife Mary Ann (nee Bunker) at Newcastle in
1828.
The Fame departed Port
Jackson bound for Batavia on 1st May 1817.
Frederick Rhodes
was assigned to
John
Howe on arrival. He accompanied Howe
on his expedition to the Hunter in 1820.
Hunter Valley Convicts arriving on the Fame 1817
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Embarked: 174 men |
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Voyage: 146 days |
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Deaths: 3 |
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Surgeon's Journal:
no Tons: 432
Previous vessel:
Baring
arrived 7 September 1815
Next vessel:
Mary Ann
arrived 19 January 1816
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Master
John Wallis. Surgeon Superintendent
William McDonald
The Fanny was built in the Thames in 1810.
Some Prisoners to be embarked on the
Fanny were held on the Justitia Hulk moored at
Woolwich prior to transportation. They included
Michael Scaysbrook, James Donohoe, Thomas Williams, George
Coates, George Beck, Harry Griffiths and Patrick Nowlan who
were all received on to the hulk on 22 March 1815 and
transferred to the Fanny on 7th August 1815. John Henry Capper
was Superintendent of Ships and Vessels employed for the
confinement of prisoners. He inspected the Justitia
Hulk around this time and made the
following report:
The
Fanny departed the Downs
25 August 1815 with 174
prisoners, called at Rio on 21st October - 30th October, and
arrived in Port Jackson
18 January 1816.
Thirty eight of the prisoners were under the age of 21 years.
The Fanny brought the news to the colonies of
'some
brilliant and important victories by the armies under the
Command of the Duke of Wellington, in Conjunction with those
of the allies, the King of Prussia, commanded by Prince
Blucher, terminating in the total Defeat of Bonaparte'.
Bonaparte had been sent to St. Helena under a strong guard
where he was to remain under the special care of a British
Regiment commanded by General Sir Hudson Lowe. A list of
killed and wounded officers was included in the Sydney
Gazette of the 20th January 1816. Included on the list of
severely wounded men was
Captain Henry
Dumaresq, Aide de Camp to General Sir J. Byng
The prisoners of the
Fanny were landed on Thursday 25th January with those
of the
Mary Ann; after being inspected by Governor
Macquarie, they were
appointed to the various occupations they appeared best
adapted to.
Goods imported on the Fanny included best
Brazil tobacco, fine old port, Jamaica rum, Hollands' gin,
gentlemen's hats, pine cheese, Gloucester hams, canvas,
seaming twine, sail needles, clothing, ale, Stockholm tar,
mould candles and men's shoes.
Among the 171 male
prisoners who arrived in Port Jackson on the Fanny was
surgeon Thomas Parmeter. Select here to find out more about
Thomas Parmeter
On the night of the 12th September 1816 ten prisoners of the
Guilford together with two men from the Fanny
Felix O'Neil and Manuel De Sylva,
and another from the Baring made a desperate bid to
escape from the Colony. They seized Simeon Lord's brig
Trial , Master William Burnett, which was at anchor near
the Sow and Pigs in Watson's Bay and sailed out of the
harbour.
Select here to find out more about the seizure of the Trial.
William
McDonald was also surgeon on the convict ship
Larkins
in 1817
The Fanny
departed Port Jackson bound for Batavia on 30th March 1817
Notes and Links:
Captain (Felton Robert William) Lathrop, whose trial and
conviction for bigamy at the Old Bailey, London in January
last after various ineffectual efforts for a mitigation of his
sentence sailed for Portsmouth in the last convict transport
for Botany Bay. (Belfast Newsletter 27 October 1815) More
about Lathrop at
Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
Hunter Valley convicts arriving on the Fanny in 1816
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Details of the convict ship Fanny are now on a separate
page.
Select here to find out more about the voyage and convicts
of the Fanny in 1833.
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Embarked 216 men |
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Voyage: 130 days |
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Deaths: 2 |
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Surgeon's Journal:
yes Previous vessel:
Sophia arrived 17 January
1829
Next vessel:
Mellish arrived 18 April
1829
 Follow the Irish Convict Ship Trail
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Captain John Groves. Surgeon
Superintendent
Charles Cameron
In
October 1828, it was reported in England that a detachment belonging to
the 82nd Regiment of Foot marched from Chatham to Sheerness, for the
purpose of relieving a detachment of the 63d Regiment of Infantry, which
had been ordered to embark on board the
Ferguson
convict ship, as guards, for New South Wales. The detachment of the 63rd
was under orders of Capt. D'arcy Wentworth.
