In the Wake of the Lord Melville | Books & magazines
In the Wake of the Lord Melville
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24.01.2022 On this day 200 years ago, the 'Lord Melville' sailed down the Thames from its berth at Gravesend. The first convict woman had been embarked in early July and most of the others were on board by mid-July. The convicts, as per procedure were signed over to the captain of the ship (Thackray Weatherell) on 12 August. There were meant to be only 100 women on board, but administrative miscommunication resulted in 101. In any case, most women had been on board for about seven weeks and would be on board for another six months.
24.01.2022 As 1818 draws to a close, in the ten months since February, many more events had occurred. The colony, in its 30th year, was a hive of activity, especially in the domestic domain: Births (13): Mary Holmes boy Joseph 6 March Eliza Streeter boy John Renton 7 April Ann Settree boy Robert 14 April... Frances Brown boy Joseph 4 May Mary Ann Turvey girl Elizabeth Ann 24 May Mary Davis boy George 15 June Susan Tinny girl Mary 16 October Frances Johnson boy William October Mary Scott boy Robert Smith 17 November Sarah Barrell girl Elizabeth 25 November Ann Williams boy John Samuel 12 December Jane Wood girl Sarah December Mary Basham boy Samuel Deaths (4): Joseph, son of Mary Holmes, 12 days old, 18 March Maria Cooper 18 March Margaret May 4 May Elizabeth Cunningham 3 September Marriages (13): Ann Smith to John Cox 16 March Susan Tinny to Daniel King 30 March Harriet Collins to George Spray 11 May Sarah Barrell to John Champion 11 May Sarah Reynolds to James Pettit 11 May Ann Hulmes to Thomas Cossar 25 May Elizabeth Young to Francis Ainsworth 29 June Elizabeth Grant to Samuel Cooley 6 August Caroline Coulbeck Lusby to John Batchelor 9 August Sarah Arnold to John Norriss 10 August Elizabeth Sorel to Thomas Richardson 8 September Eliza Mackay to James Wright 26 October Mary Holmes to Charles Frowd 29 October Other events: Elizabeth Grant sentenced to Newcastle 30 March Sarah Hall sentenced to Newcastle 30 June Ann Chapman sentenced to Newcastle 11 August Jean Davie sentenced to Newcastle 2 October Ann Evans, Jane England, Martha Greenwood sentenced to Newcastle 23 November Bridget Conway once more absconds from the Female Factory August Mary Mallett absconds from the Female Factory August Elizabeth Harvey assigned to William Cox Mary Ann Turvey from Sydney to Hobart 1 December Sarah Hardy receives a Ticket of Leave Edward Gray appointed Overseer of the Orphan School Farm To this point five of the Lord Melville convict women had died. Four children had also died. Including on the voyage, 26 children had been born. Seven women had committed further misdemeanors and were serving a colonial sentence at Newcastle. 1819 should be an interesting year ... See more
23.01.2022 By this evening (it was a Saturday in 1816) the 'Lord Melville' had reached The Downs, a sheltering area for ships off the east coast of Kent. Unfortunately due to strong landward winds it was unable to anchor. A gale ensued and blew the Lord Melville into the Channel, damaging the topmast. The gale would blow them around all this night. It's hard to imagine how the women and children on board were feeling.
20.01.2022 Two hundred years and three days ago, on February 9, 1817, Barron Field recorded an increasing number of albatrosses, and today recorded ‘an innumerable shoal of fish [rolling] along with the ship, like porpoises’. They were 15 feet long and black with a grey patch on the back. As there are no porpoises in Australian waters and they were too large to be dolphins, they were most likely a small species of whale. Some of the crew with whaling experience suggested this to Field, though he remained dubious. In any case there were signs that land was close and their journey nearing its end.
19.01.2022 Yesterday, the passengers and crew sighted land, the south coast of Australiathe first land they had seen in 73 days since leaving Rio on 5 December. As they neared the coastline, they could see cliffs and woods, and clouds of smoke from native fires on the shore. The wind died and, as they lay off Cape Bridgewater (near Portland, Victoria), Field remarked that it had the ‘look of home’. By today, they had lost sight of the land and were visited by a lone penguin swimming around the ship. The crew shot it for its curiosity and gave it to Field to study.
