Clyde Company Papers - Notes 3

Clyde Company Papers volume 2
Introduction section for the year 1837

George Mackillop, in whose service George Russell first crossed Bass Strait, was another Vandiemonian to promote an overland link between Port Phillip Bay and Port Jackson. Early in 1835 he went to New South Wales in the hope of reaching Western Port across the mountains at the head of the Murray, and led an expedition from Monaro that resulted in the occupation of the Lake Omeo district on the fringe of what became Gippsland. In a communication addressed from the Yarra to Sydney before Mitchell's return there, or Gardiner's departure from Yass, he mentioned the great need for cattle at the new settlement, and expressed surprise that none had yet been sent by Hume and Hovell's route. Although, as one about to leave Van Diemen's Land, he advertised his 'large family home' for sale, and an apprentice girl aged thirteen for transfer as 'house servant or needlewoman' to any family willing to take charge of her, he remained in Hobart Town, where he was established as a merchant in association with Thomas Learmonth senior. Learmonth acquired a large interest in the Derwent company, but Mackillop was prominent among those who were known at this period as 'Dobson's Port Phillip Company' - a group of adventurers who hoped by acting in concert to obtain equal writes with the Port Phillip Association or its inheritors. His interests in Port Phillip crystallized as a mere sleeping partnership with another Anglo-Indian, James Smith, in the station at Terang afterwards called Glenormiston, but publication of his notes in Sydney, and later n Edinburgh, both encouraged New South Wales squatters to push beyond the dry Riverina plains, and stimulated inquiry throughout Scotland. His descriptions of the Geelong and Western Port districts seem to owe something to George Russell's reports. (p54)

Classified advertisement in the Hobart Town Courier 13 January 1837 p 3
(located in Trove - http://trove.nla.gov.au)

For Sale,

THE House in Davey street, lately built by Mr. M'Killop, and now occupied by him, with the garden attached. The first story consists of a drawing room 29 by 16 feet, a parlour, with store closets attached, a dining room, bed room, a butlers's sleeping room, pantry and kitchen. The second floor consists of 6 large bed rooms, a dressing room, store room and water closet ; and over these are three attics for servants, &c. In the out offices are a scullery, attached to the kitchen, a store room, hay loft, stable, coach, pig and hen houses &c.

The garden is of excellent soil, and is well stocked with fruit trees, now in full bearing.

The premises have been fitted up with every attention to the comfort of a large family, and are now only to be sold on account of the proprietor being about to leave the island.

The premises will be sold at a very great reduction from the sum they have just cost, or from what they could now be built for by any one, and at a long credit, at a low rate of interest,

will be given if required for two-thirds of the purchase money. The house may be inspected on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 4 o'clock.

Title, a grant from the crown.

For further particulars apply to  

G. MACKILLOP. Jan 10.

Classified advertisement in the Hobart Town Courier 3 February 1837 p 1
(located in Trove - http://trove.nla.gov.au)

 House Servant or Needlewoman.

MR. MACKILLOP, Davey street,being about to leave the colony, is desirous to transfer an apprentice girl to any family willing to take charge of her. She is in good health, 13 years of age, and would make herself generally useful. Apply to Mr. Mackillop._

Classified advertisement in the Hobart Town Courier 6 November 1835 p 1

(located in Trove - http://trove.nla.gov.au)

WOOL.

MESSRS. Thomas Learmouth and George Mackillop intimate to parties proposing to ship wool to England, they are ready to make advances on consignments to Messrs Palmers, Mackillop, & Co, London.

Parties desiring information respecting T. L. and G. M. or their agents, are referred to Chas. Swanston, esq. Managing Director of the Derwent Bank.

2, Old Wharf, Hobart town,

Oct. 20.

Classified advertisement in the Hobart Town Courier18 November 1836 p 3

(located in Trove - http://trove.nla.gov.au)

 Port Phillip

A meeting of the parties unconnected with the Port Phillip Company , who signed the Memorial to Sir Richard Bourke on the 6th ultimo, will be held at the Macquarie Hotel on Tuesday next the 22d instant, at 12 o'clock to receive mr Dobson's report.

GEO. McKILLOP

Simeon Lord and litigation

Simeon Lord reference in colonial cases.

Macquarie University Colonial Court Cases New South Wales

Lord, Simeon The most successful of the emancipist merchants. Owned a large house at Sydney Cove. Immensely litigious, his affairs took up a large percentage of the early appeals to the Privy Council. The records of the Council indicate that his opponents may have had good grounds for arguing that he used the Council as a means of warding off his creditors rather than in a genuine attempt to test the legality of judgments against him.

