The Wanstead departed Spithead 24 August 1813
and arrived in Port Jackson 9 January 1814 with 117
female prisoners. Two prisoners died on the voyage out -
Elizabeth Davies and Ann Simkins,
(who drowned)
Twenty four of the women were under the age of 21. One
was only fourteen years old.
The Wanstead was one of three convict ships
bringing female prisoners to New South Wales in 1814, the
others being the
Catherine and the
Broxbourneberry. A total of 322 female prisoners
arrived in the colony in 1814
On 10th February 1829 in was reported
that a detachment of the 63rd regiment had proceeded to
Deptford for the purpose of embarking on the convict ship
Waterloo as guard.
The Waterloodeparted London 14th
March 1829 and arrived in Sydney on the 9th July 1829 with 180 male
prisoners.
Passengers Colonel and Mrs. Dumaresq,
Mrs. Goodsir, Lieut. Grove of 63rd regt., and Mr. H.D.
Butler, settler.
A Muster was held on board on the 13th
July. 171 prisoners were mustered and 7 men were in the
hospital. Two prisoners died on the passage out. Total
prisoners 180.
Steerage passengers included Thomas
Petty, Martha Petty and child.
Find out more about
convict
George Archer who arrived on the Waterloo
The convict ship Waterloo
departed Dublin on 18th December 1830
with 200 prisoners and arrived 30 April 1831 with 199 prisoners,
one having died on the journey out.
William Henry Trotman was employed as Surgeon
Superintendent. He
remarked in his journal that the diseases
most prevalent were itch and scurvy; induced under such a variety of
forms, almost every complaint was either complicated with scurvy or
aggravated by scorbutic diathesis, which in general yielded to nitre and
lime juice.
Passengers included D.A.C.G. Looker, Mrs. Looker and child;
Slodden Castle, D.A.C.G; 2 free women and 2 children. The Guard consisted of
1 serjeant, 1 corp. 27 rank and file, 9 women and 2 children of 82nd and
29th regts. under command of Lieut. James Sweeney of 26th Regiment with
Mrs. Sweeney and 2 children.
One of
Australia's most famous convicts
James Hardy Vaux
was transported for the third time on the Waterloo. He had previously
written his
Memoirs
while serving a sentence at Newcastle Penal settlement in 1811.
The Waterloo
arrived in Sheerness from Deptford on 3rd March and by the 10th March
had received 214 convicts. They sailed from there on the 12th March and
three days later they returned to Sheerness having lost all three
anchors in a gal off Margate. They stayed there until the 27th and then sailed to
the Motherbank where they remained in quarantine until 8th April
1833 because of an outbreak of cholera on board. The sick were removed
to the Tremendous and the convicts joined them a few hours a day while
the ship was cleaned. About 40 convicts were treated for cholera and
eight men died.
Three weeks of bad weather after sailing made it
impossible to keep the prisoners clean or dry and they were forced to
remain below decks much of the time. Few convicts had changes of
clothes. The end of April and all of May the weather was fine, June and
July were very bad with gales, rain and hail. The mercury did not drop
below 41, even as far South as 47 degrees.
The Guard consisted of 8 rank and file of 4th regiment., 2 women
and 7 children under orders of Capt. Mondilhan of 54th and Lieut. Lackie
of 39th regiment.
The Waterloo arrived in Port Jackson on 3 August 1833 with 203 male prisoners. Surgeon Superintendent S.
Stephenson R.N., kept a
Medical Journal from 17 February
to 21 August 1833
Two hundred and twenty four convicts
were embarked on the
Waterloo
from Dublin and the Cove of Cork.
The Waterloo
departed Dublin on the 21st May 1836 and arrived 6th
September 1836. Two hundred and twenty two men arrived,
two having died on the passage out.
George Roberts R.N., was employed as surgeon
superintendent. He kept a
Medical and Surgical Journal
from 15 April to 10 September 1836. He reported in the
journal that the prisoners when they came on board, were
apparently healthy although they seemed in a low state
from deficient nourishment. Even though the weather was
fine they still suffered much from sea sickness which
caused great debility. They were also unaccustomed to
cocoa and were unable to use it.
