"Burning of the Barque INDIA of Greenock1841" by Samuel Elyard (1817 - 1910) held in the collection of The Australian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney.
The INDIA
Captain Hugh Campbell 493 Tonnes, 3 Mast Barque. 117.7 x 24.7 x 18, Built 1839 James McMillan, Greenock. The India made an earlier voyage to Australia leaving Greenock on 5th October 1839 for Adelaide and Sydney arriving at the latter on 10th May 1840. The ship was dismasted twice during the voyage. . |
The Greenock Advertiser August 13 1839.
On Saturday last, a beautiful barque named the India, was launched from the building -yard of Mr James McMillan. This vessel measures 500 register tons, and has a poop cabin, with most excellent accomodation for twenty passengers. The poop is nevertheless so much concealed, that the India has all the appearance of a flush vessel. She is shortly to sail for Australia, and we understand a number of poop and intermediate berths are already engaged by persons going thither. We have on more than one occasion noticed the many excellent vessels which have already left this port for the same destination; and we are assured that their character will be fully borne out by the India |
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Greenock Advertiser Report
The following report was published in the Greenock Advertiser on the 8 October 1841. Part of the crew of the ship INDIA, which was lately destroyed on her outward voyage, having arrived here yesterday, we have learned that immediately on reaching Rio de Janeiro the case of the sufferers met with general assistance. Every one connected with H.M.S. Southampton, Crescent, guard ship, Rose, corvette, Grecian, 10 gun brig, Acorn,do., assisted--the officers contributing liberally, and the men and boys agreeing voluntarily to give two days' pay. The merchants also exerted themselves according to the urgency of the case, and, beside their contributions for the benefit of the whole, gave each tradesman tools to the amount of ten pounds. The emigrants were to sail for Port-Phillip about the 19th of last month. The following are the names of the boatswain and sixteen of the passengers who were lost by the melancholy catastrophe:- William McKay, cabin passenger; Charles Cumming, boatswain. Steerage passengers-- William Stewart, aged 27; Donald McGregor, 29; John Cock, joiner, 22; Andrew Tait, 19; William Steel; Frederick Mitchell, 22; Duncan Grant, 19; William Clelland, 18; Robert burns, 26; John Stewart, 21; James Low, 25; Robert Patterson, 35; John Stewart, 18; William Scott, painter, 18; Andrew Dingwall, tailor, and another, whose name we have not ascertained. The Immigrants Bounty Immigration to Australia By the end of the first quarter of the 1800's conditions in Britain/Ireland and in Australia emerged which resulted in a massive wave of migration to Australia. Australia's settlement by the British was outgrowing its convict origins and the country was expanding at a rapid pace, creating an acute shortage of labour. It was desperate for farm labourers, carpenters, bricklayers, etc. Following the convict years there was also an inbalance in the male/female ratio. At the same time in England/Ireland there was widespread poverty. The harsh conditions of the industrial cities also added to the misery. Migration to Australia became an attractive option for many but few had the resources to pay for even a berth in the steerage costing in the order of 17 pounds. The colonial Australian government was forced into paying to assist the passage of migrants to obtain the people they so desperately needed. They funded this assistance by selling land. The parishes of England were only too pleased to take up this arrangement as they were able to ship out paupers which were a great burden on their rates. The Australian Government continued with various forms of assisted immigration from this period through to the 1970's. The "bounty" system of immigration was the favoured method of assisted passage in the years 1837 to 1843. Shipowners were responsible for recruiting migrants, in conjunction with the Board of Immigration, and delivering them to Australia where they were paid on a per head landed basis. Upon arrival immigrants were processed by a Government officer. No bounty was paid for any person who was not considered suitable due to age, health or occupation, or who had died on the voyage. The shipowners therefore faced considerable risk. The ships surgeon was usually given the responsibility of selecting fit and healthy immigrants and for keeping them in that condition for their arrival in Australia. In 1840 the bounties were increased for persons from the United Kingdom, agricultural labourers, shepherds, carpenters, smiths, wheelwrights, bricklayers, masons, female domestics and farm servants. The sum of 38 pounds would be paid as a bounty for any married man of the foregoing descriptions, and his wife, neither of whose ages, on embarkation, to exceed forty years, 5 pounds for each child between the ages of one and seven years, 10 pounds for those between seven and fifteen, and 15 pounds for each above fifteen years. 