The Ferguson
was the next convict ship to leave Ireland bound for New South Wales
after the departure of the
Sophia in September 1829. The Ferguson departed Dublin on
16th November 1828
and arrived in Sydney on Thursday
26th March 1829
with 214 male prisoners. Two prisoners died of scurvy on the voyage out.
Charles Cameron
kept a Medical Journal from 23 September to
8 April 1829. The prisoners were
already in a low state of health when they were embarked and bad weather
in the early part of the voyage caused many of them to suffer sea
sickness. Scorbutus (scurvy) had appeared in the prisoners and soldiers
by early March and although the cases were numerous, the surgeon did not
consider most of them serious.
On
26 March 1829 Charles Cameron reported that fresh beef
and vegetables being daily supplied to the prisoners, would improve the
general health of the scorbutic patients rapidly. The prisoners being
about to land on 29th March two men Thomas Ivory and Christopher Boylen,
were sent to the hospital and another four persons John Ryan, Hugh Ritchie, Patrick Quin, and John Clarke
sent as convalescents, as they were still too weak to be assigned as
servants to settlers.
Passengers arriving on
the Ferguson included Thomas Stafford Esq., D.A.C.G. Dr. Russell,
Assistant Surgeon of the 63rd Regiment, Ensign Dunbar of the 39th
Regiment, Mrs. Wentworth and Master James Henry who was travelling to
New South Wales to join his father.
Charles Cameron was
also employed as surgeon on the convict ships
Midas in
1825
Princess Charlotte
in 1827
and the David Lyon 1830 (to VDL)
Captain D'arcy Wentworth was
the
brother of
William
Charles Wentworth. He was ordered to proceed to Van Diemen's Land at
the earliest opportunity after arrival, and expected to sail on the
Tigress on the 31st March.
Captain D'Arcy Wentworth had the honour of being the first Australian
born person to be commissioned as an officer in the British Army.....find
out more at Australia's Redcoat Settlers
Read about the scurvy outbreak
on the Ferguson and how Charles Cameron treated it
Hunter Valley convicts arriving on the Ferguson in 1829
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Embarked 172 men |
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Voyage: 110 days |
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Deaths: 1 |
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Surgeon's Journal: yes
Tons: 453
Previous vessel:
Louisa arrived 3 December
1827
Next vessel:
Elizabeth arrived 12
January 1828
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Master J.T. Billett. Surgeon
Superintendent
James Dickson
The Florentia
was built at Newcastle UK in 1821. She brought prisoners to
New South Wales from different counties throughout England and
Scotland.
The
Florentia got under weigh from
Sheerness on the
18th August 1828
and proceeded across the Channel on 22nd. They put into Cork
for fresh water on 1st September. Six prisoners were
disembarked at Cork suffering from Typhus, among them Thomas
Trigg, Matthew Bowen, James Brady and James Dempster. The
Florentia departed there on 15 September 1827.
The Florentia
was the next convict ship to leave England for New South Wales
after the departure of the
Louisa in August 1827.
The Military Guard consisted of a detachment of the 40th
regiment and Passengers included Captain Barnett and wife.
James
Dickson kept a Medical
Journal from 23
July 1827 to 14 January 1828. He kept a daily record of the
weather experienced during the voyage. The recordings commence
on 11th August while the ship was moored at Sheerness.
The
wind was from the south-west when they arrived off Sydney on
3 January 1828. They came to anchor on the following day and
entered Sydney Cove on 5th January under an easterly breeze. A
muster was held by Colonial Secretary Alexander McLeay on 5th
January 1828. The indents include the name, age, education,
religion, marital status, family, native place, trade,
offence, when and where tried, sentence, prior convictions,
physical description and where assigned on arrival. There is
also occasional information regarding pardons, deaths and
relatives in the colony.
The Monitor
reported - 'On Monday last (14th), the prisoners who arrived on the
ship Florentia were landed, when the usual inspection
took place in the jail yard, previous to their distribution.
