Bounty Emigration Ships
Emigration Commission Ships 1831-1832
In 1832, the Emigration Commission piloted female emigration to Australia by sending two ships, containing 400 young single women, to Sydney and Hobart to balance the male-dominated colonial societies.
SHIP | DEPARTURE PORT | DATE OF DEPARTURE | ARRIVAL PORT | DATE OF ARRIVAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Red Rover | Cork | 10 April 1832 | Sydney | 10 Aug 1832 |
Princess Royal | London | 14 April 1832 | Hobart | 23 Aug 1832 |
London Emigration Committee Ships 1833-1836
Between 1833 and 1837, fourteen ships disembarked approximately 2,700 women at Sydney, Hobart and Launceston under the first scheme for female emigration between Great Britain and the Australian colonies. As Agent to the London Emigration Committee, John Marshall chartered these ships on their behalf. Several of the ships contained only female migrants, while the others contained family and single male migrants in addition to a large proportion of single females.
Note: Various spellings for some of the ships appear in the official documentation and secondary sources.
SHIP | DEPARTURE PORT | DATE OF DEPARTURE | ARRIVAL PORT | DATE OF ARRIVAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
William Metcalfe | London | 17 October 1836 | Hobart | 24 January 1837 |
Lady Macnaghten | Cork | 5 November 1836 | Sydney | 26 February 1837 |
John Marshall's Bounty Emigration Ships 1821-1850
Listed below are some ships which John Marshall chartered for passenger and emigrant traffic, sometimes filling the whole ship, while some ships in the latter years contained only a handful of Marshall bounty emigrants. Unless noted otherwise, Marshall did not own these ships.
John Marshall, of 26 Birchin Lane, Cornhill, was the most active colonial emigration agent before the formation of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission in 1840.
SHIP | DATE | ARRIVAL PORT | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
Camden, Duchess of Northumberland, Lady Macnaghten (arr. 1837) | NSW | London Emigration Committee emigrants | |
Fairlie | VDL & NSW | Passengers included new VDL governor Sir John & Lady Franklin, and VDL Archdeacon | |
Alfred, Andromache, City of Edinburgh, Duchess of Northumberland, Upton Castle | 1837 | NSW | Alfred passengers included Chief Justice Sir Francis Forbes |
Amelia Thompson, Coromandel, Fairlie, James Patterson, Upton Castle, Westminster | 1838 | NSW | Upton Castle passengers included new NSW governor Sir George & Lady Gipps, and Bishop James Goold |
Ambassador, Andromache, Coromandel, Fairlie, Isabella, Lady Raffles, Orient, Roxburgh Castle, Royal Consort, Strathfieldsaye, Susan, Lord Western | 1839 | NSW | |
William Metcalfe, Westminster, | PPD | The 2nd and 3rd ships to arrive at PPD with bounty emigrants | |
Andromache, China, Earl Grey, Himalaya, Isabella, Lady Clarke, Lord Western, Mary Anne, Royal Consort, Theresa | 1840 | NSW | |
Andromache, China, Coromandel, Himalaya, John Bull, Orient, Theresa | PPD | John Marshall’s brother, Thomas, his wife and family, were cabin passengers on the Andromache | |
Glenswilly, Jane Gifford, Lady Kennaway, Moffatt, William Jardine | 1841 | NSW | |
Argyle, Duchess of Northumberland, Fergusson, Forth, George Fyfe, Gilmore, Lysander, Middlesex, Neptune, Sir Charles Forbes, Strathfieldsaye, Westminster | PPD | John Marshall’s son, Frederick, travelled as a cabin passenger on the Lysander | |
Andromache, Himalaya | 1842 | PPD | |
Alfred | 1843 | NSW |
KEY: NSW – New South Wales | PPD – Port Phillip District (now Victoria) | VDL – Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania)
For further information see the following publications:
John Marshall: Shipowner, Lloyd's reformer and emigration agent, 2020
Elizabeth Rushen
Single & Free: female migration to Australia 1833-1836, 2016
Elizabeth Rushen
Fair Game: Australia's first immigrant women, 2010
by Elizabeth Rushen & Perry McIntyre
The Bussorah Merchant was the first ship chartered by John Marshall for the London Emigration Committee
State Library Victoria