Free Settler or Felon

Convict and Colonial History



Convict Ship Henry (2) - 1825


Embarked: 79 women
Voyage: 138 days
Deaths 0
Surgeon's Journal - yes
Previous vessel: Asia 21 February 1825
Next Vessel: Hooghley arrived 22 April 1825
Captain James Ferrier
Surgeon William Bell Carlyle R.N.
Follow the Female Convict Ship Trail
Convicts and passengers of the Henry identified in the Hunter Valley region


The convict ship Henry was built at Quebec in 1819 [1].

Surgeon William Bell Carlisle

William Bell Carlisle kept a Medical Journal beginning 15th September 1825 while the ship was still at Woolwich.

The first case mentioned was that of five year old William Lugg, the son of Anne Lugg. They had come from Exeter where small pox was prevalent at the time. William Lugg presented on the 15th with a slight fever and headache and by the 16th small red pimples had broken out on his face. By the 19th his face was much swollen and the surgeon remarked that the face was almost one completed vesicle. His throat was also affected and he presented with a troublesome cough. He continued under the doctor's care for some time and eventually made a full recovery. The surgeon vaccinated everyone on board who had not previously been exposed, however there was an outbreak amongst the children. He was unable to check their temperature as his thermometer had been accidentally broken while still in the Downs. [2]

The only death that occurred on board was that of a sixteen year old girl who died before they left England.

Cabin Passengers

Passengers included Rev. W. Garrard who was appointed Assistant Chaplain in Van Diemen's Land. Rev. Garrard had been at Honduras with Colonel Arthur. [3]

Departure

The ship departed England on 12th October 1824 with 79 female prisoners, two free women and four children.

Accident

William Carlisle happened to witness an accident suffered by Hannah Hilo on 15th October and so was on hand to assist immediately. He described her as a very stout, heavy young woman. She fell backwards from the prison hatchway just as he was leaving the prison with a young medical friend. The prisoner was knocked unconscious and her head lolling forward to her chest when he came to her aid. He immediately extended her head and the bones of her neck gave a loud crack before she began to regain consciousness. [2]

St. Jago

They called at St. Jago, and after leaving there the surgeon remarked that the women presented with some slight cases of pulmonary afflictions which he believed were owing to their excess perspiration and exposing themselves to a current of air. In every case the condition yielded to one moderate bleeding and laxatives. He performed paracentesis on an elderly woman suffering from ascites. She was one of the women who were disembarked in Hobart and was doing well when William Carlisle departed for Sydney. [2]

Hobart

The Henry arrived in Hobart on 8th February 1825. Seventy seven female prisoners were landed in Hobart and the ship continued to Port Jackson arriving there on 27 February 1825 with the remaining two prisoners Elizabeth Gatten and Sarah Haynes.

Departure from the Colony

This ship was wrecked in the Torres Strait on a voyage to Batavia in April 1825. The crew were all saved.

Notes and Links

1). William Bell Carlyle was also surgeon on the Asia in 1820, Morley in 1823, Andromeda in 1827 (VDL), Phoenix in 1828 and Marquis of Huntley.

2). National Archives - Reference: ADM 101/33/3 Description: Medical and surgical journal of the Henry convict ship, for 2 August 1824 to 1 March 1825 by B Carlyle, Surgeon and Superintendent, during which time the said ship was employed in transporting female prisoners to Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales

3). The Henry was one of four convict ships transporting female prisoners to New South Wales in 1825, the others being the Mariner, the Grenada and the Midas. A total of 255 female prisoners arrived in the colony in 1825.

4). The Fourth Annual Report of the Committee of the 'British Society for the reformation of Female Prisoners. - 1824

References

[1] Bateson, Charles Library of Australian History (1983). The convict ships, 1787-1868 (Australian ed). Library of Australian History, Sydney : pp.346-347

[2] Ancestry.com. UK, Royal Navy Medical Journals, 1817-1857. Medical Journal of William Bell Carlyle on the voyage of the Henry in 1825. ; The National Archives. Kew, Richmond, Surrey.

[3] Hobart Town Gazette