A significant speech delivered in November 1992 at the old Point Nepean quarantine station by historian Florence Chuk was the first many people learned of the Ticonderoga story, and, along with her notes which she so generously lent to me, also provided me with many quotes and pieces of information. Her book The Somerset Years gave me a good deal of background on some of the Ticonderoga’s passengers, who would otherwise just have been names on a list.
A handful of other works mention Ticonderoga’s voyage, including Doctors at Sea by Robin Haines and Rob Mundle’s Under Full Sail. Doctors at Sea provided me with a most detailed picture of the role of surgeons at sea in the nineteenth century, their importance to the passengers, and the problems they faced. Rob Mundle, a sailor himself, gives an excellent background to the clipper era and its importance in Under Full Sail, also bringing to life such characters as the great Bully Forbes, as well as brilliantly explaining the advent of the vital Great Circle route.
Author Don Charlwood had a life-long passion for the story of the emigrants under sail, and his book The Long Farewell is a superb collection of first-hand accounts of those who made the journey from Britain.
A history of life within Britain’s emigration depots, particularly at Birkenhead, is captured with wonderful colour by Keith Pescod in his work Good Food, Bright Fires & Civility.
Unfortunately, the diary or detailed first-hand account by a Ticonderoga passenger is yet to be found, but many anecdotes and letters exist. Only in later life did passengers like Christopher McRae, James Dundas and Donald McDonald first pen their thoughts, and then only in a handful of feature stories for various newspapers. McDonald’s brief account of the voyage and of revisiting his mother’s grave at the quarantine station only appeared in The Argus in 1917. The story of the young McRae’s remarkable 60-mile trek from the quarantine station to the door of his relative in Coburg came to light in a Saturday afternoon edition of The Argus on 4 August 1934, in an article written by his distant relative, John Andrew McIvor. In this he also quotes another unnamed Ticonderoga survivor as having told him, in 1909, that, ‘Whole families were wiped out: in some cases both parents died, leaving young children. Of 15 families from St Kilda—that ultima thule of the Scottish Isles flung out towards Iceland—only 15 individuals survived’.
As I detail in the book, my own forays into the bowels of the Public Record Office in London yielded such gems as the original correspondence of Lieutenant-Governor La Trobe to the Ticonderoga disaster and its aftermath, including the decision to deny my great-great-grandfather’s request for increased remuneration due to the extra duties he undertook after the Ticonderoga’s principal surgeon, Sanger, became ill.
I am particularly gratified to know that in 1952, on the centenary of the landing of the ‘Hell Ship’, the Point Nepean site where my ancestors first stepped foot onto Australian soil was officially renamed ‘Ticonderoga Bay’.
Notes
1 A LONELY BEACH
1 R. Mundle, 2016, Under Full Sail, Sydney: HarperCollins, p. 5
2 BIRKENHEAD
1 K. Pescod, 2001, Good Food, Bright Fires & Civility: Emigrant Depots of the Nineteenth Century, Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, p. 40
2 A. Jarvis, 1991, Liverpool Central Docks 1799–1905: An Illustrated History, Stroud: Sutton, p. 43
3 D. Charlwood, 1981, The Long Farewell: Settlers Under Sail, London: Allen Lane, p. 76
4 Jarvis, 1991, p. 77
3 WAKEFIELD AND ‘THE BOARD’
1 P. Adams, 2013, Fatal Necessity: British Intervention in New Zealand, 1830–1847, Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, p. 392
2 Pescod, 2001, p. 7
3 M. Kruithof, 2002, Fever Beach: The Story of the Migrant Clipper Ticonderoga, Its IllFated Voyage and Its Historic Impact, Mt Waverley, Vic: QI Publishing, p. 7
