Page 11 - eMuse Vol.9 No.01_Classical

when one compares condi- 158 died; 269 were incapacitat-
tions on the First Fleet with the ed at the time of landing.
Second, the former must have William Hill was a second
seemed like a holiday. captain in the New South Wales
Everything about First Fleet Corps who sailed with the fleet.
was closely controlled by the He told officials conditions
British government. Transports in the slave trade were bet-
were monitored by Governor ter than the Second Fleet. He
Phillip and his two naval ships wrote about the masters of the
the Sirius and the Supply. Neptune and the Scarborough,
Expenses incurred led to as being cruel men.
bean counters in the British “The more they can withhold
government deciding to take on from the unhappy wretches, the
private contractors for the next more provisions they have to dis-
Fleet. Clearly these contractors pose of on a foreign market, and
needed more supervision than the earlier in the voyage they
the convicts. die the longer they can draw the
It’s no surprise the Second deceased’s allowance for them-
Fleet was known as ‘The Death selves; for I fear few of them are
Fleet. Frankly they botched the honest enough to make a just re- Child of the Second Fleet who became a prominent citizen of
whole voyage. turn of the dates of their deaths New South Wales, William Charles Wentworth, son of sur-
Being permitted to sell sur- to their employers.” geon D’arcy Wentworth and convict Catherine Crowley.
plus provisions at journey’s A notable exception to the would later become prominent Governor suggested the “Nep-
end, encouraged contractors other Death ships in the fleet citizens of New South Wales. tune” should be renamed the
to excessively cut corners in ex- was the Lady Juliana. She left An unnamed Lady Juliana “Wilful Murderer.”
penses by with holding convict England on 29 July 1789, carry- convict whose letter appeared Governor Phillip did write
entitlements like rations, medi- ing about 230 women. (There in the Morning Chronicle gave condemning letters to Lord
cal supplies, etc. There was no were only 193 women on the another poignant account of Grenville on the affair: “I will
incentive to do otherwise. First Fleet). London’s Newgate the arrival of the unlucky con- not, sir, dwell on the scene of
The First Fleet stopped three Gaol was terribly overcrowded victs of the Neptune and her misery which the hospitals
times along the way, so people so it was decided that a ship load two sister ships: and sick tents exhibited when
were able to get fresh food and of women would go to NSW. “Oh! If you had but seen the those people were landed, but
water, which made a huge differ- The poor condition of the shocking sight of the poor crea- it would be want of duty not to
ence. Private contractors for the ship made it necessary to inter- tures that came out in the three say that it was occasioned by
Second Fleet, only stopped once, rupt the journey several times ships it would make your heart the contractors having crowded
at Cape Town, in South Africa. for repairs. Fortunately for the bleed. too many on board these ships,
convict cargo stop-overs meant “They were almost dead, and from their being too much
fresh rations. very few could stand, and they confined during the passage.”
Ship’s steward Jon Nicol were obliged to fling them as The Navy Board was embar-
wrote about his time aboard you would goods, and hoist rassed and on the defensive.
the Lady of Juliana, stating that them out of the ships, they Eventually the captain of the
Making a bad situation every man struck up a consen- were so feeble; and they died “Neptune”, Donald Trail and his
worse, security conscious cap- sual relationship with a woman. ten or twelve a day when they chief mate, William Ellerington,
tains kept the convicts below The ship took nearly 11 months first landed; but some of them faced the courts in London in a
deck for long periods in bad to arrive in Sydney – compared to are getting better … private prosecution by London
weather. It would have been Surprize which took 158 days and “They were not so long as lawyer, Thomas Evans.
horrific as the ships were over Neptune, 159 days. Leading mari- we were in coming here, but It would be good to report
crowded. time historian Charles Bateson they were confined, and had that Justice was finally served
The Second Fleet was cursed refers to the Lady Juliana as “a bad victuals and stinking water. and at least two of the perpe-
by a combination of bad luck, floating brothel”. The Governor was very an- trators got their just deserts.
mismanagement and wishful A British newspaper report- gry, and scolded the captains a Sad to say, both were ac-
thinking in terms of being able ed: “The female convicts carried great deal, and, I heard, intend- quitted and Evans was recom-
to do the voyage on the cheap. to Botany Bay, by the Lady Ju- ed to write to London about it, mended to be struck off the roll
It was a grim example of priva- liana transport, were delivered for I heard him say it was mur- of solicitors for prejudicing the
tisation gone wrong in the most very soon after their arrival of dering them. It, to be sure, was case with handbills and news
catastrophic way. thirty-seven children, the exact a melancholy sight. What a dif- stories.
Contractors were paid for number of men in the ship!” ference between us and them.” It seems cover-ups are not
the number of people who Some of these children, like Anger and an inflamed sense a recent thing. Although Jus-
boarded the ships in Britain. William Charles Wentworth, of injustice about the whole af- tice was not served something
There was absolutely no incen- fair spread like wildfire to all good came from the disaster. A
tive for the contractors to treat levels from the victims them- system of incentive payments
the prisoners with care. selves to the highest echelons was introduced. It paid on the
The worst ship of all was of the British Government and number of convicts landed alive
the Neptune, dubbed the “Hell the Admiralty. which in turn contributed to a
Ship”. Of the 499 on board only Many sailors deserted and marked fall in the death rate for
72 arrived in reasonable health. one was heard to say that the future convict voyages.

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