Simeon Lord and Macarthur

 More notes from Bligh's other mutiny by Stephen Dando-Collins

Many power disputes occurred in Colonial Sydney with John Macarthur being one of the key players. After Bligh was deposed negotiations began to locate a ship on which Bligh could leave the colony and have him tried for high treason. Bligh had agreed to leave on the warship, Porpoise, but Macarthur wanted a non-naval vessel to be used. Macarthur arranged for the ship, Pegasus, to be used but the agreement fell through. One of the owners of the Pegasus was Simeon Lord along with Surgeon Harris and Thomas Moore. "Even though the rebel government fitted out the Pegasus with government sails, the three owners backed out of the deal at the last minute. Lord had already shown that he had joined Bayley's opposition rebel camp, while Harris's support for Macarthur had already begun to waver. If they hadn't been in John Macarthur's black book before, all three of these gentlemen were well and truly in it now." (p114)

As a former convict Simeon Lord was not allowed to have a financial interest in any ship however Simeon found ways of getting around this minor technicality. "John Blaxland and his brother Gregory, by now firmly in the opposing rebel camp, jointly had an interest in the appropriately named ship the Brothers. The remaining half was officially owned by the London shipping firm Hullets & Co, which was also in partnership with John Macarthur in three or four of his ships. Hullets' half share of the Brothers  was actually mortgaged by the firm to Simeon Lord ..." A dispute between Macathur and the Blaxland brothers lasted through much of March and April of 1808. (p 116)

The appendix of Dando-Collins' book provides additional information about the Brothers case. Macarthur was determined that the ship would sail to London but Blaxland wanted it for other purposes. Much correspondence had been undertaken between Blaxland and Johnston with Blaxland continuing to ignore Macarthur. Russell, the captain of the ship, had been sacked by Blaxland but, supported by Macarthur, he refused to leave. " On 19 March, John and Gregory Blaxland and Simeon Lord boarded the Brothers. Lord was there because he was secretly in partnership with the Blaxlands in their half share of the Brothers. Ex-convicts were not permitted to own ships, but Lord neatly side-stepped the law by mortgaging his interest in ships he purchased to London financiers such as Hullets, so that the mortgage holder's name appeared on the ship's papers, not his. Ostensibly, the trio had come aboard the Brothers to inspect the accommodation that John Blaxland would use when he sailed the ship to England.  Gregory Blaxland laid hands on Captain Russell, a scuffle broke out, Russell called the Blaxlands and Lord names, and they reciprocated. Crew members separated the combatants. After the merchant trio left his ship, Russell went straight to Macarthur and subsequently laid charges of assault against the three merchants." (pp312-313)

The assault case was heard on 28 March 1808. Captain Russell read his address, which had primarily been written by Macarthur, to the court. When cross examined Russell admitted that Macarthur had advised on on how to handle his case. Russell and the chief officer of the ship, Robert Daniels, then testified re the assault but five other witnesses claimed that as Daniels was noton the quarter deck at the time he could not have witnessed anything.  Russell then tried to withdraw the charges without success and he and Daniels were charged with perjury and sentenced to 7 years transportation. Gregory Blaxland was fined £5 for assault while his brother and Simeon Lord were found not guilty.
A transcript of the proceedings can be found at Decisions of the Superior Courts of New South Wales, 1788-1899

The repercussions of the trial continued for some weeks with Johnston annulling the sentence for Russell and Daniels, the dismissal of the Acting Judge Advocate on the advice of Macarthur, Macarthur suing Grimes for deformation and John Blaxland reappearing in court accusing Russell of perjury and also piracy by threatening to throw the newly appointed captain of the Brothers off the ship. On 18 April Russell was released on a £2000 good behaviour bond and allowed to return to England on the Brothers.

