Basics on ships and voyages

Once a ship of arrival has been identified (see our guide to shipping records), a deal of information can generally be established about the ship itself and the particular voyage.

• The ship
• Routes and voyage times
• Health and mortality
• Voyage logs and diaries 
• Illustrations of ships

The ship

For details of convict ships, their tonnage, rig, place and year of building, master and surgeon, consult The Convict Ships 1787-1868, by Charles Bateson (SAG ref: A3/23/1). Details of other early ships are recorded in:

• Shipping arrivals and departures, Sydney, 1788-1825 by J S Cumpston, 1963 (SAG ref: B2/12/3)
• Shipping arrivals and departures, Sydney, volume II, 1826-1840 by Ian H Nicholson, 1977 (SAG ref: B/12/2)
• Shipping arrivals and departures, Sydney, volume III, 1841-1844 by Graeme Broxam and Ian Nicholson (SAG ref: B/12/5)
• Shipping arrivals and departures, Tasmania, volume I, 1803-1833 by Ian Nicholson, 1983 (SAG ref: D2/12/1)
• Shipping arrivals and departures Tasmania, volume II, 1834-1842 and gazetteer of Tasmanian shipping 1803-1842 by Ian Nicholson, 1985 (SAG ref: D2/12/2)
• Shipping arrivals and departures Victorian ports volume 1 1798-1845 by Marten A Syme, 1984 (SAG ref: C2/12/1a)
• Shipping arrivals and departures Victorian ports volume 2 1846-1855 by Marten A Syme, 1987 (SAG ref: C2/12/1b)

Each book summarises the number of passengers, the cargo, dates in port and the reported ports "whence" and "whither". The books also indicate the information sources, which may provide further detail.

Routes and voyage times

Early ships routinely stopped at one or more ports to make repairs or take on provisions. Rio de Janiero was the most common, with the Cape a distant second, as either a second or substitute port of call. Teneriffe, Madiera and St Helena, Port Praya and St Jago were used occasionally, with others very occasionally. For more information about the ports of call, consult I H Nicholson's Gazetteer of Sydney Shipping 1788-1840 (SAG ref: B2/12/4).

In 1802 the Coromandel made the first direct trip to Sydney, in just 121 days. But stopovers remained the norm until 1818 from which time perhaps half the voyages were direct. In many later cases a record of the route taken has not survived; the shorter the time taken for the voyage the more likely was the journey to have been direct, but there is no reliable rule of thumb. Shortest time to Sydney was eventually 95 days but average voyages were quite a bit longer - 176 days in the years 1801-1809, reducing to 127 days in 1839-1840. Average times to Van Diemen's Land reduced from 140 days (1812-1820) to 111 (1852-1853). The average voyage to Western Australia (1850-1868) was just 88 days.

Health and Mortality

On the First Fleet the surgeons were the men who were to form the new colony's medical establishment. That practice could not continue, given the shortage of such positions in the colony, and contractors were required to employ surgeons to oversee the prisoners' health on the voyage. However, obtaining suitably qualified surgeons was difficult, and their authority with the ship's master was inadequate.

From 1795 neither navy surgeons nor navy agents went out with ships and the standards of care slipped sharply - for instance, the ships arriving in 1799/1800 averaged a mortality rate of over 15%. Even excluding the Hillsborough, where 95 men died of typhus, the mortality rate was over 11%. Moreover, those who survived arrived in a sickly and emaciated condition. A review led to the introduction of bonuses rewarding good results, but the effects were insufficient and in 1814 the General Hewart, Three Bees and Surrey averaged 11% mortality, with the survivors once again sickly, emaciated and suffering the effects of scurvy or typhus. It led to the appointment of surgeons-superintendent, with clear authority to require good practice in the care of prisoners, and the situation was rapidly improved and maintained.

In considering the above figures it needs to be borne in mind that, at the time, the causes of such things as dysentry, cholera and typhus were unknown, and indeed there was little knowledge at all about infection and its transmission. The means of prevention of scurvy were known, but often ignored, and few medical people accepted that consumption (tuberculosis) was contagious. So health depended much upon attention to ventilation, cleanliness, airing of bedding, food, exercise and fumigation by burning brimstone (sulphur).

Voyage logs, diaries etc

If the ship's log has survived, or some other record of the journey, such as a surgeon's journal, or a diary by one of the passengers, these can provide useful background for a family history. Logs concentrate on matters relating to the sailing of the vessel and the weather; surgeons' journals on matters relating to health and mortality; while shipboard diaries can range much more widely. Nonetheless, any such item related to your ancestor's voyage should be studied. Even if they don't mention your ancestor or family member, they can provide a level of understanding of the trials and tribulations of the journey they took - a trip of 3 to 8 months that we may can find difficult to relate to, given we can travel the distance today in just 24 hours.

Ian H Nicholson's Log of Logs: a catalog of logs, journals, shipboard diaries, letters, and all forms of voyage narratives 1788 to 1988 for Australia and New Zealand and surrounding oceans, now in three volumes, gathers together details of such items, and should always be consulted. (SAG ref: A2/10/22a-c)

Illustrations of ships

No illustrations exist for the majority of ships that brought convicts and settlers in the early days of Australian settlement. Early illustrated newspapers are a good source and several have been indexed with this in mind:

• Illustrated Sydney News: index to illustrations of ships, ports and places, and other items of general maritime interest to Australia and New Zealand, 1853 to 1889, compiled by Vaughan Evans, 1990 (SAG ref: A2/12/Pam.1a)
• Illustrated London News: index to illustrations of ships, ports and places, and other items of general interest to Australia and New Zealand, 1842 to 1891 inclusive, compiled by Vaughan Evans, 1990 (SAG ref: A2/12/Pam.1b)
• Australasian Sketcher with pen and pencil: index to illustrations of ships, ports and places, and other items of general maritime interest, 1873 to 1889 inclusive, compiled by Vaughan Evans, 1990 (SAG ref: A2/12/Pam.1c)

In addition to these, the National Maritime Museum (Sydney) has compiled an index to ships' pictures, drawings and plans from books in its own collection. SAG's Australian Library has a printout of this index (as at 1999).

Another useful on-line resource is PictureAustralia, a collaborative effort of a number of Australasian institutions.