Passengers Major Cotton, Mrs. Cotton and
4 children. Lieut. Mackay of 28th regt., 20 rank and file
of the 28th and 9 of the 50th regt. 7 women and 5 children
Two hundred and twenty four male prisoners, twenty nine
soldiers, two officers, seven women and fourteen children
were embarked on the Waterloo at Woolwich and
Sheerness, late in September 1837.
The Waterloo departed
London 4th October 1837 and on the 7th October there was
an outbreak of measles with two children of the Guard
affected. Soon afterwards three more cases occurred. The
surgeon reported that the cases were mild and easily
treated. Two (other) children died on the passage out.
The prisoners were reported to be generally healthy,
although they looked as if they had been scantily fed for
some time before embarkation. The Waterloo arrived
in Port Jackson on 8th February 1838. The voyage
had been long and tedious, being ten weeks at sea before
they reached the Cape of Good Hope. They departed from the
Cape on the 23th December, and so Christmas for the
prisoners of the Waterloo was celebrated at sea. A
total of 127 days, not counting the time spent on board
prior to embarkation, were spent at sea. According to
surgeon Ellis, the long voyage resulted in the prisoners
and guard being afflicted with dysentery, inflammatory
fever and scurvy.
Passengers included Lieut. Hare, 51st regt., Mr. Hill 50th
regt., 29 rank and file of 51st regt., and wives and
children
The convict
ship Waverley departed
Dublin 22 February 1839 with 176 male convicts. On the 3rd
May she spoke the Lady Bute bound for South
Australia, in lat 38° 45' S., long, 25°
50' E. The Waverley arrived
in Port Jackson on 17 June 1839 .
Passengers included
Lieutenant Stirling, Lieutenant Jones and 29 rank and file
of H.M. 51st regiment, 6 women and 10 children.
James Barr was employed as Surgeon
Superintendent. He kept a
Medical and Surgical Journal
from 14 January to 23 June 1829.
There were no deaths on this voyage and the prisoners
generally enjoyed good health, although there were three
prisoners who the surgeon considered should not have been
embarked because they were already ill. Nevertheless, he
treated them kindly and indulged them when he could. The
first case, Cornelius Fitzgerald had suffered pneumonia
when in Kilmainham jail and was sent directly to the
hospital on board. In an effort to improve his health he
was given food from the Captain's table and was carefully
nursed the entire voyage. He had a great desire for
potatoes and was given 3 or 4 daily by the doctor. He was
discharged to the hospital in Sydney on arrival and died
there in 1839.
The second case was Pat Crosbie who was suffering
phthisis. He died in Sydney hospital in 1839. The third
case, Martin Kelly, had also been unwell in gaol but
speaking no English his complaints had been overlooked and
he was also suffering phthisis when sent on board.
According to surgeon Barr, he had appeared broken
hearted and became gradually weaker but he had not
complained and would not have done so but for one of his
messmates bringing him to the hospital. He was 'a native
of Tipperary, a Whiteboy, and had been engaged in several
murders'. He died in Sydney hospital in 1840.
There were three cases of scurvy among the guard of the
51st regiment, two were raw recruits and the third a
child. The guard were examined every other day and those
with purple spots were given double allowance of lemon
juice, their salt rations were stopped and preserved soup
and wine substituted and they were given anti scorbutic
medicine.
James Barr insisted that the prisoners keep themselves
clean and they were mustered and inspected on Thursdays
and Sundays. He ensured the prisons were kept clean and
dry by swinging stoves. If the weather was fine, the men
were obliged to be on deck unless they were in school or
were unwell. He thought a great improvement could be made
in the construction of prison ships by replacing the
upright elm stanchions in the three hatchways, with iron
bars which would provide better ventilation.
