This 640 ton ship was built in Calcutta in 1832. It was employed as a convict transport for Western Australia and left Portland, England on April 19, 1855 bound for the Swan River Colony. She carried the fifteenth of 37 shipments of male convicts destined for Western Australia. The voyage took 90 days and the Adelaide arrived in Fremantle on July 18, 1855 with 93 passengers and 259 convicts [Erickson]. M. Longman and S. Donnelly were the captain and surgeon respectively.

There was one death recorded on the convict shipping and description lists for John Mitchell (3463) and other sources indicate he died on the voyage out. There were 260 convict numbers assigned for the voyage ranging from (3445 to 3704) and the [Bateson] account also confirms that 260 convicts embarked and 259 arrived.

Of the 93 passengers mentioned above, all 93 were pensioner guards and their families, the number being made up of 30 pensioner guards, 21 wives, 22 sons and 20 daughters.

S. Donnelly's surgeon's journal for the voyage is preserved in the Public Record Office (PRO) in London. Researchers can view a copy on the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) microfilm reel 711 which is held in most major libraries and archives offices throughout Australia.