19 Pounds would be allowed for every unmarried female domestic or farm servant, not below fifteen, nor above thirty years. The colony of Port Phillip commenced assisted immigration in 1839. In a census in March 1841 the population stood at 16671 consisting of 11254 males and 5417 females. Some 40 vessels carrying bounty immigrants arrived during the remainder of the year increasing the population to 20000 by the years end. Jobs were immediately available on arrival for all, with pay and conditions far superior to any similar work in England. It was in this atmosphere that the India and its cargo of eager "bounty immigrants" sailed from Greenock on 4 June 1841. Over one million people travelled safely to Australia during the 19th century. Only a small number lost their lives on the way through shipwreck or disease. The potential for danger, ever present on these voyages, was not widely publicised in England at the time. The immigrants on the India were probably blissfully unaware of the potential for the traumatic events which lay ahead. [Note: The above is a simplistic view of immigration at that time compiled from a collection of snippets of information from references 6,7,&8. It has been prepared to set the scene for the Indias' voyage and does not pretend to accurately represent a very complex subject.] Those Who Perished in the DisasterThe following list of passengers who perished on the India was published in The Edinburgh, 1841, John Cock, from Newe Scone; James Low, from Old Bridge of Almond; John Stewart, from Harrowfield,near Auchtergaven; Samuel Cameron, Methven; Mr McKay from Inverness; Andrew Dingwall, Colinsburgh, Fife ( a widow and two children saved);Donald McGregor, Tillicoultry ( widow and children saved.); Robert Patterson, from Corstorphine; William Stewart, from Edinburgh ( formerly of Blair Athol ); John Stewart, from Edinburgh; William Scot, ditto; Andrew Tait, ditto; Duncan Grant, said to be from Leven, Fifeshire ( another letter says from Lorn ); Robert Burns from Lasswade ( widow saved ); Frederick Mitchell, from Fifeshire; John Steele from Collinsburgh,Fifeshire; William Clelland, Markinch, Fifeshire (another account has the same name but from Leahmahagow ); Charles Clements ( or Cumming, as one account has it ) boatswain of the India, said to be from Hull. Arrivals at Port PhillipThe following is a list of passengers who arrived on the Grindlay at Port Phillip on 22 October 1841; The following resources were used to prepare this list; · Names contained in a despatch from the British Consul in Rio de Janeiro of 166 survivors of the India who sailed on the Grindlay. · A partial copy of the register of passengers who arrived on the Grindlay at Port Phillip. Note: Bounty was calculated on 147 persons. · Published names of immigrants who arrived in Port Phillip in the 1840's. I have based the list on the names contained in the despatch from Rio and used the other two sources as references. I can give no guarantees whatsoever as to the accuracy of the list. The Rio despatch spells some names differently to other sources. eg. Three females with the surname "McKay" are on the Rio despatch. On the Port Phillip arrivals register they are listed as "McCoy". The Rio names were probably transcribed at least twice before they reached Australia in the form of a despatch from the Foreign Office in Downing Street leaving plenty of opportunity for errors in transcription. Much of the handwriting from 1841 is difficult to decipher, a task made even more difficult by using 2nd or 3rd generation photocopies. Should I include a list with inherent faults in this page? I believe so as it will be a useful guide and the original data probably makes it impossible to prepare a perfectly accurate list anyway. Those undertaking serious genealogical research should refer to the original records or lists transcribed by professionals.