On Saturday 22nd June, His Excellency the Governor visited
the Prisoners' Barracks at Hyde Park for the purpose of
inspecting the convicts who arrived by the Waverly.
The names of the men were called over, and they were
ranged round His Excellency in a circle, when he explained
to them the situation in which they were placed in regard
to the term of probation they were required to serve
before being assigned to private service, and the rewards
held out to them, by indulgences for good behaviour.
One of the prisoners who arrived on the Waverley
was
John Joseph Carrick, supposedly a Roman Catholic Monk
who was transported for life for torturing a child to
death in Ireland.
Some of the convicts arriving on the Westmoreland
had been tried and convicted
at the Old Bailey and imprisoned at Newgate before being sent to the
hulks. Select here to find
out what it may have been like to be imprisoned in Newgate in 1835.
The Westmoreland departed London 9 March and
Land's End 21st March 1835, arriving in Port Jackson on 15 July 1835
with 218 male convicts and government stores.
Charles Inches was employed as Surgeon Superintendent. He kept a
Medical and Surgical Journal from 25
February to 28 July 1835. There
were two fatal cases. The first one was William Walls, a small farmer
who was transported for shooting a man. He had been confined in prison
for a long time and was subject to great depression of spirits from
being separated from his wife and family. He died of pneumonia phthisis
on 13th May. The second was Edmund Price who died on 15 July from
complications of scurvy.
During the
latter two or three weeks of the voyage, symptoms of scurvy began to be
observed in a number of the prisoners of whom one case alone have I
particularised in this journal. It was the most advanced but was readily
checked in progress by increased allowance of lime juice and the use of
preserved meats. Of both these comforts I had fortunately been sparing
in use, during the early part of the passage which enabled me to be more
liberal in their supply to those cases which really required them and
their beneficial effects were very manifest in putting a stop to the
progress of the disease. Two days before arrival in Sydney the preserved
meats were all expended as well a quantity of ? which the Master of the
ship had procured at the Cape Verdi and which he kindly allowed to the
sick, and had we been a short time only, later arriving in Sydney, I
doubt not this horrid malady would have speedily extended.
The guard consisted of Major Massiter,
Lieut. Charles Ferdinand Hamilton Smith and 29 rank and
file of the 28th regiment. Some of the soldiers mentioned in Charles
Inches Medical Journal include Lieut. Smith aged 25; Private John
Sullivan aged 32; Private John Draper aged 22; Private George McMurray
aged 21; William Badder aged 25; Private Martin Carlton aged 32
(28thregt.,) Sergeant Francis McKowan (28thregt)
Passengers included Rev. James Wynne, eight soldiers
wives and fifteen children; Miss Mary Clarke and Miss Margaret Clarke,
who had remained on the Island of St. Jago after the wreck of the Sir
Thomas Munro, by which ship they were passengers.
Charles Inches was also employed as surgeon on the convict ships
William Glen Anderson 1831 (VDL), Portland 1833
and
John
1837
The Westmorelanddeparted Dublin 27 April 1838 and
arrived in Port Jackson late on Wednesday night 22 August 1838,
a voyage of 117 days.The Australian
reported that two hundred and twelve convicts departed
Ireland. Thirty six of them
were under the age of 16. One was only ten years old.
Cabin Passengers included Captain Holden and Ensign
Rumbold of the 51st regiment. Seven Free settlers.
Steerage passengers - 32 rank and file of the 51st and
80th regiments, six women and five children.
George McClure was employed as Surgeon Superintendent. He
kept a
Medical and Surgical Journal
from 7 April to 30 August 1838. This was his first visit
to Australia as a Surgeon Superintendent on a
convict ship and he kept a detailed record of prisoners'
medical complaints.
He reported four deaths in his journal, all
in July - Patrick Foley,
Michael Cavenagh, James Cavenagh and James Hayles. He
noted that had he ever been to Sydney before he would have
had the same foresight as the surgeons of the Calcutta
and William Jardine in rejecting the two convicts
named Cavenagh and Hayles, and
that he would then only have lost Foley, who had died of organic lesion of
the lining of the stomach.
