The Voyage of the "Strathallan"
Life on an Immigrant Ship Bound for New Zealand
page 5
23/12 The Roaring Forties
17th December The Strathallan sailed eastward across
the Southern Ocean on its journey to New Zealand. As would be expected the
westerly winds carried them onwards through rough seas. ‘Awful weather all night
the sea breaking right up the rigging,’ wrote John Morris. After ‘rain in the
morning’ he was ‘wet through from hauling ropes on the deck’ which suggests he
must have been assisting the sailors in their work. There must have been
problems with the crew as, ‘the first mate was going to put Cameron the sailor
in irons’.
On Saturday the 18th the ‘wind was right aft. Ship rolling heavily all day.’
Morris also recorded there were patches of seaweed floating past during the day
and there were ‘porpoises about’.
19th December For the second Sunday in a row the rough
weather meant that the ‘service was held in the cuddy in the morning and under
the main hatch in the evening’. In a reference to the argument between the
Captain and the doctor the Reverend Alabaster wrote ‘the doctor’s matter is on
the point of completion yet seems likely to remain unsettled. Although
everything material has been conceded on both sides.’ It appears that even
though things should by now be settled there wasn’t a final resolution to the
argument, and he doesn’t explain what had caused the problems Judging by his
diary entries Alabaster saw himself as the negotiator and peace maker.
John Morris more concerned about the weather than the squabbling among the
gentlemen passengers recorded ‘cold, rain and snow’. On deck they were keeping a
lookout for land and sighted ‘Kerguelan’s Land (or Crozets) half past three on
the starboard side. There is a doubt as to which it is’. There were ‘heavy
squalls of wind and rain by the E and N. It was hard work to keep the ship off
the rocks’. Morris noticed lots of ducks flying off the island. They were
‘ragged little fellows’.
In reference to the sighting of land Alabaster recorded ‘this was a great relief
to the Captain for it was the first land he had seen for certain since leaving
England and enabled him to test his reckoning’. He also made note of the
weather, it being ‘bitterly cold and damp. Our own little cabin is the only
really comfortable place to sit in’.
20th December Rough weather the day before had carried away
the flying jib. After it was replaced the ‘starboard fore stun’sail boom carried
away’. It was not unusual for sails and yards to be blown away or damaged and
sailors had to be prepared to work in the rigging in all weathers. More sea weed
was seen and they were still keeping a look out for land presumably other
islands in the Crozet archipelago. There are a total of 20 small windswept
islands in the group where it rains on about 300 days each year and the wind
blows over 100km/hr on 100 or more days a year. They pose a danger to ships
crossing the Southern Ocean.
21st December Morris noted ‘longest day for us’ referring to
the longest day of the year. It was a ‘fine morning, then storm of snow and
hail’. The strong wind continued and ‘the boom rigged yesterday snapped off in
the middle’. John Morris ‘mended (his) concertina’ probably preparing for the
‘band again’ later in the day.
22nd December ‘A barrel of flour and box of raisins given to
the passengers for their Christmas box on the quarter deck.’ With December the
25th approaching it was time for the emigrants to make their Christmas puddings.
The only other entry for the day is ‘ship going well’.
23rd December Morris recorded ‘ship going splendidly, and
from 10 to above 14 knots an hour. 72 east at midday’. By now the Strathallan
would have been about half way across the Southern Ocean.
Going Down
At least 30 ships foundered on the journey
to Australia and New Zealand in the 19th century - most with serious loss of
life. For the emigrants
fire on the ship or sinking was not something to dwell on. The few lifeboats
carried were only able to accommodate the paying passengers, steerage passengers
were expected to swim or cling to wreckage.
Some vessels just disappeared and were never seen or heard of again. The Guiding
Star left Liverpool in 1855 with 556 emigrants on board. She was never seen
again. It is thought it may have collided with an iceberg. The Piako was
luckier. In 1878 she was carrying 281 immigrants bound for Timaru and Lyttelton
when fire broke out while they were 2100 miles off the coast of Brazil.
Fortunately a passing ship was able to take all the passengers off the ship.
In 1875 the Strathmore was crossing the Southern Ocean when
it was wrecked on one of the Crozet islands. The captain and 37 people were
drowned. The 50 survivors reached the island and managed to salvage some items
from the wreck including gunpowder, wine, spirits, and tins of preserves as well
as cutlery and some blankets. There was also a consignment of women’s boots but
they were of little use because there was only one woman. After living for seven
months on seabirds and a moss found growing on the island they were eventually
rescued. By then a further five of the survivors had died.