The following bounties and gratuities were calculated for the Grindlay at Port Phillip. Bounties· 23 Families consisting of 78 souls ------1080 Pounds. · 31 Unmarried males 31 souls----------589 Pounds. · 38 Unmarried females 38 souls---------722 Pounds. · TOTAL---------------------------------2391 Pounds. Gratuties for Officers of the Ship· Surgeon Superintendent William Houston for 147 souls at 10/6 each = 19:20 pounds · Master Walter Grindlay as above @ 3/0 each = 21:18 pounds. · 1st Mate Francis Crow as above @ 1/6 each = 10:19 pounds. · 2nd Mate Robert Sparkton as above @ 1/1 each = 7:6 pounds. Unfortunately the bounty was not paid as the Grindlay had been chartered by the British Consul in Rio de Janeiro. The numbers above do not add correctly, some of the original mathematics was poor and the writing difficult to decipher. Encounter With PiratesThe following account of the India's encounter with pirates was published in the Port Phillip Patriot on Monday October 25, 1841; About a fortnight before the burning of the India, when about 5 deg. N. of the line, she sighted a brig, evidently from her movements a pirate. This vessel rapidly gained on the India, and on coming within speaking distance shortened sail and hove to; on being informed in answer to questions put, that the India was bound for this port with passengers, the pirate forged a head, but after increasing her distance, to about a quarter of a mile, she wore round and passed the India on the other tack. The alarm, however, excited on board the latter vessel in consequence, soon subsided, on the pirate, after asking if anyone on board could speak Spanish, passing them without any attempt at molestation.This vessel was a few days after captured by H.M. brig Acorn, 16 guns, and brought into Rio de Janiero; her crew consisted of 63 persons, who were sent as prisoners to the island of St Helena. The Acorn a short time previous to the capture of the pirate brig, had taken a slaver with 300 unfortunate souls on board. The following report on the capture of a pirate ship was published in The Edinburgh Oct/Nov 1841 The Journal du Havre publishes the following report on the capture of the Gabriel, communicated by Captain Blay, of the Jeune Pauline, just arrived at Havre from Rio Janeiro:- " The English brig Acorn having, in lat. 5.N perceived at great distance a vessel pillaging another, made chase, and instantly the Gabriel hoisted all her sail, and endeavoured to escape. At three in the afternoon the Acorn fired, and the Gabriel returned the fire, at the same time hoisting Portuguese colours. The chase continued for 12 hours, during the whole of which time firing was kept up by both vessels, but eventually the Gabriel was dismasted, and captured.She was sent to St Helena, but her crew, consisting of fifty- eight men, Spaniards and others, were put on board an English vessel at Rio. The captain jumped overboard during the chase, with all his papers.The merchandise found on board the Gabriel was valued at 8000 pounds. The Acorn had not time to ascertain to what country the vessel which was being pillaged by the Gabriel belonged, but she carried English colours. Captain Blay also reports that the English merchants resident at Rio have presented Captain Lecosannet, of the Roland, with a handsome gold chronometer and snuff box, and given to each of his crew a hundred francs, in testimony of the sense entertained of their humanity in saving the crew and passengers of the India. The Sydney Daily Mirror in an historical article on 6 May 1980 contained the following account of the encounter with the pirates; As the emigrants looked on in alarm a fast slimly built brig with snow white canvas rapidly overhauled the British vessel, shortened sail and hove to only 100 metres away. Four gleaming guns pointed in the India's direction. On learning the India carried only emigrants the pirate vessel appeared to lose interest. Her next potential victim turned out to be HM Brig Acorn, disguised as a British merchantman. After a four hour gun battle the pirate hauled down her colours and the Captain jumped overboard. It was learned later that the 10 gun Acorn had been lurking on the horizon observing the pirate's transgressions with the India from afar. jaqnzadded this on 9 Jan 2011 http://pandora.nla.gov.au/nph-arch/1999/Z1999-Jul- |