In May he noted in his journal that the ship had been sent
to sea in a very unfit state, and they were obliged to
pump her every ten or fifteen minutes. In June the weather
became extremely cold and the majority of the prisoners
were nearly barefooted. When the men were all on deck they
were so compacted together that there was no room for
exercise. There were gale force winds on the 4th July, the
day Patrick Foley died. His body was unable to be examined
due to the bad conditions and was hurriedly buried at sea.
The prisoners suffered a variety of diseases including
tinea capitis, diarrhoea, ulcerated legs, constipation,
scurvy, tonsillitis, gonorrhoea, asthma and ophthalmia.
There were also accidents and violent episodes to deal
with. - John Malony, aged 12 and one of the worst
conducted convicts on board, was seriously wounded in the
head by another boy, and Thomas Foster, aged 46, received
a wound on his knee when one of the convicts quarrelled
and the other person drew his knife and thrust it into his
knee on a slanting direction under the patella.
In 1840 George McClure was employed as surgeon on the Nautilis.
The convict ship Whitbydeparted Dublin
on 18 February 1839 with 133 female prisoners. One woman Mary Hennessey
died at sea on 5th June. Twenty five children also came on the Whitby.
John Kidd was employed as Surgeon
Superintendent. He kept a
Medical and Surgical Journal from 5
February to 2 July 1839. The first case he dealt with was of eighteen
year old Eliza McKey who was treated for hysteria on 9th February,
before the ship even set sail. Over the next few months most of the
women were treated for either bowel complaints or catarrh.
The Whitby arrived in Port Jackson on 23 June
1839, a voyage of 125 days.
The Sydney Monitor reported that the female
prisoners from the Whitby would be landed at the Dockyard on the
morning of Monday 1st July and forwarded to their assignees.
John Kidd was also surgeon on the
convict ship Egyptian in 1840 (VDL).
The Whitby was one of five convict ships
bringing female prisoners to New South Wales in 1839, the others being
the
Margaret,
Planter,
Mary Ann and
Minerva. A total of 727 female prisoners arrived in the
colony in 1839.
Part
of the Third Fleet, the William and Ann departed England on 27
March 1791 and anchored in Sydney Cove on the
28th August 1791, a voyage
of 154 days.
She brought stores and provisions as well as 180 male convicts.
The guard consisted of a sergeant and thirteen privates, and several of
their wives and children. -
John Hunter's voyage
Captain Bunker on the
William and Ann and Thomas Melville on the Britannia were two of
the first men who embarked on whaling voyages in 1791
The William Jardine departed Dublin 28 November 1837 and
arrived in Port Jackson 11 April 1838 with 210 male convicts.
Richard Lewis was employed as surgeon superintendent.
Captain Austin of 51st regt., Ensign Cormick of 28th regt.,
28 rank & file of 28th and 51st, 7 free women, 7 women and 6 children.
On arrival the William Jardine was compelled
to anchor near Watson's Bay inconsequence of bad weather
One male and one hundred and twenty
female prisoners collected from all parts of the Kingdom,
some of them considered to be of the
most nefarious characters the country ever produced,
were embarked on the William Pitt in July 1805.
On Monday 8th July 1805, Ann Thompson, Lucy Gardner,
Rachael Robinson, Jane Butterworth, Alice Scholfield, Catherine Frazier,
Ann Hughes, Mary Lees, Ellen Mackintosh and Even Hodgson were removed
from the
Lancaster Castle prison in order to be embarked on the William
Pitt lying at Portsmouth. On the same day, at Norwich, Barbara
Surman (Suringham), from the county Gaol and Priscilla Medcalf from the
City Gaol were conveyed to Portsmouth for the same purpose.
On Saturday afternoon 13th July, twenty five female
convicts were removed in two wagons from Newgate prison also to be
embarked on the William Pitt. Their behaviour was highly
indecorous, and they tore the tilt off the wagon, kindly intended to
conceal their shame, and rent the air with the most horrid expressions.