They appeared very clean and healthy. We understand that ten
of them, were immediately forwarded to Penal Settlements,
pursuant to directions received from home they being
troublesome or bad characters. We may draw an inference of the
wretched state of England from the number of able young men
who are continually arriving in this Colony. Upwards of one
hundred of the prisoners by the Florentia, were under
twenty one years of age !!' The youngest prisoners on
board were Joseph Acton (16); Henry Beard (16), William
Castigane (16); Alexander Donaldson (16); Thomas Goate
(16); William Miller (16); Thomas Westcott (16); Richard Gadd
(15); William Hunt (15); William Keith (15); John Morin (15);
James Mills (15); Patrick Ryan (15); John Collins (14) and
Charles Kinslow (14).
Four men were assigned directly
to the Newcastle district. Benjamin Cartwright, William
Cooper, Francis Turner and Thomas Wright. They gave their
occupations as miners and were probably assigned to work in
the government run
Newcastle Coal Mines
Twenty three
prisoners were assigned to the
Australian Agricultural Company. - Thomas
Beckett, John Bond, Richard Barrett, Isaac Barnett, James
Burnett, John Connor, Joseph Acton, Joshua Bowler, Henry
Beard, John Baylin, William Bitton, John Culpin, William
Castigane, John Clarke, John Crane, John Donaldson, Joseph
Habberfield, Charles Kinslow, George Thomas, Charles Randall,
Thomas Nicholls and James Stephen.
This was before the Company had
control of the coal mines at Newcastle and so many of these
men were probably assigned to work as shepherds in the Port
Stephens district and north to the Liverpool Plains.
This was probably the case for Nathanial Burrows a potter from
Derby, who to his great good fortune was also assigned to the
Company on arrival. Burrows received his ticket of leave in
1832, and became a squatter holding a lease of 15,360 acres at
Hanging Rock which had capacity of 500 head of cattle, and was
known as ‘the Hanging Rock Run'. In August 1851 while out on
his run Nathanial Burrows spotted a stockman panning for gold
along Swamp Creek. He rode to
Tamworth
to tell of his news and before long the rush to the
Hanging Rock Gold Fields had begun.
James Dickson was also surgeon on the convict ships
Countess of Harcourt
in 1824,
Woodford in 1826 (VDL) and the
Norfolk
1829
Hunter Valley convicts arriving on the Florentia
in 1828
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Embarked: 200 |
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Voyage: 121 days |
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Deaths: 4 |
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Surgeon's
Journal: yes Tons: 450
Crew: 36 men
Previous vessel:
Royal Admiral arrived 8
November 1830
Next vessel:
Andromeda arrived 18
December 1830
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Master John Jeffrey
Drake. Surgeon Superintendent
Andew Henderson
The prisoners
to be embarked on the
Florentia came
from various counties in England and Scotland.
They were held on various hulks moored in the
Thames to await transportation. The Florentia was
the next convict ship to leave England after
the departure of the
Royal Admiral in July 1830. The
Florentia departed England on
15 August 1830
This was Andrew Henderson's
first voyage as Surgeon Superintendent on the convict ship. He kept a
Medical Journal
from 16 July to 27 December 1830.
The Guard consisted of
soldiers from several different regiments who
were on their way to India, 4 women
and 5 children, under the command of
Lieutenant Maliam who was accompanied by his
wife. Members of the Guard who were treated by
surgeon Andrew Henderson included - John McGarvey;
John Goff; Francis Leveretts; Thomas Lowden;
Joseph Dorman; James McCurry; John McNiel;
Thomas McLanghlan; John Keeling; and Dennis
Cochran.
Four prisoners died on the
passage out. They were mentioned in the
surgeon's journal and the convict indents......
John Brown (alias Horton) age 54 is mentioned
in the surgeon's journal - At 3pm, Brown
received a severe wound from a musket ball
which fractured the neck of the thighbone
(femur). He was carefully attended by the
surgeon however died at 2.30 on 23 September
1830. John Brown age 39 a careworn
looking man whose appearance indicates him
having been in better circumstances of other
convicts died on 5th December 1830 of
phthisis. Thomas Carland died on 30th November
1830; and John Chadwick 21st October 1830.
Another man, Joseph Masper died in Sydney
Hospital two weeks after arrival on 27
December 1831.
The
Florentia arrived in Port Jackson on
15 December 1830
with 196 male prisoners.
The convicts were mustered on board by the
Colonial Secretary on 17 December 1830. The
indents include the name, age, religion,
education, marital status, family, native
place, occupation, offence, date and place of
trial, sentence, prior conviction, physical
description and where assigned on arrival.
