Convict Ship Sesostris 1826

Convict Ship Sesostris - 1826

Embarked: 150 men
Voyage: 111 days
Deaths: 3
Surgeon's Journal: yes
Previous vessel: Mangles arrived 18 February 1826
Next vessel: Lady Rowena arrived 17 May 1826
Master J.T. Drake
Surgeon John Dulhunty
Convicts and passengers of the Sesostris identified in the Hunter Valley region

The Sesostris was built at Hull in 1807.[1] The Morning Post reported in November 1826 -

Portsmouth 28th November - It has blown very hard all the day; the outward bound remain all well. The Hope from Exmouth to London got on shore on Bambridge Ledge this morning, knocked her rudder off and is leaky; in making for the harbour accompanied by two pilot boats, she ran on board the Sesostris, for New South Wales, and carried away her bowsprit. [2]

Departure

It didn't take long to make the necessary repairs and the Sesostris departed Portsmouth on Wednesday 30 November 1825.

Military Guard

A detachment of the 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Infantry embarked on the Sesostris on 26th November 1825 at Portsmouth. They were under the orders of Major John Campbell and Ensign Benson. Some of the soldier's mentioned in the surgeon's journal included:
Private W. Warren,
Private G. Farnham,
Private Samuel Fairman,
Private Mark Lane,
Private E. Jennings,
Private J. Steadman,
Private S. Hardcastle,
Private D. Mitchell,
Private R. Stevenson,
J. Grant.

The wife of Private Hynes gave birth to a daughter in the ship hospital which had been divided off from the sick men as the soldier's berth was even more crowded.

The Band of the 57th joined its Corps by the Sesostris.

Surgeon John Dulhunty

John Dulhunty kept a Medical Journal from 5th November 1825 to 22 March 1826.[3]

Two sons of John Dulhunty, Robert Venour Dulhunty and Lawrence Vance Dulhunty, came previously as passengers on the convict ship Guildford in 1824

Free Passengers

Passengers included Mr. J. Dulhunty, Mrs. Dulhunty, Miss Dulhunty, Mr. J.B. Clay, and Mr. N. Eise together with 8 women and 12 children belonging to the troops.

Port Jackson

The Sesostris sailed direct without making any stops and arrived in Port Jackson on Tuesday morning 21 March 1826, a voyage of 111 days. (See Advantages of various routes of convict ships)

Convict Muster

A Muster of 147 convicts was held on board by Colonial Secretary Alexander McLeay on 22nd March 1826. Three convicts had died on the voyage out. - George Archer, William Bray alias Irish and George Milford. Nine were sent to the hospital in Sydney on arrival including James Briggs from Essex, Robert Brown from Suffolk, James Cotterill from Warwickshire, Edward Edgar from Sussex, William Geary from Suffolk, William Hanson, Thomas Joggins or Giggins from Essex.

Convict Indents include the name, age, religion, education, marital status, family, native place, trade, offence, date and place of trial, sentence, prior convictions, physical description, remarks and to whom assigned on arrival. There is also occasional information about deaths, pardons, prior convictions etc.

Some of those sent to the Hunter river district straight from the ship were assigned to settlers John Laurio Platt, William Evans, Thomas White Melville Winder and Edward Gostwyck Cory.

James Dennison was the youngest prisoner on board at fifteen years of age.

Departure from the Colony

The Sesostris departed for New Zealand on 11th April 1826.

Convicts of the Sesostris identified in the Hunter Valley region:

Ashton, William

Beal, Richard

Bellamy, William

Billett, George

Brigg, James

Clark, John

Clay, Isaac

Colan, Patrick

Combs, William

Coyle, Michael

Dennison, James

Devell, John

Friendship, John

Geere, William

Green, William

Holland, Daniel

Hollingshead, Richard

Hunt, Matthew

Jones, George

Jones, Thomas

Jones, Thomas

King, Christopher

Lamb, William

Limeburner, Henry

Lindbeck, Charles

Little, Robert

Lock, John

Martin, Mark

Moore, James

Moy, James

North, William

Oatley, William

Percival, Henry

Pickup, James

Radford, Thomas

Saltwell, Robert

Saunders, William

Shelford, John

Slade, John

Smith, John

Smith, William

Woodward, Samuel

Wright, Joseph

Young, William

Notes and Links

1). Convicts and passengers of the Sesostris identified in the Hunter Valley region

2). Major John Campbell was appointed Commandant at Melville Island and sailed with a detachment of the 57th on the schooner Isabella in August 1826 to relieve Major Barlow and a detachment of the Buffs. He returned to Sydney with the detachment on the brig Governor Phillip in July 1828.