The following women were probably those women from Newgate -
Elizabeth Board, Mary Burnett, Mary Davis, Sarah Hall, Catherine
Hamilton, Ann Harris, Ann Haynes, Mary Howster, Mary Jenkinston, Ann
Johnson, Ann Kelly, Mary Lowrie, Ann McCarty, Sarah McLaughlin, Mary
Mercer, Elizabeth Paget, Hannah Palmer, Ann Percy, Mary Raycraft, Sarah
Rumbold, Alice Sherrard, Mary Smith, Mary Stedling, Jane Tues, Sarah
Whiley and Mary Wood.
Also among the prisoners were a woman and her daughter
from York and Newcastle, convicted of theft. They had not met for some
time till they embarked on board the ship.
Henry Perfect, who was convicted of obtaining money from
the Earl of Clarendon, under pretence of its being for the relief of a
distressed female, was the only male prisoner sent by the William
Pitt.
The William Pittdeparted
Falmouth bound for Cork on 10th August 1805 in convoy of 13 of his
Majesty's ships, with the East India fleet.
The fleet included many transports and English East India
ships going on to India. The Royal Navy's ships, Diadem (Flagship of R/Adm
Popham)(64 guns) Raisonable (64), Belliqueur (64), Diomede (50), Leda
(38), Narcissus (32), Espoir (18), Encounter (14) and Protector
Troop-carrying East India Company ships: Dutchess of Gordon, Sir William
Pulteney, Europe, Streatham, Union, Comet, Northampton, Glory..... and
the William Pitt.....
South African Military History Association.
It was reported that The East India fleet, under convoy
of 13 of his Majesty's ships departed from Cork on 31st August 1805;
they called at at Madeira on 1st October and stopped at San Salvadore
for three weeks before reaching the Cape of Good Hope on January 4th 1806, four days
before the Battle of Blaauwberg. The Battle of Blaauwberg, also known as
the Battle of Cape Town, fought near Cape Town on 8 January 1806, was a
small but significant military engagement. It established British rule
in South Africa, which was to have many ramifications during the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries.....Read about the Battle of Blaauwberg
.
The ships log records that constant
firing of cannon and musketry of the English and Dutch armies could be
heard. The William Pitt remained at the Cape five weeks during which
time the prisoners may have been disembarked and held on shore.
The William Pitt reached Port
Jackson on 11 April 1806 with one
hundred and seventeen female prisoners who all arrived in a
state of good health. Two women died on the passage out. One was
discharged prior to sailing. Three
children also died, one of small pox. Small pox had prevailed for
the previous two months of the voyage. The voyage had taken 222 days.
(The Convict Ships, Charles Bateson)
Passengers included Charles Grimes, Surveyor-General; Mr.
Neate Chapman, Deputy Commissary; Mr. Robert Fitz, Deputy Commissary,
his wife and two children; Mr. John Townson, formerly a captain in the
New South Wales corps; James Thompson, his wife and four children; Mrs.
R...and her four children, to join her husband, a convict; Mr. Bates with
the appointment of Deputy Judge Advocate for the settlement at Hobart;
and Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Blaxland, three children, two female servants
and one overseer. Gregory Blaxland later complained to the Transport
Board of the 'exceedingly bad treatment' he had received at the hand of
Captain Boyce whom he also accused of bribery.
A
quantity of tea and also seeds arrived on the William Pitt. None
of the seeds received on the William Pitt germinated due to the
heat of the ship's hold in which they were stowed. Governor King with
barely concealed annoyance, later recommended that seeds be sent in
packets rather than casks and be regularly aired. Some of the items that
were supposed to have been sent were taken out of the vessel in
Portsmouth by orders of the Transport Board. They included 10 casks of
hats; 15 casks of shoes; 6 bales of shirts; 30 bales of clothing; 3
puncheons of barley; 8 puncheons of wheat and 6 bales of stockings. In
addition many of the bales of shop clothing were much damaged on the
voyage.
