High Seas and High Teas: Voyaging to Australia

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Just past 5.30am on January 20, 1838, Sergeant John Robinson was watching over hundreds of criminals detained on a ship heading to Australia when he heard a commotion in the waters below.

A convict had escaped from his bolted cell on the William Jardine ship heading from Dublin to Sydney and thrown himself overboard in a desperate attempt to escape, Sgt Robinson wrote in his journal.

The man was eventually dragged into a small boat by sailors and locked back to his cell - only to later be killed for his crime and fed to the sharks, sharks that were then poached and eaten by the same staff and crew.

Sgt Robinson's detailed journal entries of his treacherous, 100-day voyage on one of the first fleets from Europe to Australia - and those of many other passengers - is documented in a book titled High Seas and High Teas: Voyaging to Australia.

More than a million immigrant passengers, from first class to steerage passengers, began to travel to Australia in waves from 1787 to 1900 – some thrilled to be leaving their motherland behind while others were left devastated...

From eating sharks fed by bodies thrown overboard to pranks to relieve the boredom: Rare letters and paintings reveal the horrors of those who first made the trip to Australia


Journal entries and illustrations sketched by Australia's first immigrants detail the long journey across the world

Convicts often tried to escape from the ships by throwing themselves overboard and were hung or beaten

Other passengers from first class to the steerage class passed by time by writing, playing cards and pulling pranks

Children and infants were the most susceptible to disease and illness and many were buried at sea

Some ship staff stopped eating poached shark meat when they realised the sharks were eating the dead bodies

A constant threat of shipwreck or attack by pirates plagued the passengers, who kept loaded guns on board

By Brianne Tolj For Daily Mail Australia
9 April 2016
Daily Mail Australia


Roslyn Russell's book

Just past 5.30am on January 20, 1838, Sergeant John Robinson was watching over hundreds of criminals detained on a ship heading to Australia when he heard a commotion in the waters below.

A convict had escaped from his bolted cell on the William Jardine ship heading from Dublin to Sydney and thrown himself overboard in a desperate attempt to escape, Sgt Robinson wrote in his journal.

The man was eventually dragged into a small boat by sailors and locked back to his cell - only to later be killed for his crime and fed to the sharks, sharks that were then poached and eaten by the same staff and crew.

Sgt Robinson's detailed journal entries of his treacherous, 100-day voyage on one of the first fleets from Europe to Australia - and those of many other passengers - is documented in a book titled High Seas and High Teas: Voyaging to Australia.


The more than 1.6 million immigrants who ventured from Britain to Australia – including 160,400 convicts – on thousands of ships from 1787 to 1900 faced threats from pirates (pictured), shipwreck, famine, bad weather and illness


The highs and lows of the voyages, which typically lasted more than 100 days, are recorded in numerous journals, letters and illustrations crafted by the immigrants and now documented in a book


Large crowds of family members and friends would gather to see their loved ones off on a new adventure to Australia (pictured) - but they never could have been prepared for the troubles they faced on the voyage

More than a million immigrant passengers, from first class to steerage passengers, began to travel to Australia in waves from 1787 to 1900 – some thrilled to be leaving their motherland behind while others were left devastated.

William Harbottle documented his trip on the Scotia, from Plymouth to Sydney, which arrived in 1849.

'The Scotia 'carries 224 Emigrants, part of them, have embarked this afternoon, they are, I think for the most part Agricultural Labourers and appear to be all very happy and contented – no doubt thinking that whatever change they are making – it will be for the better,' he said.

'Between the decks, the single of both sexes are laughing an joking to each other, while some of the more aged and grave are busy singing psalms,' Mr Harbottle added.


Some of the first ships to make the trip thousands of kilometres south were carrying convicts, which were kept in wooden, bolted doors (left) and often whipped or hung when they misbehaved (right)


William Harbottle documented his trip on the Scotia, from Plymouth to Sydney, which arrived in 1849 (pictured)


'The Scotia 'carries 224 Emigrants, part of them, have embarked this afternoon, they are, I think for the most part Agricultural Labourers and appear to be all very happy and contented...' he wrote (pictured)

Large crowds of family members and friends would gather to see their loved ones off on a new adventure.

As the middle class to lower class passengers got settled on board, they were given a hearty dinner, examined by the ship's doctor and given a bag of items including clothing, a knife and fork, a tin plate and basin and drinking cups before being shuttled to their living quarters below the deck.

'We were stuck with astonishment when we arrived at the top of the stairs – to see the room – the people and the beds – two to three hundred persons were to sleep in one room – on beds almost as hard as stone,' Joseph Tarry, who was travelling with his family, said.


The ships also faced threats of fire or attack and kept a large quantity of guns on board


Those who died during the voyage were thrown overboard (pictured) and eaten by sharks – who were often captured, killed and eaten by the ship's passengers and staff

Within hours of the ship's departure most of the passengers had become severely sea sick and unable to move.

Illness was rampant on the boats as influenza, gangrene and scurvy easily spread throughout the boat.

Children and infants were the most vulnerable to illnesses and were treated by the ship doctor and sectioned off.

Those who died during the voyage were thrown overboard and eaten by sharks – who were often captured, killed and eaten by the ship's passengers and staff.

First class passengers had a very different experience when it came to dining on the ships and were served at tables and given fresh meat from the animals held and killed in the lower decks.


First class passengers had a very different experience when it came to dining on the ships and were served at tables and given fresh meat from the animals held and killed in the lower decks (pictured)


An illustration shows the stark comparison between the dining surroundings offered to those in separate classes (pictured)


The dinner served to the first class passengers during a voyage on on 23 December 1888 (pictured)

Lower classes were given some food they could bake or prepare themselves and sat in cramped rooms with up to 12 other people.

The sanitary conditions were less divisive and convenient toilets were hard to come by for all classes – most of them resorting to a cesspit on a terrace with littler to no privacy.

Rats, cockroaches and black horse flies also didn't discriminate between classes and became rampant.

'These rats became so numerous that a certain quantity of drinking water had to be put out for them to drink, it was found they were gnawing the ship, so thirsty were they, in seeking water,' passenger Mary McConnel wrote in her journal.

Another pest to overcome was that of boredom and numerous passengers comment in their journals that the trip was incredibly dull.


To keep themselves entertained, passengers were known to sing, hold concerts, read and write for hours (pictured)

A woman relaxes on the deck while embroidering cloth (pictured centre)

To keep themselves entertained, passengers were known to sing, hold concerts, read and write for hours.

They also played cricket, chess and card games on the deck if the weather was calm.

Fighting and pulling pranks – such as placing pepper on pillows to cause people to sneeze – on each other were also common on the ships as a way to pass the time.

'Two young lads were jostling each other on the deck before the galley, when one gave the other a push, and he fell back into a pout of pea-soup,' young Irish Immigrant Samuel Shaw wrote.

Pests, illness and boredom were probably the last things to be concerned about on the immigrant ships as the threat of pirates was constant.


They also played cricket, chess and card games on the deck if the weather was calm (pictured)

A ship approached the General Hewett boat in 1845 and passenger John Carter wrote about the fear that quickly spread throughout the ship.

'As we got nearer out suspicions became greater, and preparations were made for putting the ship in a state of defence by loading guns (four eighteen pound carronades) and muskets,' he said.

'When I saw all these preparations, I hardly knew what to do first, whether to load my gun for a foe, or in a case of her being a friend to finish my letter.'

The boat turned out to be from Portugal and was offering to take mail from the ship back up to Europe.


The staff were also known to create performances to entertain the passengers during the dull trips