16.01.2022 This morning 200 years ago was Monday 24 February, Wetherell made his run for Port Jackson and triumphantly sailed through Sydney Heads to anchor in Sydney Cove. According to Barron Field’s account, they had traversed 15,335 miles ‘by the log’ and spent 152 days at sea. In total, from departing Gravesend on 29 August until arriving in Sydney Cove on 24 February, the voyage took 180 days. Field estimated 28 days of non-sailing time, including time spent on shore at the Isle of... Wight and Rio, and the four days from the Thames to the Isle of Wight, which he deemed to be not ‘at sea’. By pure chance, while researching a different subject I discovered an eye-witness account of the Lord Melville entering Port Jackson. One of the London Missionary Society’s missionaries, John Orsmond, was on the King George attempting to leave the harbour for Tahiti. He wrote this account of the weather during the arrival of the Lord Melville: "At 6 a.m. the ship is again under weigh. The rains descend more heavily than I ever saw them before. The thunder roars & the lightenings flash, a storm lowers before us and with fear lest we should be driven on the leeward shore the Captain is glad to take the ship back to the Cove again. Today amidst tremendous rains the Lord Melville is come in with female Prisoners." It is a credit to Captain Wetherell and his crew that they brought the ship through Sydney Heads safely in such stormy conditions. See more
15.01.2022 The Lord Melville had arrived off the Isle of Wight yesterday morning, but it was so crowded with ships, that they had to wait until this morning to find an anchorage. They would be there for the next 12 days while making repairs. During that time the convicts remained on board - any convict found on English soil after having been transported and still serving their sentence could be sentenced to death. Perhaps the free passengers found lodgings onshore and others may have gone to and fro for supplies.
15.01.2022 It has been almost a year since the Lord Melville arrived and many events concerning the newcomers have occurred. But before moving on to some of them, I will give an overview of the crew who brought the Lord Melville safely to Port Jackson. There were 28 crew members and at least seven had sexual liaisons, including long-term relationships, with the convict women. This may have been a reason for the slow voyage! The Lord Melville was in Port Jackson for a little over two mo...nths, for all of March and April. Following are the relationships there is evidence for (crew rank order). Captain, or Master, Thackray Wetherell, 29, and Mary Duncan, 25. Surgeon-Superintendent Daniel Macnamara and Susan Brown, 24. Chief Officer John Nicholson, 32, and Eliza Streeter, 17, (convict Mary Ann Allen's daughter) They married and had a large family and a long and prosperous life together. Third Mate Michael Dawson and Mary Ann Turvey, 22. Daniel King and Susan Tinny, 19. John Sinnett and Phillis Gordon, 30. Other crew members of note were: Boy John Brooks, 14. Boy George McKnight, 13. Boy Frederick Newhorn, 15. Boy Edward Evans, 18. Louis De Lacrete, a 'St Domingan French Man'. Second Mate Andrew Drysdale, who was on ships in Australian waters at least until 1824, rising to Acting Master. Captain's Steward Jos Paterson, a 'W Indian Black'. Ship's Steward Charles Groves. Carpenter Adam Robertson. Carpenter's Mate Alexander Turnbull. Cooper Mr George Thomas. See more
14.01.2022 This morning in 1816 the winds abated but the ship had been blown far towards the coast of Cherbourg, France. The crew rescued four men and a boy from a sinking ship and then sailed for the Isle of Wight for repairs to the topmasts. As it was a Sunday, Barron Field, the new Supreme Court Judge, initiated a service for convicts, crew and passengers, which was to become a regular Sunday sermon.
13.01.2022 Well, while this author has been bogged down in studies, 200 years ago our little clumsy ship was tackling the South Atlantic. Last we heard it was in Rio de Janeiro, but on the morning of Thursday, 5 December 1816, the Lord Melville was towed out of the harbour and re-commenced its voyage. Captain Wetherell had purchased trade goods for the colony, such as tobacco, to make a bit more profit from the voyage. They soon that day crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. It was shipboard... routine until perhaps a birthday celebration for Jane Field on 16 December, reaching the significant age of 25 years. They sailed south-east and Barron Field remarked that they were 'into the principality of whales', accompanied by many albatrosses and petrels. On 21 December (today) the wind dropped and rain set in, perhaps due to the proximity of Tristan da Cunha, a remote outpost of Britain. Little did they know, but they would not see land for three months from their departure from Rio. See more
10.01.2022 The morning of Saturday 22 February, found them viewing ‘higher hills and a long table mountain’ and several fires on the coast. At midday, they passed Mount Dromedary (near Narooma) and Montague Island. Field remarked: "The land was more distant today, and showed ranges of higher hills, one behind the other, like the waves of the sea." They passed Batemans Bay and Point Upright, and, in the evening, saw Pigeon House Mountain (inland from Ulladulla). The next morning, they sailed past Cape St George and, in the distance, saw Hat Hill. By evening, ‘having run our distance by the log’, the ship lay off Botany Bay for the night. The long journey was all but over.