4 Kruithof, 2002, p. xiii
5 Charlwood, 1981, p. 57
6 R. Haines, 2003, Life and Death in the Age of Sail: The Passage to Australia, Sydney: UNSW Press, p. 49
7 Charlwood, 1981, p. 55
4 AUSTRALIA 1851: GOLD VERSUS WOOL
1 Pescod, 2001, p. xv
2 S. B. Lunn, 2012, The Divergence, thewordverve (online), p. vi
3 Kruithof, 2002, p. 7
5 THE SCOTS
1 Prebble, 1963, p. 201
2 Victorian State Parliament, 1852, ‘Emigration From the Highlands and Islands of Scotland’, p. 3, available from: www.parliament.vic.gov.au/papers/govpub/VPARL1852-53Vol1p855-884.pdf
3 Prebble, 2003, p. 203
4 Kruithof, 2002, p. 9
5 Victorian Parliamentary Papers 1852/53O
6 Victorian State Parliament, 1852, ‘Emigration From the Highlands and Islands of Scotland’, p. 11
7 Kruithof, 2002, p. 11
8 Kruithof, 2002, p. 31
9 Pescod, 2001, p. 136
6 THE AGE OF THE CLIPPERS
1 H. La Grange and J. La Grange, 1936, Clipper Ships of America and Great Britain 1833–1869, London: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, p. 29
2 A. H. Clark, 1912, Early Clipper Ships, 1842–1848, New York: GP Putnam’s Sons, pp. 65–6
3 Mundle, 2016, p. 15
4 La Grange and La Grange, 1936, p. 36
7 THE TICONDEROGA
1 Knoblock, 2014, p. 342
2 Knoblock, 2014, p. 342
8 EMIGRANTS AND NUMBERS
1 Pescod, 2001, p. 193
2 British Public Record Office, List of Ships Chartered by the Land and Emigration Commission, CO 386/179, Folio 7
9 DEPARTURE
1 Haines, 2005, p. 171
2 Kruithof, 2002, p. 25
3 British Parliamentary Paper Relative to the Australian Colonies, no. 15, April 1, 1853
4 Charlwood, 1981, p. 87
5 Charlwood, 1981, p. 94
6 Kruithof, 2002, p. 40
7 Kruithof, 2002, p. 40
8 Letter recalling the event by passenger Christopher McCrae
10 CLEARANCES AND FAMINE: THE TRAGEDY OF THE HIGHLANDS
1 Prebble, 1963, p. 13
2 Prebble, 1963, p. 21
3 Prebble, 1963, p. 28
4 D. McLeod, 1841, History of the Destitution in Sutherlandshire, Edinburgh: self-published, p. 35
5 Prebble 1963, p. 125
6 Prebble, 1963, p. 201
7 Prebble, 1963, p. 205
11 LIFE AT SEA
1 Charlwood, 1981, p. 102
2 Kruithof, 2002, p. 46
3 Kruithof, 2002, p. 48
4 Letter written by Christopher McRae in 1917 addressed to Mr Kendall, Officer in Charge, Quarantine Station Point Nepean, held in the collection of the Point Nepean Historical Society, Sorrento, Victoria.
5 Personal notes of Frank McKay, care of Nepean Historical Society
6 Personal notes of Frank McKay, care of Nepean Historical Society
7 Personal notes of Frank McKay, care of Nepean Historical Society
8 Kruithof, 2002, p. 36
9 Kruithof, 2002, p. 36
10 Charlwood, 1981, p. 201
11 British Parliamentary Papers, Papers Relative to Emigration to the Australian Colonies, First Report from the Select Committee on Emigrant Ships with Minutes of Evidence, Explanation of deck plans by Kenneth N. Sutherland R.N., House of Commons, Sessional Papers 1852/53 vol. LXVIII
12 Haines, 2003, p. 190
12 DEATH AT SEA
1 Haines, 2005, p. 9
2 Letter from Christopher McRae to Mr Kendall, 1917
3 Welch 1969, p. 19
4 Kruithof, 2002, p. 46
13 A LONELY ENCOUNTER
1 Kruithof, 2002, p. 50
14 THE GREAT CIRCLE
1 Charlwood, 1981, p. 20
2 Charlwood, 1981, p. 21
3 Charlwood, 1981, p. 23
15 SURGEONS AT SEA
1 British Parliamentary Papers Relative to the Australian Colonies, no. 15, 1 April 1853, Objection to Chartering Vessels of Great Burthen for the Conveyance of Emigrants
2 Haines, 20
05, p. 57
3 Charlwood, 1981, p. 10
4 Charlwood, 1981, p. 191
5 ‘GOVERNMENT AND GENERAL ORDERS’, Sydney Gazette Saturday 30 July 1814
6 Haines, 2005, p. 8
7 Haines, 2005, p. 29
8 P. Stanley, 2003, For Fear of Pain: British Surgery 1790–1850, Amsterdam: Rodopi, p. 99
9 Veitch, 1818, p. 451
10 Report of the Metropolitan Commissioners in Lunacy to the Lord Chancellor, 1844, London, p. 234
11 Private letter in collection of Veitch family history of Pat Hocking
17 TYPHUS TAKES HOLD