One of the worst tragedies occurred in 1874 off the Cape of
Good Hope when the Cospatrick caught fire. The ship was bound for Auckland and
was carrying 429 emigrants. The fire quickly spread through the ship. Two boats
were launched and carried about 62 people including the paying passengers and
some of the crew. The remainder were left on the burning ship and it is recorded
that husbands threw their wives overboard and then jumped themselves. Drowning
was preferable to being burnt to death. There were only three survivors.
The Cospatrick burns and sinks in 1874 Alexander
Turnbull Library
30/12 Christmas Day
24th December To the ‘relief of all,’ according
to the Strathallan diarist Charles Alabaster the ‘doctor and the captain shook
hands’. For some time there had been ill feeling between the two and the
concerned Reverend had been trying to reconcile the two antagonists. Steerage
assisted emigrant John Morris recorded, ‘another stormy day’ which was not a
reference to the doctor and captain disagreement but the weather, which had the
vessel, ‘shipping water every moment’. At one stage, ‘one sea filled the whole
belly of the mainsail and then plumped down the main hatchway’.
Morris also recorded ‘Mr Double’s child died this afternoon and was buried
directly afterwards’. The sad event is also noted by the Reverend Alabaster. ‘On
Friday Mrs Double lost her baby after a long illness; the same afternoon I
committed it to the deep.’ William Double and his wife Sarah were bringing their
six children to Timaru. Eliza Ann the baby was recorded on the passenger list as
being four months old when the family boarded the ship.
The death of so many babies on immigrant ships was partly attributable to the
lack of suitable food. With 23 children dying on the Lancashire Witch on its
voyage to Timaru, diarist David Carr recorded in 1863 the following lines;
Another child is dead
Another spirit fled
Another body overboard
To mingle with the dead
In the evening John Morris noted ‘southern lights or Aurora Australis very plain
after dark’. Alabaster thought ‘it was hardly possible to realise that it was
Christmas Eve. When it grew dark I retired to my own cabin and consoled myself
with the Homily on the Nativity’. The emigrants thoughts regarding the
approaching festival have not been recorded.
25th December ‘The sea moderated and we woke to as glorious a
Christmas morning as could well be desired.’ The Reverend ‘read the morning
service in the cuddy, churched Mrs Paget and Isabella Hayes and afterwards
christened the two boys William Strathallan Paget and Strathallan Hayes. The
ship gave us a good dinner; a walk on deck prepared us for tea and then with the
dark came a tureen of snapdragon. Here endeth the legitimate amusements of the
day. Before this we had learnt that one of the cuddy passengers who had in the
morning acted as godfather was drinking below with the christening party and it
soon became painfully apparent that the doctor had put his hand to orders of
beer and spirits to a dangerous amount. No little of it found its way into the
forecastle.’ So for the Reverend Alabaster it was ‘a Christmas day whose like I
care not to see again’. As one might expect John Morris had different views on
the day. ‘Fine day. Splendid weather. Shiny cool and pleasant’, he recorded.
‘Two children christened this morning. One called William Strathallan Padget and
the other Strathallan Hayes. Plenty of plum duffs on board. Sailors all drunk
and fighting. Blue murder. Hurrah!’
The 26th December was a Sunday and John Morris after the
incident filled day noted, ‘Queer. No how. All wrong. Too soon after Christmas’.
The Reverend conducted his service and was not about to let the behaviour of the
previous day pass without comment as ‘the events of the preceding day called for
notice. The offending cuddy passenger (he had been drinking with the christening
party) I called to account publicly but apparently with little effect. Base and
silly as his acts are he glories in them when away from those who would not
permit such indeceny’.
27th December The day was fine but there was ‘snow at
midday’. A stun’sail boom had been carried away during the night and then
another boom was carried away in the afternoon. There was ‘heavy hail and snow
at intervals during the night,’ and ‘Manchester’s phot. (perhaps photograph)
Stolen’. George and John Manchester were two single men who were to disembark at
Timaru. They became well known residents in Waimate.
28th December ‘Snow this morning. Bitter cold. More heavy
snow and hail. The boatswain groggy.’ John Morris’s weather notes are to be
expected as the ship reached 47 degrees S. latitude as it worked its way
eastwards to New Zealand.
The next day similar weather continued and Morris was occupied ‘clearing out
under the forecastle’.