Early in October 1839 one hundred and thirty male
prisoners were embarked on the Woodbridge from the
hulks at Woolwich. The remaining 100 men were received at
Sheerness from the Fortitude hulk at Chatham. The
Woodbridge departed Sheerness on 12 October 1839
and
came via the Cape of Good Hope 6th January.
Passengers included Captain Minter and family, Ensign Gree,
Mr. and Mrs. Murrey and 29 rank and file of the 28th, 50
and 96 regiments with four women and three children.
George Moxey was employed as Surgeon Superintendent. He
kept a
Medical and Surgical Journal
from 21 September 1839 to 11 March 1840. We wrote in the
General Remarks in his Journal:
In concluding these brief remarks, I may observe the
prisoners (with the exception of a few mentioned in the
journal) were landed in Sydney in good health, and
perfectly recovered from all signs of scurvy which seemed
to threaten rather serious consequences at one period of
the voyage, but a beneficial change soon manifested itself
after their obtaining a supply of fresh meat and
vegetables at the Cape of Good Hope.
The Colonial Secretary and Superintendent of Convicts
were both pleased to express themselves satisfied with the
clean and wholesome state of the ship and also as to the
cleanly appearance and orderly demeanour of the prisoners.
The Woodbridge arrived in Port Jackson on 26
February 1840.
Two hundred and twenty-nine prisoners were landed in
Sydney, one having died on the passage out.
The Sydney Herald reported that the convicts of the
Woodbridge would land at Norfolk Island in consequence of
there not being sufficient room for their reception at
their intended destination. During their stay (at Norfolk
Island) they were to be employed on the public works. On
the 14 March the Sydney Gazette reported that the
men had been landed and eighty of them had been sent on
the Augusta Jessie to Norfolk Island and the
remainder of them sent to the different works in the
interior.
George Fairfowl wrote in his journal - 'On Monday 29
July 1822 I received a warrant from the Navy Board appointing me on
board of the female convict ship the Woodman; and forthwith
proceeded to Deptford where I placed myself under the orders of Captain
Young the Board's Agent. On 24 August 1822 the ship sailed from the
River and on the 13 September 1822 we anchored in the Cove of Cork. We
remained here until 22 December 1822, when a small miserable schooner the Mary of London brought us from Dublin, 22 free passengers and 47
female convicts. They had suffered severely during the passage of five
or six days. The weather was cold and stormy they had no beds the straw
they slept on was scanty and wet and they were badly clothed.
On 23 December 1822 the Woodman received from Cork Depot, 24 free
women and children and 43 female convicts. We were now detained, waiting
for the necessary papers from the Secretary of State's Office, until 25
January 1823 when we finally sailed. During this time some changes had
taken place, the accommodations were not sufficient for the passengers
and consequently eight were landed under the sanction of the Naval
Commander in Chief Lord Colville who personally inspected the prison and
we sailed with three convicts short of the complement.
There were two births on the Woodman, the
first just ten days before they sailed. - Margaret Burke, aged 25,
gave birth on 14th January and Catherine Nocton gave birth on 19th
April.
The first death was that of Mary Lusk aged 18 who
died on 7th February after days of sea sickness. Margaret Doolan aged 34
came on board from Kilmainham hospital
in a state of filth, having spent five days in the hold of a schooner
without bed or clothing, she laboured under violent menorrhagia attended
by hysterical and dyspeptic symptoms and died 6 May 1823.
The prisoners were landed on 28th June. Prisoner
Grace Keenan was sent to the hospital at Sydney as she was not well
enough to go with the other women to the Female Factory at Parramatta.
The other women according to George Fairfowl were all landed in a high
state of health, their looks much improved by the voyage.
George Fairfowl thought that the predominant
illnesses on the voyage were pulmonary inflammation, dysentery and
female complaints, which he attributed, the two former to the rapid
change from the meagre diet of the jail to the high stimulating one of
the ship, and the sudden transition of the climate. The female
complaints were accounted for by the fact that four-fifths of the women
had lived in a state of prostitution from their early youth.