09.01.2022 Well, I've neglected the voyage for a couple of months, but 200 years ago the ship was still at sea - sort of. Last we heard, the ship had been blown south in a gale. After four days of heavy seas tossing them about they reached calmer waters. On 30 September they attempted to land a party on Madeira Island (Portugal), but they were refused. The men in the longboat had to row ten miles back to the ship! Sailing off from there, the Lord Melville passed the Canary Islands on 3... October and on Sunday, 6 October, crossed the Tropic of Cancer. The bad luck of the voyage struck again when, due to poor navigation, they sailed past the Cape Verde Islands where they had intended to get water and supplies. They sailed south-west. Then again, on Sunday 13 October, in 83 degree heat (Fahrenheit), they were becalmed at the Equator for two weeks. No doubt everyone on board would have been thrilled to endure Barron Field's Sunday sermon in these conditions. He turned 30 during that time (23 October). Sea traffic increased, they passed a pirate ship and an American ship, the Millwood. Some people on board took the opportunity to pass on letters to deliver to England. Then on 21 November the Lord Melville glided into the harbour of Rio de Janeiro 'under a glowing sunset' (Field). They would be in port until 4 December (that's in 2 days time). During that time perhaps only small parties of convict women may have been allowed to land under guard - if at all. The free passengers, however, were able to do as they pleased. And they did. Barron and Jane Field stayed with fellow countrymen on shore and did a bit of touring, such as a day ride on horseback to the Tejuca waterfalls. During the stay, the first on-board birth occurred. Ann Chattels, 18 years old, gave birth to a daughter Elizabeth. Elizabeth would live on to experience a pioneering life in Australia. A total of four women were pregnant at this time and two more would fall pregnant before Sydney. The slow voyage may not have been entirely due to misadventure. See more
08.01.2022 All this time, the Lord Melville, with its fragile human cargo, splashed eastward in the southern seas. On the evening of Monday 13 January, the ship was in the vicinity of Necklegel Island (possibly an island in the Crozet Islands or nearby), though it was not sighted. On Tuesday 28 January, the southerly latitude caused the temperature to drop to 52 F (about 11 C), the lowest point on their voyage. On Saturday 1 February, a gale hit them from the south-west. At one point, waves crashed over the deck and ran down a hatchway, ruining a cargo of biscuits stowed below. On a small ship such as the Lord Melville, which by several accounts was not a good sailer, many on board may have thought their end was near. However, the ship came through the gale and wallowed eastwards. Australia’s land mass was now far to the north out of sight.
06.01.2022 February 15 1817. Captain Thackray Whetherell orders a change of direction east-north-east into warmer waters, bringing phosphorescence and Portuguese man-of-war. The Lord Melville was headed for Bass Strait.
06.01.2022 We continue the events of 200 years ago. To catch up, I have included all noted events from January 1819 to the end of March 1820. By this time, after three years in the colony most of our Lord Melvilleans had settled in to penal-colonial life. Births (19): Esther Ashby girl Mary Ann 1819 Hannah McKenzie girl Jane 1819...Continue reading
05.01.2022 On 19 February, they passed King’s Island (King Island) in the distance and entered Bass Strait. A large number of dolphins accompanied the ship, rolling in and out of the water as they played in the ship’s bow wave. That night, a strong gale whisked them through the strait and, at daybreak, Field’s narrative stated: "Round Island was in sight, and we passed it close on the left, for the sake of avoiding a dangerous sunken rock, called Crocodile [just south of Wilson’s Promontory], over which we saw the sea breaking, about four miles to the right, near the Slipper Islands. We passed, also on the right, the Twins or Curtis’s Islands and the Seal Islands; and, on the left, two or three more rocks called Barren Islands. Behind, on this side, stretched Wilson’s Promontory, on the main land of New South Wales. Kent’s Island we did not see."