The power struggle in the colony continued with Macarthur continuing his battle with the Blaxland brothers and their supporters as he prepared dispatches to London defending his actions in deposing Bligh.
"He also mentioned the Blaxland partner, Simeon Lord. 'These gentlemen have, unhappily for themselves, formed a connection with an inhabitant by the name of Lord, who was once a convict, but now possesses a very extensive fortune, or at least an appearance of it.' (Johnston to Castlereagh 11 April 1808) Lord, the former convict now made good, had more land in the colony than anyone else and a grand three-storey mansion in the heart of Sydney that had reputedly cost £10,000 to build. That mansion, according to one observer, 'would be an ornament to the most fashionable square in London'.(Finucane) Macarthur's own residence at Elizabeth farm was humble by comparison. Macarthur seems jealous of Lord's fortune, not the least because Lord had not long before been a convict.
Macarthur's unflattering opinion of Lord was not shared by even his closest friends. Captain John Piper, commandant at Norfolk Island, had used Lord as his business agent in Sydney since 1802, and would continue to do so until 1811." (p 119)

Meeting of Support for Bligh

 More notes from Bligh's other mutiny by Stephen Dando-Collins


When Bligh returned to Sydney in 1810 Lachlan Macquarie had arrived to become Governor of the Colony. Bligh was to re-instated for one day with power then transferred to Macquarie. Before Bligh left for London it was proposed that a public meeting should be held to prepare a letter of support for the former Governor from his supporters  to be published in the London papers. The meeting  was held on 11 April at the New Church (St Phillip's) and chaired by Provost Marshall Gore where "the resolution was passed unanimously by the Bligh supporters, without the rebels voting for or against. Palmer, Fulton, Hassall and Birnie (Bligh supporters) signed the resolution and left. Then Simeon Lord and Gregory Blaxland stood and asked to put a counter resolution. Gore refused to allow it, so Baxland and Lord grabbed the first resolution and went storming off to Government House. The meeting broke up. Shortly after, Gore was summoned to Governor Macquarie.

Macquarie was fuming. 'I expect on such an occasion, Mr Gore, you should act impartially, in putting to the meeting such questions as they wished to have proposed.'

Tail between his legs, Gore returned to the church, where only the pro-rebel party remained. Lord was there, along with Blaxland, Wentworth, Bayly, Blaxcell, Kable, Underwood, Captain Anthony Fenn Kemp, Lieutenant Lawson, Lieutenant John Oxley of HMS Porpoise, and William Cox Senior, the former paymaster of the NSW Corps who had recently returned to the colony from England as a civilian after resigning his commission.At 3.00 pm Gore reconvened the meeting and allowed Blaxland and Lord to propose their resolution, which was passed unanimously by their supporters and put in writing. This resolution declared that the original meeting had only been convened to 'provoke and renew animosities', and declared full support for governor Macquarie's proclamation of 1 January 'recommending harmony and a conciliatory spirit'. It also called upon Gore to sign this latest resolution as the meeting's chairman and to have it published twice in the Gazette.

As Gore was signing the resolution, Lord, Blaxland and Cox told the others that they would go to Parramatta and the Hawkesbury to counter any pro-Bligh addresses being presented to public meetings there. Once Gore had signed this second resolution, he held it out to Blaxland, Wentworth, Lord and their friends to sign. Not one of them was prepared to put their name to it. Apart from Gore's signature, it remained unsigned. Gore took both the pro-Bligh resolution and the rebel counter resolution to Macquarie suggesting that His Excellency allow the publication of both. Macquarie chose to publish neither." (pp 221-222)

Before Bligh left New South Wales his supporters presented him with the original Loyal Address containing 460 signatures.

Simeon Lord and Governor Bligh

Stephen Dando-Collins' book, Captain Bligh's other mutiny, contains a number of reference to Simeon Lord as he recounts the events that took place in Sydney on 26 January1808.

"From his sentry post, a bemused Private Gray watched as Captian Anthony Fenn Kemp and Lieutenants William Moore, William Lawson and Cadwallander Draffin tramped arm-in-arm from the Old Parade, then past Simeon Lord's mansion in Bridge Street, and across the brick and stone Tank Stream bridge that gave Bridge Street its name." (p18)

"Major Johnston himself, sword in hand, took up position on the path opposite the front door to Government House as his troops flooded along behind him. There Johnston would wait in expectation that of the news that Governor Bligh had been taken prisoner by the men of the Governor's Guard now inside the building. There too, in the twilight, Johnston was joined by Assistant Surgeon James Mileham, Surveyor-General Charles Grimes and several settlers and merchants - John Macarthur, Nicholas Bayley, Garnham Blaxcell, Simeon Lord, John Blaxland and his younger brother Gregory, Robert Townson, and Sydney flour-miller and baker James Badgery." (p 37)

"This was a requisition (from John Macarthur) to Major Johnston, calling on him to arrest Governor Bligh. It read:
Sir,
The present alarming state of this Colony, in which every man's property, liberty, and life is endangered, induces us most earnestly to implore you instantly to place Governor Bligh under an arrest and to assume the command of the colony. We pledge ourselves, at a moment of less agitation to come forward to support the measure with ur fortunes and our lives.