The Woodman was one of three convict ships
bringing female prisoners to New South Wales in
1823, the others being
the
Lord Sidmouth and the
Mary. A total of 199 female convicts arrived in the colony
in 1823
The York was fitted out at Deptford in the summer
of 1830 to receive on board 200 male convicts for
transportation to New South Wales. On the 17 August the
soldiers of the Guard were embarked consisting of 40
non-commissioned soldiers of the 17th regiment under the
command of Lieut-Col Despard, accompanied by seven women
and five children.
Lieut-Colonel Despard's wife and family arrived as
passengers, as well as Ensign Owen,
Anne Forster and C. Donohue, servant to Mrs. Despard.
The detachment generally appeared in good
health, being mostly young men with the exception of those
men of the Band of the Regiment.
On the 24th August the ship having previously dropped down
the river to Woolwich, thirty convicts from the Dolphin
and fifty from the Ganymede hulks were received on
board. On 27th August thirty convicts were received at
Sheerness from the Retribution hulk and thirty boys
from the Euryalus at Chatham. On 28th August sixty
men were embarked from the Cumberland hulk at
Chatham completing the number to 200 convicts. All were in
apparent good health, but many looked ill and debilitated
from confinement and previous dissipation. Before the ship
left Sheerness a young man Henry Hoes, a private soldier
aged 28 was attacked with convulsions which continued in
successive fits with great severity. He was sent to the
military hospital Chatham.
The sailing order was received on the 4th September. In
going down the Channel they encountered strong westerly
winds with heavy seas causing much sea sickness. As the
winds continued the ship put into Spithead where they were
detained until 29th September. On this day the winds were
once more favourable and they departed Spithead although
in the channel they experienced contrary winds until the
6th October.
Campbell France was employed as Surgeon Superintendent. He
kept a Medical Journal from 11 August 1830 to 19 February
1831. In his General Remarks he reported that the voyage
was generally favourable and there were few cases of a
serious nature A total of 118 were admitted to the sick
list throughout the voyage but most were of a slight
nature. They remained at Teneriffe for two days where they
received both meat and vegetables and completed the water.
On the 3rd November convict William Garett aged 30 died
suddenly. As there was no convenient place to examine the
body cause of death was not ascertained. On the 16th
October John Hayes age 17 also died. These were the only
fatal cases that occurred.
The Surgeon reported: As is usual in these ships the
convicts were kept as much on deck as possible in the day
time, and in warm weather a certain number bathed every
morning. The between decks and and the men's berths were
kept clean and dry in fine weather constantly ventilated
with the windsail and in moist damp weather the stoves
were in constant use for the same purpose. The weather
during the voyage was in general moderate and favourable.
In August it was fine and dry in September strong westerly
winds and much wet cloudy weather, thermometer ranging
from 60° to 70° - in October weather also cloudy and wet -
November was generally fine and moderate excepting in the
middle of the month there were several days of wet
weather, with strong winds. Thermometer from 70° to 84°.
The beginning of the month of December was fine and dry
towards the end strong gales and wet cloudy weather,
thermometer from 70° to 62° degrees. In January 1831 and
the beginning of February strong winds with hazy weather
and occasional wet days. Thermometer from 57° to 62 °.
The York arrived
in Port Jackson on 7 February 1831 with 198 male
prisoners. According to the Surgeon, the convicts and
soldiers were all landed at Sydney in better general
appearance and health than when they embarked on board the
York in England
The
Band of the 17th Regiment was landed on Wednesday 9th
February 1831, and the prisoners were landed Friday 18th February. It was
reported that among them were a considerable number of
strong healthy labourers accustomed to agriculture as well
as several good mechanics and tradesmen.
The burthen of the York was 478 tons. The Sydney
Gazette reported that this was not the old York
but was built in the year 1819 at Southwick in Durham.
Captain Leary, the commander, was considered an old and
respected visitor to the colony