03.01.2022 Five days ago, after repairs to the topmasts were completed, our good ship Lord Melville sailed from St Helens Road but made only slow progress to Land's End, taking about four days. Yesterday a gale blew up and now the ship is being blown towards the Bay of Biscay. It would seem that so far the voyage was not entirely satisfactory. Historical records, such as Charles Bateson's 'The Convict Ships' mistakenly record the beginning of the voyage from departure from the Isle of Wight on 16 September rather than the actual start from Gravesend on 29 August.
02.01.2022 It has been a while since the last post. So here is a list of events from arrival in February 1817 to February 1818, just over 200 years ago. In 1818 the colony was hitting its peak of industry and growth under the remarkable Governor Lachlan Macquarie. Births (11?): Rebecca Gurner boy John Thomas July 1817 Susan Brown boy David October 1817 Susan Tilly boy Daniel November 1817... Ann James girl Margaret December 1817 Mary Duncan girl Jane December 1817 Hannah McKenzie boy Thomas 1817 Phebe Hines girl Eliza 1817 Elizabeth Crisp girl Frances January 1818 Mary Jones girl Mary Ann January 1818 Ann Taylor girl Emma February 1818 Ann Maria Blackiston ? February 1818 Deaths (4): Ann Green February 1817 Hannah Whitely September 1817 James son of Jane Cross March 1817 Daniel son of Susan Tilly December 1817 Marriages (8): Eliza Streeter to John Nicholson March 1817 Mary Ann Waterman to Cornelius Hellawell June 1817 Esther Turner to James Slade August 1817 Mary Cornwell to Fardy Sheen September 1817 Susannah Newman to John Cadwallader December 1817 Ann Davis to Adam Halloway January 1818 Esther Sadler to Benjamin Herbert February 1818 Mary Davis to George Gerald February 1818 Other events: Mary Holmes dismissed from service to Barron Field March 1817 Richard Neaves & John Sinnett jump ship from the Lord Melville March 1817 Mary Davis arrives in Hobart March 1817 Sophia Robins sent to Newcastle April 1817 Michael Dawson jumps ship from the Lord Melville May 1817 Eleven women issued Sydney Tickets of Leave June 1817 Bridget Conway absconds from Parramatta Factory June 1817 Elizabeth Bannister & Sarah Reynolds sent to Van Diemen's Land July 1817 Mary Scott assigned to Reverend Marsden August 1817 Jane Wood & son arrive in Hobart September 1817 Eliza & John Nicholson sail for Tahiti September 1817 Susannah Newman absconds from employment December 1817 Jane Dunn assigned to William Kempton 1817 Sarah Halliwell absconds from Newcastle January 1818 (Never to be heard of again.) Field, Gurner & Gray receive land grants at Liverpool January 1818 Mary Draper licensed the York Ranger pub February 1818 More events to come ... See more
02.01.2022 Barron Field mentions nothing in his writing of Christmas or the new year, but on 2 January 1817, the crew hauled in a batch of nine albatrosses for a 'feast' and on the same day passed the longitude that the Cape of Good Hope was situated on, but way south of it. On 4 January a baby girl, Sarah, was born to free passenger Mary Gilbert. The Lord Melville was a slow ship and on 8 January (two days ago) a ship appeared astern, followed by another the next day. Captain Wetherell... stopped the ship and communicated with it. The ship was the Galatea of Boston, sailing from Gibraltar to Calcutta. The other ship was also American; both ships moved ahead of the pudgy Lord Melville and soon were out of sight. On 10 January (today), yet another baby was born, the third for the voyage. Convict Mary Scott (aka McPhelimy) gave birth to James. Her husband was also being transported at this time and would arrive in Sydney two weeks after her. See more
02.01.2022 The Lord Melville sailed on into the night and left Bass Strait behind. This morning they were close to the east coast and continued all day under a fair breeze north-eastwards. They saw more columns of smoke on shore from native fires and, by late afternoon, passed Ram Head and sailed by Cape Howe, observing many seals on the rocks. In the evening, they passed Green Cape.
