|
This 916 ton ship was built at Sunderland in 1848. It was employed as a
convict transport and left Plymouth, England on July 21, 1851 bound for
the Swan River Colony. She carried the fifth of 37 shipments of male
convicts destined for Western Australia. The voyage took 85 days and the Minden
arrived in Fremantle on October 14, 1851 with 115 passengers and 301
convicts [Erickson]. Robert Dawson Crawford and John Gibson were
the captain and surgeon respectively.
Of the 115 passengers mentioned above, all 115 were pensioner guards
and their families, the number being made up of 40 pensioner guards, 26
wives, 26 sons and 23 daughters.
There were no deaths recorded on the convict shipping and description
lists and 302 convict numbers were assigned for the voyage ranging from
(678 to 979) although only 301 were mentioned in the reference above. In
this case [Bateson] also says 302 convicts embarked and only 301 arrived.
John Gibson'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.
|