Convict Ship Batavia - 1818
Embarked 221 men
Voyage 155 days
Deaths 1
Surgeon's Journal - No
Previous vessel: Guildford arrived 1 April 1818
Next vessel: Greyhound
Captain William Buchanan Lamb
Surgeon James Billing
Convicts and passengers of the Batavia identified in the Hunter Valley
The Batavia was built at Topsham in 1802.[2] She was the next convict ship to leave England for New South Wales after the departure of the Ocean in August 1817.
The Convicts
The convicts came from counties in England, Scotland and Wales - Middlesex, Stafford, Lancaster, Warwick, London, Bucks, Surrey, Salop, Kent, York, Gloucester, Bedford, Nottingham, Worcester, Bristol, Durham, Berks, Cambridge, Chester, Norfolk, Northumberland, Derby, Aberdeen, Inverness, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Radnor, Monmouth and Brecon. There was also one, James Diffin who was court-martialled at Valenciennes.Military Guard
Lieut. Elgee of the 34th. Regt. commanded the Guard of Soldiers on board, consisting of detachments the 34th. 46th. and 48th. Regiments. [1]Convict ships bringing detachments of the 34th regiment included the Baring in 1815, Globe in 1819, Asia in 1820, Grenada in 1821, Speke in 1821, Prince of Orange in 1821 and Adamant in 1821.
Convict ship bringing detachments of the 48th regiment included the Pilot, Dorothy, Larkins, Lady Castlereagh, Agamemnon, Minerva and Isabella.
Convict Ships bringing detachments of the 46th regiment also arrived on the Lord Eldon, Fame, Recovery, Elizabeth, Larkins, General Hewitt, Guildford, Surry, Surry, Shipley, Ocean, Sir William Bensley, Morley, Marquis of Wellington, Canada Lady Castlereagh and Bencoolen.
Departure
The Batavia sailed from Gravesend however put into Plymouth where she departed on 1 November 1817 [3]. She touched at Madeira.Port Jackson
She touched at Madeira and anchored in Sydney Cove on 5th April 1818.Convict Assignment
Seventy-nine convicts were forwarded by water to Parramatta and then by land to Windsor. Another twelve were sent in charge of William Cox to Bathurst.Captain William B. Lamb
While in Port, Captain Lamb married Charlotte Sarah Willoe, the eldest daughter of William Gore, Esq., Provost Marshal. The marriage took place on the 1st June at St. Phillips Church and Captain Lamb left for Bombay on the 3rd June.The Sydney Gazette reported in July that the Batavia had returned after an absence of five weeks, not being able to make the western passage for India.
Notes and Links
1). In 1818 Lachlan Macquarie was Governor of the Colony and Lieutenant James Morisset was Commandant at Newcastle. The total population in New South Wales in 1818 was 17,165. Of those were 4,100 male convicts and 2340 female convicts.2). William Wheatley who arrived on the Batavia was sent to Newcastle penal settlement for a colonial crime. He was one of eleven pirates who seized the cutter Eclipse from the harbour in 1825. Find out more about their audacious escape here
3). George Cooke arrived as a convict on the Batavia. He was employed as hospital assistant when the new settlement was formed at Port Macquarie in 1821. Abraham Fenton of the 48th regiment was Assistant Surgeon at Port Macquarie in 1821.
4). Convicts and passengers of the Batavia identified in the Hunter Valley
5). Return of Convicts of the Batavia assigned between 1st January 1832 and 31st March 1832 (Sydney Gazette 14 June 1832; 5 July 1832).....
James Barrett, Limeburner assigned to Francis Girard at Sydney
Isaac Radford, Baker and soldier assigned to Francis Girard at Sydney
References
[1] HRA, Series 1, Vol. IX, p.792[2] Bateson, Charles Library of Australian History (1983). The convict ships, 1787-1868 (Australian ed). Library of Australian History, Sydney : pp.342-343, 382
[3] The Morning Chronicle (London, England), Tuesday, November 4, 1817; Issue 15135. British Library Newspapers, Part I: 1800-1900
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