There is also occasional information as to
colonial sentences, deaths and pardons. Twenty
prisoners were under the age of 16 years -
John Canew (16); Charles Chippett (14); Haden
Copstick (15); Henry Farmer (15); Richard
Houghton (15); Charles Jubb (14); Richard
Lockwood (16); Matthias Israel Lewis (16);
John McAnn (16); George Fyfe milne (15); John
Sessions (16); Francis Sullivan (14); William
Stacey (15); William Smith (15); Joseph Jones
(15); Joseph Lee (14); William Purcell (15);
and Barfachia Parnacott (15). They were
all sent to the
Carter's Barracks on arrival.
The Florentia
brought to the colony the news of the July
Revolution in France. The Monitor
reported 7000 people had been killed in Paris.
Convict Thomas Burdett of the Florentia
was executed for the murder of William Noble
in Clarence St. Sydney in August 1844
John Michael Davis was an attorney age 40 sent
for obtaining goods under false pretences. He
was the father of Edward Davis the leader of a
gang of bushrangers who became known as the
Jewboy
gang.
Bushranger
John Smith
arrived on the Florentia as did convict
surgeon
Patrick
Montgomery
Andrew Henderson was
also employed as surgeon on the convict ships
Royal Admiral
Aurora 1835 (VDL),
St. Vincent
in 1837
Royal Sovereign in 1838 (VDL)
Hunter Valley convicts arriving on the Florentia in 1830
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Embarked: 118 men |
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Voyage:
115 days |
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Deaths:
3 |
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Surgeon's Journal: yes
Tons: 397
Crew: 31 men
Previous vessel:
Dunvegan Castle arrived
30 March 1830
Next vessel:
Mermaid arrived 6 May
1830
Follow the Irish Convict Ship Trail
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Master David Proudfoot.
Surgeon Superintendent
William Clifford
The Forth was built in Calcutta in 1814
The Forth was
the next vessel to leave Ireland for New South Wales after the departure
of the
James Pattison in October 1829. The Forth departed Cork
1 January 1830
with 118 prisoners who had come from various counties in Ireland. Among
them were ploughmen, glaziers, labourers, servants, cow boys, weavers,
tailors and butchers. They had been sent for crimes ranging from pick
pocketing and vagrancy to abduction and manslaughter. There were a few
soldiers who had been tried for desertion. There were none or very few political
prisoners on the Forth.
The military guard consisted of
Ensign
C.
Miller and 27 rank and file of the 17th regt., with 3 women and 2
children under command of Captain James Oliphant Clunie who had
previously made a voyage to Australia on the
Prince of Orange in 1821.
Free passengers
(steerage)
included Michael Moore, Bernard Reilly and Michael Reilly (NSW State
Records shipping list).
William Clifford kept
a Medical Journal from 20 December 1829 to 4 May 1830...........The
convicts embarked on the Forth were without exception men whose
habits from the earliest period indolent in the extreme and disposed to
depression and illness...To keep up that system and regularity of
discipline and cleanliness so conducive to health and personal comfort
on ship during a long voyage made with vicissitudes of climate required
every energy during the early stage and as we advanced to the Tropics
when fever appeared.
The Forth
arrived in Port Jackson on
26 April 1830 with 115 male prisoners,
three having died on the voyage from dysentery. - Patrick Cody,
Timothy Murphy and Thomas Pyne,
A Muster was held on board by the Colonial Secretary Alexander
McLeay on 28th April 1830. The youngest prisoners on board were Daniel
Kirk (16); James Penne and Luke Connor (15); Denis Driscol, Thomas
Fleming and Thomas McMahon (14) and Daniel Scamnell who was only 13
years old.
William Clifford
was also surgeon on the
convict ships
Harmony (VDL)
Norfolk
in 1832 and
Sir Charles Forbes
in 1837.
James Oliphant Clunie joined
the 17th Regiment as an ensign in 1813 and was promoted to lieutenant
the following year. He first arrived in New South Wales in 1821 as
commander of the guard for the convict ship
Prince of Orange. In 1821 he was transferred to Madras, India on
the Almorah and returned to New South Wales on this voyage of the
Forth in 1830. He succeeded
Captain Patrick
Logan
as Commandant at Moreton Bay and was
stationed there from 1830 to 1836. He died in 1851.
Other convict ships bringing detachments of the 17th
regiment included the
Lady Feversham,
Mermaid ,
Lord Melville,
Hercules,
Royal
Admiral,
Burrell,
York,
Edward,
Eliza,
Nithsdale and the
Adrian
Hunter Valley convicts arriving on the Forth
(1) 1830
(male
convicts)
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Details of the the voyage of the Forth are now on a separate page.
