A NEW BEGINNING 1850
Maggie Brown IOW u3a Creative Writing Group
It was a bright day already hot with the sun early in the morning when the cry ‘Land Ahoy’ was heard from the look-out high in the rigging. I offered a silent prayer that we would soon be safe on land. We had sailed on the ship ‘Constance’ from Plymouth to Adelaide in South Australia on 18th July 1850 it was now almost the end of October. My name is William and my wife is Susanna and we are from England. I was 28 years young and although I did not have a trade, I had experience at working on the land since I was 11 years old. Susanna is 27; she’s beautiful and fair and came from our village in the county of Rutland. I knew I would remain very poor if I continued as a farm labourer and then if I married what a struggle it would be to raise however many children would be born. My parents had scraped by but I couldn’t live with them for ever. By chance I met a travelling hawker who gave news that a poster had been put up in a nearby town which said that young men and women were needed to live and work in the new land of Australia. I was an adventurous young man with dreams of a better future. A Bounty scheme to assist migrants had been set up and it didn’t take much persuasion for Susanna to become my wife in May of 1850 and for us to embark on a new life. Neither Susana nor I had ever ventured far and the sea was something only wealthy people knew about.
We said tragic farewells as we departed from our quiet English village knowing we should never see our families again. The journey to the port was arduous and tiring. When we arrived at Plymouth everything was delayed as the ship could only set sail when the winds were favourable. We were housed in a sort of hostel with basic accommodation but we were excited at the prospect of our journey and remained positive. We were conditioned to hardship but nothing could prepare us for the coming months. I could only imagine what the sea looked like, only ever seen paintings and it appeared so vast with nothing to see on the horizon. Susanna and I were shown our quarters on board the ship. The ship was called The Constance and was carrying upwards of nearly 200 men, women and children in awful cramped conditions and only a bit of canvas separating us from other couples. There was no privacy and a strict discipline was enforced. The children also were fretful at being restrained in a confined space. People were allowed on deck so many at a time to take the air although we were all given duties to attend to. I saw Susanna’s face drop when she realised how difficult the living arrangements were.
‘Don’t fret wife, it won’t be for long’, I whispered. ‘We shall come through this and our new country awaits’. ‘Oh William, I didn’t dream it would be so awful’ she cried as I held her.
The ship looked enormous when we set sail but within a day or so she was buffeted by strong winds and rolling seas. Most of the passengers were badly seasick and declined their rations. The journey caused everyone to be very afraid with nothing but sea and sky for weeks on end. We endured the shrieking of the wind in the sails, huge waves frequently reaching 30 or 40ft broke over the prow, creaking timbers and bitterly cold at times. During any storms we had to stay below decks with the hatches battened down, many women clinging onto their children terrified of dying. It did not stop the water making its way below and the waves washed over the deck most of the time. Susanna became so afraid and relied on me to comfort her even though I was very fearful myself. She clung to me in threatening times, I tried to be her rock.
Then came the unbearable tropics with the ship becalmed in the tropics for 2 weeks as it entered the doldrums and all the passengers health suffered. Moving about became impossible, we lay on the bunks, not a breath of wind stirred, only the crew maintaining the vessel were forced to work. Several people and two children died as the sea took on the appearance of glass with the intense heat. Those who died were buried at sea sewn into canvas. There was a vicar on board who gave services on a Sunday, weather permitting, and Susanna and I drew comfort from our faith which had carried us so far. He even gave reading and writing lessons and Susanna became a willing pupil which enabled her to gain the rudiments of the written word. Towards the end of the voyage she spoke quietly to me out of earshot of the others. ‘William, she said. ‘now I can put down the written word I will be able to write a message home with the news that I am with child and it will be born next year’.
‘Oh my dear wife, what wonderful news, pray god will deliver us safely to land’ I said as I held her hand, although I wondered how on earth we would manage with a baby as well. ‘I am hoping the vicar from our village will be able to read my letter to our parents back home’ Susanna replied. That bright morning with the cry of ‘Land Ahoy’ the passengers became excited and relieved that their ordeal was almost over. Within a few hours we berthed in Adelaide and my dream of working hard to acquire some land and provide for a family seemed within my grasp. I knew as we stepped ashore a new beginning awaited me and Susanna.
Postscript: An ancestor of mine (William and his wife Susanna) undertook this journey to Adelaide on this very ship in 1850. After some research on the migrants who went to Australia during this time, I have written a fictious account of how it may have been for them.