When Johnston and the Corps had marched on Government House the previous evening, that document had carried just nine signatures. Macarthurs's was the first. The others were those of settlers John Blaxland and his brother Gregory, Assistant Surgeon James Mileham, wealthy merchant Simeon Lord, James Badgery the baker, Assistant Surgeon Thomas Jamieson, and Macarthur's bondsmen Bayley and Blaxcell." (After Bligh had been deposed Surveyor-General Grimes signed the petition and encouraged others to add their signatures.) (pp 67-8) Eventualy 150 people had added their name to this petition (p 222)

When Johnston set off to England to defend his actions Colonel Foveaux became leader of the Colony. He had the support of Major Abbott and D'Arcy Wentworth, now re-instated as assistant surgeon, both old friends of Foveaux. "What's more , Surgeon Harris and leading civilian rebels including Bayly, Lord, Kable, Blaxcell, and Gregory Blaxland would have all backed Foveaux in preference to Macarthur." (p 170)

At the court martial in London of Major George Johnston Captain Anthony Fenn Kemp made te following claim about Bligh, He " 'threatened to pull down houses in every direction, and to take leases away.' He told the court that he had warned the Governor in November 1907 that Simeon Lord, D'Arcy Wentworth and others were talking about raising £1500 to send John Macarthur to London to represent them in complaining about Governor Bligh to the Secretary of State." (p 275)

George Guest and Governor Bligh

 On 26 January 1808 Governor William Bligh was arrested at his home by the military led by Major Johnston. Martial law was imposed in the colony and the Governor and his daughter were held under guard at Government House. In February 1809 a deal was made that Bligh and his party should board the naval ship, the Porpoise, which was in Sydney Harbour and return to England. Bligh boarded the ship on the 20th February and took control of the ship telling the Captain that at the first opportunity the ship was to sail to sail to the colony on the Derwent River. On 19 March the ship left Sydney waters to make the journey south arriving on 30 March.

Initially Lieutenant Governor Collins welcomed Bligh and pledged his support until Captain Foveaux sent orders from Sydney that any support for Bligh should be withdrawn. Governor Bligh and his daughter once again took refuge on the Porpoise. An account of the events in Hobart is provided in chapter 16 of the book, Captain Bligh's other mutiny, by Stephen Dando-Collins (2007).

"At first, to counter Collin's ban, Bligh bought food for the ship's crew and passengers from local suppliers who remained loyal to him. One in particular, George Guest, openly defied Colonel Collins' order. Collins cracked down. Guest was arrested and imprisoned, and Bligh was to hear that settlers who had sent mutton and chickens out to the ship expressly for Mary were arrested and flogged." (p206)

The ship was moved to the mouth of the Derwent and remained there, commandeering stores from passing ships, until January 1810 when the ship returned to Sydney.

Land and stock muster lists

Land and stock muster of New South Wales 1806
George Guest - Orchard & Garden 3/4 - Horses 2 - Prop not V - Wife not V - children 5 not V - Free men employed 1 - Remarks Part of Lease Sydney

General muster of convicts 1806
Guest, George - Residence NSW - Condition FBS - How employed Self - With whom live  Lease
Bateman, Mary - Residence NSW - Condition FBS - With whom live George Guest

FBS - Free by servitude

General muster of convicts 1811
Guest, George - Residence NSW - Convict M
 Bateman, Mary - Residence NSW - Convict F

Indian Mutiny

During the summer of 1857 throughout parts of India thousands of Indian soldiers mutinied against the British. The Europeans and their supporters living in Cawnpore were attacked in June 1857. Preparations had been made to protect the town in case of attack but these proved to be inadequate. An eyewitness account of mutiny at Cawnpore was recorded by Captain Mowbray Thomson.

Chapter 6 of Julian Spilbury's book, The Indian Mutiny,  describes the massacre that occured at Cawnpore. The following excerpts are from pages 129 - 131. When Cawnpore was attacked the settlement contained "210 British soldiers and a hundred officers and civilians, mostly railway engineers, tradesmen and clerks. In addition, there were some Christian drummers, a handful of loyal sepoys from the 53rd and 56th, who had made their way into camp, making a total of 450 comabatants. The rest of the population of the entrenchment consisted of 330 women and children, many of the latter being half-cast children." [p129] One of civilians in the compound was John Mackillop, son of George Mackillop.