30th December A welcome break to the bitterly cold weather
occurred. ‘Nearly a calm. Curious piece of seaweed floated past. Good breeze in
the evening and all night.’ The end of the journey was now in sight. Another two
weeks of good sailing and the Strathallan would be off the eastern coast of the
South Island.
Leisure and Amusements
With the journey taking about three months emigrants had
to keep themselves amused. Music and dancing were popular. Groups formed bands -
Morris refers to the ‘single mens band’. Dancing for the single men depended on
the captain giving permission for the single women to participate. Other deck
activities included games and competitions. Leaping competitions and walking
contests are mentioned. William Jewell recorded ‘jumping of rope’ games, a
wrestling match that almost ‘came to blows’ and the cabin passengers played
‘Quarts’ (presumbably quoits). Dominoes was a popular game. Cards, and board
games like draughts and chess were played. For many the daily observation of
fish and birds was of interest. Emigrants are also recorded as reading the Bible
but whether this was by choice or because there was no other material available
is not recorded. Women spent time cleaning, washing, sewing and organising the
preparation of meals. School lessons were organized for children and frequent
religious services helped pass the time.
At Christmas Charles Alabaster refers to being treated to a ‘tureen of
snapdragon’. It is not a soup but a parlour game popular in those times. Heated
brandy was poured into a shallow dish and then raisins were added. The brandy
was set alight and the idea was to pick the raisins out
and eat them without getting burnt.
Isabella Boggis (Hayes) while living at Arowhenua Bush
asks Bishop Harper to christen Strathallan Hayes again because she doesn’t like
his name. Reference: J W Stack Through Canterbury and Otago with Bishop Harper
6/1 New Year Celebrations
31st December The strong westerly winds must have
been carrying the Strathallan further eastwards as the diarist John Morris
recorded ‘ship going tremendously all day’. The wind was strong enough that at
‘half-past 6 p.m. main-topmast stun’sail carried away’. He also noted it was
‘the last day of the year’. The Reverend Alabaster did not record the advent of
the new year but Morris tells us that ‘ at midnight the ship’s bells rang for a
quarter of an hour, after which a concert of pots and pans kept up a chorus
until the captain brought out the rum bottle’.
1st January There was a ‘strong wind all day. Sea rising’.
The assisted emigrant ‘Mrs Brightmore, the mad woman brought down to the single
men’s hospital’. This is one of the few diary entries where John Morris
expresses an opinion regarding the character of a person. Another incident
caused ‘mutiny and rebellion. The ladder taken down and the devil to pay’.
Unfortunately Morris does not record what the incident was all about. While we
can’t be sure it would appear that there was a problem within the emigrant ranks
and they had been confined to steerage or perhaps to the deck. There are records
in other shipboard diaries where if individuals or groups misbehaved they were
confined below decks.
Sunday 2nd January It was ‘another stormy day, Wind blowing, sea rolling’ and
the ‘main topgallant sheet chain carried away’. Besides recording the weather
for the day Morris also records a ‘child died this afternoon’. And then the
‘wind fell about 8 p.m.’ with the ‘ship rolling all night’.
3rd January Charles Alabaster noted, ‘I buried the child of
Mr and Mrs Davidson’. The burial is recorded by John Morris who also made a
diary entry that it was a ‘beautiful morning’ with a ‘smooth sea’ and ‘very
little wind’. William and Jane Davison (spelling as in the passenger list) were
from Surrey. The passenger list records their only child was William who was
nine months old when the family embarked on the ship. Emigrants destined for
Timaru were kept well occupied during the day as with the end of the journey
approaching ‘all hands looking out boxes for Timaru’.
‘The light winds all day’ on Tuesday the 4th were noted by Morris as was a ‘row
between Pickles and young Everett’. Pickles was a sailor and young Everett was
William Everett, a 20 year old emigrant from Surrey in England. He was a porter
and was going to disembark at Lyttelton.
5th January There was a ‘breeze all day’ and John Morris
after noting that he was ‘wakeful last night’ recorded that he went on deck and
there were ‘curious appearance like balls of fire floating past every moment in
the dark’.
6th January It was a dreadfully rough day with the sea
breaking over the ship from early in the morning and right through out the day.
John Morris noted that during the day ‘Mrs Brightmore died in the afternoon and
was buried directly afterwards’. The Rev Alabaster also noted his record of the
funeral. ‘I committed to the deep Mrs Brightmore an imbecile.’ The unfortunate
Mrs Brightmore was Louisa the 34 year old wife of William Brightmore a
bricklayer from London. They had two children with them James aged 11 and Louisa
aged three years.