Select here to find out more about the voyage and
convicts of the Forth |
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Embarked: 196 men |
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Voyage: 105 days |
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Deaths: 1 |
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Surgeon's Journal: yes
Previous vessel:
Bengal Merchant arrived 30 January
1835
Next vessel:
Lady Nugent arrived 9 April 1835
Follow the Irish Convict Ship Trail
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Master Henry Hutton. Surgeon Superintendent
Thomas Robertson
The Forth was the next convict ship to leave Ireland after the
departure of the
Royal Admiral in September 1835.
The Forth departed Cork 21 October 1834
with 196 male prisoners,
came direct and
arrived in Port Jackson on Monday
3 February 1835 having lost one man on the way.
The
Guard consisted of 29 rank and file of H.M. 50th regiment
under the command of Captain Turner of 50th and Ensign
Anderson of 41st regiment. Passengers D.A.C.G. Reid, Mrs. Reid
and two children; eight soldiers' wives and eleven children.
Thomas Robertson
kept a Medical Journal
from 30 August 1834 to 24 February 1835.
During the voyage scurvy made an appearance. The prisoners
were given an additional allowance of wine, lime juice, with
preserved meats which caused the scorbutic eruptions to
disappear. The other cases related in the surgeon's journal
were all of the inflammatory nature requiring an active
antiphlogistic practise. Bleeding, brisk purgatives,
nauseating medicines with blisters were given as treatments.
The weather during the voyage was remarkably fine and dry. The
thermometer varied according to their situation.. The Deck and
sleeping berths were kept dry and clear by dry holystoning and
were constantly ventilated with windsails. The clothes were
aired every day and the prisoners on deck from 8am till
sunset.
Notes and Links:
Thomas Robertson was also employed
as surgeon on the convict ships
William Bryan in
1833 (VDL),
Surry
in 1836, James Pattison
in 1837
and the
Planter
in 1839.
The Australian reported that the Forth had made
one of the quickest passages ever made.
Find out more about convict/bushranger
Richard Young (alias Gentleman Dick) who arrived on the
Forth
Hunter Valley convicts arriving on the Forth in 1835
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Embarked: 260 male convicts |
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Voyage: 165 days |
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Deaths: 3 |
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Surgeon's Journal: no
Previous vessel:
William Pitt
arrived 11 April 1806
Next vessel:
Alexander
arrived 20 August 1806
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Captain Henry Moore
The military guard on the
Fortune consisted of
27 rank and file commanded by Ensign Mullin of the 8th Royal
Veterans Battalion.
The Fortune convicts came from
many different parts of England. Some of them were held on the
Hulk Retribution before being embarked on the ship. One
of the men, Joseph Bather was tried in Lancaster in March 1804. He
was sent to
the Hulk on 13th December 1804 and spent a year there
before being transferred to the
Fortune with other prisoners from the Retribution
on 14th December 1805. Prisoners from other hulks were
transported in January 1806.
The Fortune departed
28th January
1806 in company with the
Alexander and store ship Lady Madeline Sinclair.
The three vessels were under convoy of the Porpoise
under the command of Lieutenant Joseph Short.
Captain William Bligh and
Provost-Marshal William Gore were on board the Madeline Sinclair.
William Bligh's correspondence to Viscount Castlereagh on 15th
March 1806 while at sea (lat.11 13 N; long. 24 00 W) gives an
indication of the animosity that existed between Captain Short
and himself: - I have the honor to inform your Lordship I
am thus far on my voyage to fulfil the mission His Majesty has
entrusted to my care; but I regret to say that Captain Short,
holding the command of the Porpoise while I am in this ship,
has pursued such an irritating and vexatious conduct to me as
governor and his superior officer in naval rank, that I shall,
so soon as I can draw up the documents, send them to your
Lordship, and beseech you to remove him from under my command.
(HR
NSW p46.)
The Fortune parted
company with the Porpoise and Sinclair when the Sinclair proceeded to the Cape.
The Fortune
arrived at
Rio on 11th April and departed there 30th April leaving the
Alexander and Elizabeth whalers at that port.
Read more about the
voyage here.
The
Fortune
arrived in Port Jackson on
12th July 1806.
Three convicts
and a soldier of the Fortune died on the passage out.
