Ship Arrivals

Between February and July 1836 nine ships left England bound for South Australia. Four carried South Australian Company officials, labourers, fisherman and supplies to the new colony. These were the John Pirie, Duke of York, Lady Mary Pelham and Emma. Colonel Light’s surveying party was aboard two of the Colonization Commissioners’ ships, the Cygnet and Rapid. Two privately chartered barques, the Africaine and Tam O’Shanter brought out more emigrants, provisions and building supplies for the establishment of the province. Finally the Buffalo, conveying Governor Hindmarsh and his officials and other passengers, was the last of these nine vessels to leave England and the last to arrive in South Australia on 28 December 1836.

Profiles for each of the vessels – listed in alphabetical order- can be found below.

Africaine

The Africaine was a barque of 316 tons. It was built by Robert and Thomas Brown junior in 1832 at their shipyard on the River Tyne, downstream from Newcastle. The yard lay on the south bank of the river at Jarrow in County Durham, the same county in which the Tam O’Shanter was built. The [...]

Buffalo

HMS Buffalo was originally named the Hindostan. It was built of teak in Calcutta, India in 1813. Its builders, James Bonner and James Horsburgh, sailed the Hindostan and a second vessel to London and sold them to the Admiralty to be used as storeships for the Navy. The Buffalo’s early history did not promise a [...]

Cygnet

The Cygnet was built of teak in India in 1827. On its first voyage the Cygnet sailed from Calcutta to Singapore and Batavia (now named Jakarta). It traded to Madras and Bombay and then on to London under the command of Captain Morce in 1829. Thomas Ward, a prominent ship owner, bought the Cygnet, re-registered [...]

Duke of York

The Duke of York was built in 1817 as a Falmouth packet. Falmouth lies in Cornwall on the south-west coast of Britain. In the early nineteenth century it was the major port through which Britain communicated with the world. The Falmouth packets were built to carry the mail and they also carried passengers and precious cargoes such as gold bullion. They were small ships and they carried few guns to protect their cargo but they had a reputation for speed. The packets were built to flee pirates, not to stand and fight them.

Emma

The Emma was built as a 160 ton brig at Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1824 and was first owned by John Pirie and Company. Pirie was a London ship owner, a merchant and an alderman. Over the years the vessel traded between Britain and the West Indies and South America. The Emma was only a small vessel, [...]

John Pirie

The John Pirie was the smallest of the nine ships that arrived South Australia in 1836. It was just 19 metres long! By comparison, today an articulated bus is 17 metres long. It was named after the London merchant and alderman John Pirie who owned half of the shares in the vessel. The other half [...]

Lady Mary Pelham

The Lady Mary Pelham, like the Duke of York, had been a Falmouth packet. The Lady Mary Pelham carried a female bust as its figurehead; the Duke of York carried a male bust. The Falmouth packets were contracted to carry British mail overseas. They also carried passengers and gold bullion and they had a reputation [...]

Rapid

The Rapid was built in 1826 by Frederick Preston at Southtown, Great Yarmouth. It was rigged as a brig, with two masts and was 23.3 metres long. During its early years, the Rapid made many trading voyages from Britain to the Mediterranean Sea, reaching the ports of Gibraltar, Malta, Messina, Trieste, Zante, Constantinople, and even [...]

Tam O’Shanter

The Tam O’Shanter was a barque of 383 tons. It was built by Robert Reay at North Hylton, County Durham, in 1829. His yard was on the banks of the River Wear just upstream from Sunderland. The ship’s early voyages were made from its home port of London to Calcutta under the command of its [...]

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10 Responses to “Ship Arrivals”

bob October 11, 2011 at 12:46 pm #

my favourite ship is the titanic

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Geoff Harvey April 14, 2011 at 7:38 pm #

Wonderful site which I have just discovered. My relatives “the Sladden’s” arrived on the Buffalo & the Cygnet so will follow this site with great interest-just beginning the genealogy research on this side of the family so great to get some insight into their arduous journey to SA and their wonderful contribution to our present state. With Thanks for your great research
Geoff

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- Margaret April 16, 2011 at 3:31 pm #
  
  Thanks Geoff and stay tuned. There is lots to come from the Buffalo.
  
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John Ford April 5, 2011 at 4:23 pm #

Hi Alexander, I have an image of the Coromandel as part of the SA Maritime Museum migration data base. Regards John Ford

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Alexandra Kelly April 3, 2011 at 4:48 pm #

Hi,
A very good site, from what I have looked at so far.
I am a writer ( in Adelaide) and I am researching the Ship “Coromandel” which arrived shortly after the Buffalo and which gave it’s name to Coromandel Valley. There do not seem to be any Paintings or Drawings of this ship. I have an article about a model made by a deserting sailor, but the article is from 1933, Ihave not been able to trace where the model could be now.
My research 1820′s, but I also read that it was originally called the “Malabar” and was re-fitted and Re-named before sailing to SA in1837.
My Question is, do you have any more information about the “Coromandel” ?

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John Ford March 29, 2011 at 7:13 pm #

Thank you for displaying some of my migrant ship creations. A very informative web site

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- Kristy March 30, 2011 at 10:24 am #
  
  Hi John,
  Thank you for giving us permission to display some of your works on this site! Glad you are enjoying the site.
  Regards,
  Kristy – History SA
  
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John Ford March 29, 2011 at 7:11 pm #

I have found the site very informative. As a Maritime Artist residing in South Australia and have recreated migrant ships for many clients.

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Kristy March 1, 2011 at 5:28 pm #

Hi Bernard, Thanks for your encouraging words! I have forwarded your inquiry onto one of our museums (South Australian Maritime Museum). In the meantime someone from our twitter community has suggested you visit the Pioneers Association website as it has some information on the Prince George http://www.pioneerssa.org.au/1838.html
Regards, Kristy – History SA.

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Bernard Boucher February 27, 2011 at 5:50 pm #

I am researching the flight of the Lutherans from Silesia, Germany, to South Australia in June 1838 and have traced their escape from the Klemzig district down a series of rivers taking them to Hamburg where their little ship, the Prince George, awaited them, but I doubt that ship took them all the way to Australia. Could you please confirn that the Prince George crossed the Channel to Plymouth, from which it sailed for Australia, as many religious refugees had done before, including the Pilgrim Fathers in 1620. Any further information re the Prince George would be most appreciated. Congratulations to History SA and it’s wonderful web site.

Thank you.

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