Morris also observed that he was ‘wet through in the
afternoon from two seas that came on board,’ but perhaps more significantly that
there are ‘land birds about the ship’. For Morris this would be a sign that the
journey was nearly over.
Timaru’s Immigrant Ships
While the Strathallan
was the first immigrant ship to sail directly to Timaru she was followed by a
few others. The open roadstead was later recognised as a hazard to safe landing
and as coastal shipping services had developed there were very few direct
sailings after 1864.
The Echunga was the second of the
ships. At 1007 tons she was twice as big as the Strathallan. The Echunga arrived
here from London on the 16 December 1861 after a passage of 102 days. Of the 310
immigrants 121 landed at Timaru. There was disappointment when the ship arrived
because the accommodation barracks were not ready for occupation. Some of the
prospective settlers refused to land and when the threats of the officials had
no effect they were taken on to Lyttelton.
On the 13 October 1863 the 1574 ton
Lancashire Witch anchored in the roadstead. A
total of 125 immigrants landed at Timaru after the 96 day passage. The journey
was one Doctor Duncan McLean the ships
doctor and who later was a doctor in Timaru would not forget. Seven adults and
23 children died during the voyage.
The Victory a 579 ton ship arrived
on the 16 October 1863. She had departed from Southampton on 14 June and had a ‘favourable
passage’ with one infant death and four births on board. 101 immigrants landed
on the beach at Timaru.
One of the last ships to bring immigrants on a direct sailing was the 1044 ton
Ivanhoe. The ship arrived in 1864 and 25 passengers
had died on the voyage. When the boatmen rowed out to meet the ship they
discovered there were cases of typhoid fever among the passengers. Consequently
the ship and the boatmen were put into quarantine and the Ivanhoe sailed to
anchor in isolation at Camp Bay in Lyttelton harbour. Later everybody
disembarked at Lyttelton. Among the cabin passengers were Charles and Ellen
Tripp with their three children and a servant. Mr Tripp
a barrister and of Orari Gorge Station had 14 sheets of foolscap paper listing
his complaints regarding the captain of the ship. A few days after their arrival
at Lyttelton the captain fell into the harbour and was drowned.
These early immigrants were followed by many others but like
the Ivanhoe immigrants most of them did not sail direct to Timaru. Some arrived
overland while others arrived by the coastal shipping service that was by then
well established.
The immigrants included families with children as well as
single men and women. James and Margaret Gibson were one of the families. Their
daughter Rebecca Gibson was three years old when she arrived on the
Strathallan. She married James Campbell had 12 children and lived at
Kingsdown south of Timaru. She is pictured with James and 11 of her children –
the boy in the front holds a photograph of his deceased brother. M Fairbrother
14/1 Timaru at Last
7th January On the Strathallan the ships company was
busy with the serving out of stores to the mess groups with ‘half the usual
quantity for those going to Timaru’. Although land had not been sighted the
emigrants would be very aware that their long journey was nearly over. Perhaps
this did not help to ease tensions on board the ship as John Morris the assisted
emigrant recorded several further incidences before they anchored off Timaru.
8th January ‘Both anchor chains up and bent one’ recorded
Morris. He also noted the mysterious phrase ‘the steward knocked off by the
captain’s orders one day this week.’ The Reverend Alabaster observed that he had
seen ‘brown and white porpoises’. This was of interest to him because any others
he had seen had been black. ‘A pistol was discharged at them and when alarmed
they sped through the water at a wonderful pace not less than ten or twelve
miles an hour.’ Other diarists have recorded that for sport passengers would
discharge firearms at anything in the sea that took their fancy. The entries are
of interest too because at one time regulations required ‘any fire-arms,
gunpowder, lucifer matches, or combustible material of any kind discovered in
the possession of passengers will be immediately taken away from them by the
captain’. Like many of the rules set for the conduct of passengers it appears
they weren’t necessarily enforced.
9th January There were ‘light winds’ and ‘very little
progress’ but the excitement for the emigrants for the day was when there was a
‘row between B. and R’. Apparently one of the emigrants tried to cut the other
down with a ‘scraper’. The incident caused so much concern that a watch was kept
all night in case R. tried to assault B. in his sleep. Whether B. actually
managed to have any sleep that night is not noted by Morris.
10th January After yesterdays excitement down in steerage
there were ‘light winds’ with ‘the ship going no how’. John Morris noted they
‘were looking out for land’, but with a breeze right ahead he also noted the
ship was ‘seven points off her course’.