3). Position of Sesostris Reef 1826.

4). Robert Bale (Ball) a shipwright and carpenter from Devonshire was convicted of arson in London on 2nd December 1824. He was sentenced to transportation for life and was received on to the York Hulk on 8th March 1825. He was transferred to the Sesostris on 16th November 1825. On arrival in Sydney he was assigned to the Dockyard. He made his escape from the colony on the Indian in August 1826.

5). Joseph Headley was tried on 12 April 1825. He returned to England and was later re-transported on the Royal Sovereign for another crime.

6). William Harris was suspected of having been transported previously. He escaped from the colony and was re-transported on the Lady Feversham in 1830.

7). James Pickup gave his occupation as Labourer and Executioner.

8). A Journal of a voyage to the Cape of Good Hope and Bombay in the Ship Sesostris by James Smith, 1829-1831. (Online)

9). Eleven convict ships brought prisoners to New South Wales in 1826 - Marquis of Hastings, Sir Godfrey Webster, Mangles, Sesostris, Lady Rowena, Regalia, Marquis of Huntley, England, Boyne, Speke and Phoenix

10). Transcription of the Medical Journal - Voyage of the Sesostris - UK Archives

11). Return of Convicts of the Sesostris assigned between 1st January 1832 and 31st March 1832 (Sydney Gazette 14 June 1832; 21 June 1832; 5 July 1832)

Daniel Holland - Tailor assigned to John Howe at Windsor
Thomas Rawthorne - Tailor assigned to R. Samuel at Sydney

13). Vessels bringing detachments of the 57th Regiment -

Asia 1825 departed Cork 29 October 1824 - Captain Richard Heaviside

Asia (III) 1825 departed Portsmouth 5 January 1825 - Lieutenant Thomas Bainbridge

Royal Charlotte 1825 departed Portsmouth 5 January 1825 - Major Edmund Lockyer

Hooghley 1825 departed Cork 5 January 1825 Cork - Captain Patrick Logan

Norfolk 1825 departed Portsmouth 17 April 1825 - Captain James Brown

Minstrel 1825 departed Portsmouth 17 April 1825 - Lieutenant Henry John Tudor Shadforth

Lonach 1825 departed Cork 16 May 1825 - Lieutenant John William Donelan

Sir Godfrey Webster departed Cork 11 July 1825 - Lieutenant John Ovens

Medway 1825 departed the Downs 2 August 1825 Downs - Lieutenant William Bates

Henry Porcher 1825 departed Dublin 5 August 1825 Dublin - Captain Vance Young Donaldson

Marquis of Hastings 1826 departed Portsmouth 22 August 1825 - Ensign Stewart

Mangles 1826 departed Cork 23 October 1825 - Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Shadforth

Sesostris 1826 departed Portsmouth 30 November 1825 - Major John Campbell

Prince Regent 1827 departed London 11 June 1827 - Lieutenant Campbell

Morley 1828 departed Dublin 3 November 1827 - Captain Robert Hunt

Borodino 1828 departed Cork 11 February 1828 Cork - Captain Philip Aubyn

Mangles 1828 departed Dublin 23 February 1828 Dublin- Lieut. Hill and Adjutant Lieut. Kidd

Bussorah Merchant 1828 departed London 27 March 1828 - Captain Burton Daveney (+ 1 soldier)

Marquis of Hastings 1828 departed Portsmouth 1828 30 June 1828 - Colonel Allen

Asia 1828 departed London 23 November 1828 - Lieutenant George Edwards

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] Morning Post 30 November 1825

[3] Ancestry.com. UK, Royal Navy Medical Journals, 1817-1857. Medical Journal of John Dulhunty on the voyage of the Sesostris in 1826. The National Archives. Kew, Richmond, Surrey.

↑