Spilbury continues:
There were four weeks' worth of supplies within the entrenchment, whose walls were only 4 feet high, not even bulletproof at the top, and which was overlooked from several directions. Things went wrong from the start - overcrowded, baked by the heat and exposed to a vicious crossfire by day and night the garrison suffered terribly. Almost at once the disposal of the dead became a problem. A small well outside the walls, not far from the unfinished barracks, provided the answer - and the dead, after lying on the verandah of the barrack building during the day, were carried out at night and lowered into it. [p129]

The only water supply in the compound was a single well on to which by day the rebels concentrated their fire. It was soon ordained that each man would draw his own water and at night, when the fire slackened, there were crowds about the well. 'Even in the dead of night,' wrote Mobray Thomson, the darkness afforded but little protection, as they could hear the creaking of the tackle, and took the well-known sound as a signal for instantly opening up with the artillery upon the suttlers. These were chiefly privates, who were paid as much as eight or ten shillings per bucket. Poor fellows! their earnings were of little avail to them; but to their credit it must be said, that when money had lost its value, by reason of the extremity of our danger, they were none the less willing to incur the risk of drawing water for the women and children.' [pp129-130]

Constant blasts of grape soon destroyed the well's winding gear, so Mr John MacKillop of the Bengal Civil Service undertook to draw water up - 60 feet - by hand. 'He became self-constituted captain of the well ...', wrote his friend Captain Thomson. 'He jocosely said that he was no fighting man, but would make himself useful where he could, and accordingly he took his post; drawing for the supply of women and children as often as he could.' [p130].

Mr MacKillop, the 'captain of the well', was mortally wounded at his post. 'It was less than a week after he had taken this self-denying service,' wrote Thomson, 'when his numerous escapes were followed by a grape-shot wound in the groin, and speedy death. Disinterested even in death, his last words were an earnest entreaty that somebody would go and draw water for a lady to whom he had promised it.'  [p131]

All Soul's Church, Cawnpore, has a series of tablets on the walls commemorating those killed during the massacre - Tablet six contains the name of John Mackillop.

Clyde Company Papers - Notes 2

Clyde Company Papers volume 2
Log of Captain Tregurtha - 1836
Edward Primrose Tregurtha was a Cornishman, the son of a naval commander by the daughter of a navy captain. Born in 1803 he joined the navy and then entered the East India Company's maritime service. He first arrived in Hobart Town via Sydney in 1831 and went whaling for two years before returning to England. Back in Hobart in 1835 he planned to establish a fishery. He kept a log of his experiences. (from notes before the log entries - p 45))

An old acquaintance of mine named Whiting arrived at Launceston in the brig 'Henry' from London. Being short of cash, he wanted a partner to join him in the vessel and trade together jointly. Hearing of my residing at Hobarton, he wrote me that effect, and I concluded to reply in person. On the 26th April I started with the mail, at this time a formidable undertaking with the bush road and night travelling, and arrived at Launceston on the 28th terribly shaken. I now proceeded to George Town per 'Vansittart', and it was arranged that we should jointly own the vessel, Whiting the master, and me as supercargo. After some delay we determined to take cattle and passengers to Port Phillip; our first cargo was 37 head of cattle for the Messrs. Wedge of Snake Banks. Accordingly in the beginning of May we embarked a cargo of sheep for Messrs. Mackillop and Smith to be landed at Gellibrand's Point. On arriving inside the heads, as we had no chart of the harbour, I proceeded ahead in the boat to indicate any danger. The 'Calidonia' lay under Point Nepean bound for India, and wanting stores; Captain S. came on board to procure some, engaging Whiting's attention, by which neglect the brig ran on shore next the mud flats. Having run out the bower anchor with 120 fathoms into deep water, I succeeded in heaving the brig into a channel which we named Whiting's Channel, and proceeded to Hobson's Bay at Williamstown. Here we landed the first flock of sheep, containing 750, on the 20th May 1836, on the point which was named Gelibrand's Point in the chart, a Mr Cracroft, a civilian from Calcutta, being a passenger. I took my fowling piece and proceeded to the Falls of the Yarra in the boat. We there landed, and sauntering over Batman's Hill perceived the brig at anchor, also the Salt Water River. Our attention was attracted by some flocks of green doves, of which I shot about 30, which filled all our available pockets as they were as large as a quail. We procured a quantity of fine mushrooms, and having filled our handkerchiefs returned through a park-like ramble to the boat without meeting a human being.