At a time when all of the ship’s passengers were hoping for good sailing winds
the next day the Strathallan faced a head wind with heavy fog. According to
Morris there was ‘no seeing above half a mile’. During the day ‘half week’s
allowances of rations for Timaru people’ were distributed and somebody ‘caught a
large mowhawk, as large as a fine goose, and turned it loose on the deck’. In
preparation for anchorage they ‘got the anchors over the side and got more chain
up’.
12th January Morris recorded a ‘cold, misty, wet morning’
with ‘all hands looking out for land’. During the day at different times there
were faint appearances of land.
Later in the day the wind dropped and there was a dead calm.
13th January The 13th became an important day for the
emigrants because after the ‘studding sails were set again’ land was sighted on
the port bow at about 11 a.m. ‘NEW ZEALAND’ recorded John Morris and they were
‘35 miles from land at noon’. Aside of the sighting of land the tension between
the passengers and crew continued with Morris recording that ‘Long drew a knife
and threatened Little Jimmy the sailor’.
14th January Suddenly John Morris finds reason to give more
detail to his notes. ‘Ten thousand mountains towering far above the clouds, some
of them covered in eternal snow, but all barren and desolate, not a sign of
human being or human works.’ The Reverend Alabaster also recorded his first long
awaited sighting of New Zealand. ‘Up on deck a little before six. The hills on
the coast full in view; and in the distance far above them the peaks of the
snowy mountains. The glories of the landscape made me wish for either the pencil
of the artist or the pen of the poet.’ John Morris adds a final note regarding
the problems they faced during the voyage ‘our cake stolen’.
Morris continued ‘TIMARU AT LAST Five houses in sight’. The Strathallan
anchored about three miles off Timaru and a boat came out with six men. There
was a gale of a wind blowing and John Morris recorded that there was ‘no
accommodation for the immigrants. A queer look out’. Because there was no
accommodation for the immigrants the Provincial government had arranged for the
Rhodes wool shed to be available for temporary shelter. Although not recorded by
the diarists there are records to suggest that many of the immigrants were
disappointed with what they saw from the ship. They had been lead to believe
that Timaru was an established town but from what they could see that was not
the case.
The next day the 15th of January ‘the ship rolling all day in
the ground swell’. 16th January John Morris recorded it was ‘a beautiful
morning, warm sun’ and that the ship had made sail and stood further in and
anchored in 6 fathoms. Despite their arrival and the end of the voyage for many
of the passengers tensions still arose when ‘old Jimmy pitched into the black
cook and the boatswain followed suit’. Then there was a final act of
misbehaviour - the ‘boatswain went on to the poop and made a noise and got put
in irons’. What kind of noise the boatswain made that justified his being put in
irons is not recorded and must be left to the reader’s imagination. On a
cheerful note Morris noted that they ‘had fresh mutton for dinner in the
forecastle’ and that ‘radishes and potatoes (were) brought on board’. And much
to the relief of the immigrants they ‘commenced landing passengers’. Alabaster
had noted that the landing of the immigrants did not start when planned as ‘the
boatmen at first had the impudence to ask £130 for landing 115 persons young and
old with their baggage, but ultimately accepted £45 and their rations’.
The landing of the passengers on the beach continued during the day and was
completed on Monday 17th January. The Strathallan then weighed anchor
and sailed for Lyttelton.
On shore the immigrants sheltered in the woolshed making
themselves as comfortable as possible among the stored bales of wool. Conditions
must have been cramped as James Blyth one of the immigrants recalled that when
he arrived on shore he was forced to spend his first nights under the shelter of
a flax bush. The Strathallan continued north to Lyttelton where the
remainder of the immigrants and the Reverend Alabaster disembarked. While the
immigrants were sheltering in the woolshed the Alabasters on their arrival in
Christchurch were offered the use of Dr Donald’s house for accommodation the
‘hotels not being fit for ladies’
Where to Now?
About 110 Strathallan assisted immigrants landed on the beach at Timaru on the 16th and 17th of January 1859. Later they were joined by a few of the immigrants (including John Morris) who had disembarked at Lyttelton but then decided to settle in Timaru. Their story as the founders of Timaru is recorded in; Timaru at Last! South Canterbury’s Strathallan Immigrants. The book to mark the 150th anniversary of the ships arrival has been published in 2008 by and is for sale at the South Canterbury Museum. cover