The Alexander shipped
3,696 pounds of beef and 7,314 pounds of pork and the Fortune
14,448 pounds of beef and 28,768 pounds pork to be used for the
subsistence of 260 the prisoners during the nine months after
arrival.
As well as the beef and pork,
merchant Simeon Lord also
imported many items on the Fortune including gentlemen's hats,
boots and shoes, and ladies shoes and straw hats, woollen
clothes and trimmings, cutlery, brass furniture for cabinet
work, jewellery, tin in sheets with solder, tin ware, earthen
and glass ware, window glass, plated tea pots, bridles,
saddles and gig harness, Rio sugar, butter and cheese and
various items of slop clothing. The Fortune also brought with her
the news of the death of the Right Honorable William Pitt.
The convicts were probably mustered on
board although only brief information was recorded. The
convict indents included only the
prisoner's name, date and place of conviction and sentence.
There is occasional information about tickets of leave or
pardons.
On the 20th July the
Sydney Gazette reported that twenty convicts who arrived
on the Fortune were proceeding to Port Dalrymple on the
store ship Venus.
Perhaps some of the prisoners of the
Fortune who remained in Sydney witnessed the
pomp and ceremony
surrounding Governor King when he departed on the Buffalo
in August 1806. The Fortune was
still in Sydney Harbour and joined in the salute to the
departing Governor.
The Fortune departed for Bengal on
19th August.
Those who were to take their passage to Bengal on the
Fortune included George
Garret, Edward Smith, Edward Dram, Edward Dry, Richard Clarke,
Henry Moody, John Guernsey, Thomas Horrox, Timothy Merrick,
Anthony Clarke, George Loder, William Smith, James Kirk,
Thomas Daily and George Coulson.
The above mentioned
Joseph Bather was
sent to the penal settlement at Newcastle in 1812 after
committing a colonial crime. Conditions were harsh at the
settlement and he may have been sent to the
coal mines or the
limeburners gang. In a
foolhardy bid to escape unending toil, deprivation and
punishment he absconded
from the settlement in February 1813. His name was posted in
the Sydney Gazette with other absconders from Newcastle
- some of the most desperate and hardened convicts in
the colony. The Commandants at Newcastle had long
encouraged natives to assist in tracking
down absconding prisoners and Bather was captured at Broken
Bay and
returned to authorities in Sydney having been first stripped and
beaten by the natives.
John Millward
from Warwick had a very different experience as a convict. He
was tried on 28th July 1804 and sent to the hulk Laurel.
He was transferred to the Fortune with others from the
Laurel on the 9th January 1806. He became a constable at
Lower Portland Head and in 1819 accompanied
John Howe's
expedition to the north west.
The Fortune was one of
four convict ships arriving in 1806. The others being the
Tellicherry, William Pitt
and the Alexander. Approximately 575 prisoners
arrived in the colony in 1806.... 193 females and 382 males
Henry Moore was also Captain of the
Reliance in 1795 and the
Wanstead in 1814.
Hunter Valley convicts arriving on the Fortune in 1806
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Embarked : 200 men |
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Voyage: 190 days |
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Deaths: 4 |
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Surgeon's Journal: no
Previous vessel:
Archduke Charles arrived
16 February 1813
Next vessel:
Earl Spencer 9 October
1813
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Master Thomas Walker
Two hundred prisoners from various parts of England were
embarked on the Fortune. Many of the men had been
transferred from the Retribution Hulk moored at
Woolwich to the Fortune on 14th October 1812.
The Fortune arrived at Deal on 6th
November 1812. The Morning Chronicle reported on 22nd
November that strong gales had been experienced by the
Fortune near Yarmouth. The brig Robert and Sarah
and the Fortune were both washed onto Caister beach and
the Robert and Sarah was a wreck however it was
expected that the Fortune was likely to be got off.
The Fortune departed England on
3 December 1812,
stopped at Rio 3rd February 1813 to 22nd March, and arrived in
Port Jackson on
11 June 1813
196 convicts
arrived in the colony in a healthy state. On the passage two prisoners died
of illnesses- John Birnie and William
Miles and two others drowned Thomas Simpson and John Payne. A
soldier Michael Dwyer, who was accidentally shot in the leg,
also died after suffering amputation of the limb. Thirty
six of the prisoners were under the age of 21.