1 Online Etymology Dictionary, Typhus, 2018, available from: www.etymonline.com/word/typhus
2 Kruithof, 2002, p. 53
18 THE BOX WITH THE DULL PINK RIBBON
1 British Parliamentary Papers, 1854, vol. XLVI, pp. 52, available from: www.mylore.net/files/Download/Parl%20Papers%201854.pdf
2 Letter from Governor La Trobe to Sir John Pakington, January 4, 1853, Public Record Office, CO 309/13
3 Letter from Dr Joseph Charles Sanger, November 4, 1852, Victorian Public Records, VPRS 1189/1112/8252
4 Letter from Dr Joseph Charles Sanger, November 4, 1852
19 THE SOUTHERN OCEAN
1 Kruithof, 2002, p. 39
2 B. Carroll, 1970, ‘Fever Ship’, Parade, August 1970, p. 25
3 William Turnbull, 1806, The Naval Surgeon Comprising the Entire Duties of Professional Men at Sea, London: Richard Phillips, p. 122
4 Turnbull, 1806, p. 122
5 Turnbull, 1806, p. 122
6 Charlwood, 1981, p. 287
7 Charlwood, 1981, p. 287
8 Charlwood, 1981, p. 287
9 Kruithof, 2002, p. 54
10 Journal of George Pollock Russell, voyage of 1854
11 Charlwood, 1981, p. 126
12 S. Jefferson, 2014, Clipper Ships and the Golden Age of Sail: Races and Rivalries on the Nineteenth Century High Seas, London: Bloomsbury, p. 60
13 Letter from Christopher McRae to Mr Kendall, 1917
14 J.H. Welch, 1969, From Hell to Health: The History of Quarantine at Port Phillip Heads 1895–1966, Penrith: Nepean Historical Society, p. 18
15 Kruithof, 2002, p. 51
20 HELL SHIP
1 Letter from Christopher McRae to Mr Kendall, 1917
2 Victorian Public Records Office, 2002, ‘Register of Births and Deaths of Emigrants at Sea 1847-53’, CO 386/170, Folios 85–90
3 Philadelphia Medical and Physical Journal, vol. 1, 1805
4 Kruithof, 2002, p. 56
5 Letter from Christopher McRae to Mr Kendall, 1917
21 ARRIVAL
1 H. Draper, ‘The Narrative of Captain H.J.M. Draper, One Time Port Phillip Sea Pilot’, reproduced in The Log: Quarterly Journal of the Nautical Association of Australia Inc, February 2002, vol. 35, no. 1, issue 47, p. 6
2 H. Draper, in The Log, 2002, p. 6
3 Kruithof, 2002, p. 64
4 H. Draper, in The Log, 2002, p. 6
22 PROTECTING THE COLONY
1 National Australian Museum, 2013, Batmania: Who’s Who, available from: https://web.archive.org/web/20140303233422/http://www.nma.gov.au/engage-learn/schools/classroom-resources/multimedia/interactives/batmania_html_version/whos_who
2 Extract from the diary of Dr Barry Cotter, April 1840, available from: https://drbarrycotter.com/chapter-6/
3 Welch, 1969, p. 21
4 Welch, 1969, p. 22
5 Carroll, 1970, p. 26
6 Kruithof, 2002, p. 64
23 A COLONIAL CRISIS
1 Carroll, 1970, (page not visible)
24 THE LYSANDER
1 Letter from Dr Sanger, Victorian Public Records, VPRS 1189/112/52/8252
2 Letter from Dr Sanger, Victorian Public Records, VPRS 1189/112/52/8252
3 Welch, 1969, p. 23
4 Welch, 1969, p. 22
5 Welch, 1969, p. 23
6 Welch, 1969, p. 24
7 Welch, 1969, p. 25
8 Kruithof, 2002, p. 82
9 Welch, 1969, p. 29
10 Welch, 1969, p. 24
11 Welch, 1969, p. 32
12 Welch, 1969, p. 35
13 Welch, 1969, p. 23
25 QUARANTINE AND OUTRAGE
1 Kruithof, 2002, p. 99
2 Letter from Governor La Trobe to Sir John Pakington, 21 October 1952, Public Record Office
3 Letter from Governor La Trobe to Sir John Pakington, 9 November, Public Record Office
4 Kruithof, 2002, p. 83
5 Welch, 1969, p. 33
6 Letter from Dr Taylor to Governor La Trobe, 4 November 1853, Victorian Public Records, VPRS 1189/132 D 12053
7 Letter from Dr Taylor to Governor La Trobe, 4 November, 1853
8 Letter from Dr Hunt to Governor La Trobe, 6 January, 1853, VPRO 1189/131
9 Letter from Dr Taylor to Governor La Trobe, 4 November, 1853
28 THE LAST JOURNEY
1 Kruithof, 2002, p. 83
29 THE MAITLAND
1 Kruithof, 2002, p. 86
30 LIFE GOES ON
1 Welch, 1969, p. 36
2 Kruithof, 2002, p. 107
3 Carroll, 1970, p. 24
31 THE AFTERMATH
1 Welch, 1969, p. 28
2 Letter from Governor La Trobe to Sir John Pakington, 26 January 1853, Victorian Public Records Office, VPRS 1084
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