Having fairly launched out in peopling this new paradise, we endeavoured by sounding and otherwise to make ourselves acquainted with the harbour, and continued to bring from Van Diemen's Land cargoes of sheep, horses, and cattle, and land them at Williamstown. Several parties being anxious to proceed to Geelong in August, we proceeded and surveyed the harbour as far as Point Henry, which was called after the brig, being the first vessel that had proceeded and anchored there. Having procured a dray from Dr. Thomson, under the escort of the giant Buckley (William Buckley), we placed our boat in it, and launched it after an hour's march into the Barwon River, with the intention of exploring its embouchure. The crew comprised Captain Whiting, Messrs. Mackillop, E. P. Tregurtha, Roadnight, Matson, and J. Tregurtha. Our commencement was very propitious: we found a depth of from 2½ to 4 fathoms, with a moderate tide and free of snags and stumps, a most lovely country, and the river itself alive with wild fowl of all descriptions. We shot down several ducks, but as the sedge and reed abounded, and not having a dog, we only got possession of a few.  After proceeding what we estimated about 10 miles, the river suddenly expanded itself out into what appeared a large lake, and we were congratulating ourselves on the discoveries we should make, when suddenly our boat stuck in the mud, and all our efforts to get off were unavailing; the mud was so soft, you could push an oar out of sight. At last by placing oars under him, young Tregurtha reached the shore and pulled us into water again. Here ended our grand discovery, there being no outlet to this river for navigable purposes: our progress back was slow, pulling against the tide; on reaching the foot of the hills, we encamped for the night and cooked our game. The next day we carted our boat back and continued to ply our trade, the 'Henry' being much in demand as a stock vessel; but we now loaded our cargoes principally at Port Henry for the Western District. [pp46-48]

Stock and Land, Melb., 21/11/1934 contains an article on this excursion written by J T Matson (order in to SLV from off site store or use microfilm copy)

The Transports

Chapter 6 of Bateson's book, The Convict Ships, is devoted to the transports that carried the convicts to Australia.

The convict ships were ordinary British merchantmen that might appear at any port throughout the known world. No ship was specifically designed as a convict ship. Sometimes a ship may make several trips as a convict vessel and then be used as a store ship or passenger ship and then may once again be used to carry convicts. Whenever possible contractors of convict ships organised to collect cargo from China or India on the voyage back home.

Vessels chartered for carrying convicts were square rigged, were normally ships or barques and sometimes brigs and normally smaller vessels between 200 and 400 tons. Chartered vessels were hired at the lowest rate per ton provided that they were seaworthy. The number of convicts to be carried was normally based on an allowance of two tons for each convict. If there was surplus tonnage civilian or military personnel could also be carried as well as additional provisions and stores for the colony.

Ship owners usually only tendered their smaller vessels as it was more profitable to use the larger vessels for other purposes and on shorter routes. The voyage to Australia involved navigational challenges, many months at sea going to and returning from Australia and it could not always be guaranteed that there would be a return cargo to make the voyage worth while.

The chartering of convict ships was always by tender. Shipowners determined the hiring rates and they varied with each trip. No vessel was accepted until it had passed an inspection by naval authorities.

The best ships were the East Indiamen which were strong ships and the largest class of merchantmen. Only the finest materials were used in building them. The West Indiamen was a smaller version of the East Indiamen with a slightly different deck design. These ships tended to be well cared for unlike many other ships that could have rotten timbers and rigging and were unseaworthy. The crew of the East Indiamen were as strictly disciplined and well turned out as the crews of the Royal Navy. The crew on other ships was often made up 'from the very dregs of society' (p86) often recruited from waterside taverns, often illiterate, heavy drinkers and unskilled in navigation and seamanship. Musters of crews often showed that ships arrived minus crew members who had abandoned the ship at a port.

The majority of convict ships had three officers as well as the master and some had a fourth mate. The carpenter was an important crew member and sometimes he had an assistant. Some ships had a boatswain and some had a sail maker. Most ships had a cook to prepare food for the officers and crew.

Naval authorities thoroughly examined ships to ensure that seaworthy ships carried convicts. Although some of the convict ships were suspect they all safely made the voyage to Australia.

• Bateson, Charles: The convict ships 1797-1868. Sydney, Library of Australian history, 2004 (originally published 1950)