P assengers included Deputy Commissary
General David Allan, Mrs. Allan and family; Mr. & Mrs. Hogan
and family and several gentlemen holding appointments in the
Civil service - Messrs. Brodie & Hobson were Clerks in
Commissariat Department. Benjamin Goddard and daughter
Susannah arrived as free passengers. The 1st Battalion of the 73rd regiment received
an addition of an Ensign (Dawson) and 30 rank and file of the
73rd regiment.
A muster was probably held on board after arrival in Sydney.
The indents included information such as name, date and place
of trial, native place, sentence, physical description and
occasional information as to tickets of leave and conditional
pardons. The prisoners were landed on Friday 18th June
and inspected by Governor Macquarie before being assigned to
their respective places. The Sydney Gazette reported
that they were of a fine healthy appearance and spoke highly
of their treatment from the Commander of the Fortune on
the passage. .......Six of the prisoners who had been
refractory were landed in irons and no doubt laboured under
apprehensions from the representation here of their conduct.
From these anxieties it was His Excellency's pleasure to
relieve them, on a promise of amendment and they were
accordingly liberated.
The Fortune brought the news to the colony that War was
declared with the United States of America.
In New South Wales, the Ticket of Leave was one of the key incentives to good
behaviour within the convict system. It provided a measure
of freedom after several years of acceptable conduct; most
importantly permission for convicts to work for their own
benefit.........
The Fortune
departed Port Jackson bound for China on 14
September 1813.
Hunter Valley convicts arriving on the Fortune in 1813
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Details of the voyage of the Francis and Eliza are now on a
separate page.
Select here to find out more about the voyage and convicts of
the Francis and Eliza
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Convicts arriving on the Frederick in 1815
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Captain Williams.
On
18th October 1817 the Hobart Town Gazette
reported the arrival of the Frederick from
Calcutta via Bencoolen and Batavia.
According
to the Hobart Town Gazette the Frederick
brought
a valuable cargo of merchandize as well as
seven male and three female prisoners who were
destined for Port Jackson. (there are no
female prisoners mentioned in the indent).
Passengers included Mr. Winder and Lieutenant
Stewart.
The Frederick arrived in Port
Jackson on 22 November 1817
Convicts arriving on the Frederick in 1817
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Details of the voyage of the Friends are now on a separate page.
Select here to
find out more about the voyage and convicts of the Friends.
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Details of the voyage of the First
Fleet convict ship Friendship in 1788 are now on a separate
page.
Select here to find out more about the
voyage and convicts of the Friendship.
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Follow the Irish Convict Ship Trail
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Details of the Friendship are now on a separate page.
Select here to find out more about the voyage and convicts of
the Friendship in 1800 |
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Details of the voyage of the Friendship are now on a separate page.
Select here
to find out more about the voyage and convicts of the Friendship in 1818
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Resources used to compile Convict Ship pages:
Sydney Gazette, The Australian, The Monitor, The Maitland Mercury
and other publications available via
Australia Trove
UK, Prison Hulk Registers and Letter Books, 1802-1849 -
Ancestry
Various 19th Century British Library Newspapers available via
National Library of Australia eResourses ( see
Cora
Num's site for instructions to access)
Lesley
Uebel's Port Jackson Convict Anthology
Surgeon's Journals at National Archives
Surgeon's Journals at Ancestry
Publications available at
Google Books
Historical Records of New South Wales Vols. 1 - VII
Historical Records of Australia Series 1
The Convict Ships - Charles Bateson
Martin Cash: His personal narrative as a Bushranger
in Van Diemens Land
Free Settler or Felon Database
Journeys In Time 1809 - 1822 - The Journals of Lachlan and
Elizabeth Macquarie
The
Proceedings of the Old Bailey Online
North to Matsumae, Australian Whalers to Japan by
Noreen Jones.
Bound For Botany Bay:
Narrative of a voyage in 1798 Aboard the Death Ship Hillsborough -
Frank Clune
A Narrative of a Voyage to New South Wales, in the year 1816, in the
ship Mariner, describing the Nature of the Accommodations, Stores,
Diet &c., together with an account of the Medical Treatment &c." by
John Haslam in John Croaker: convict Embezzler: John Booker and
Russell Craig.
Ancestry.com. New South Wales, Australia,
Colonial Secretary's Papers, 1788-1825
[database on-line].
Australian Town and Country Journal 3 January
1891 - Arrivals of vessels at Port Jackson and
Departures of same up to 1817
Transcriptions
of Lloyds Register of Ships
Australian Dictionary of
Biography
East Indian Company
Ships
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