Suzanne Hirst
TRANSPORTING FOLK TO NEW LIVES
The Coromandel ship was commissioned by the South Australian Company to transport emigrants to the new colony of South Australia and its soon to be established capital city of Adelaide. Over time I have researched the vessel, and ascertained most of those who sailed in her, but I certainly may have missed and/or misspelled some names.
The early years
The Coromandel sailed from St Katherine’s Dock, London in August 1836, arriving and disembarking the majority of her passengers at Holdfast Bay, Glenelg on 17 January 1837. She also docked at Kangaroo Island. Her journey was longer than planned as Captain William Chesser, her Master, called in at Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa and rested his many sick passengers back to good health with fresh fruit, vegetables and good water. Upon his return to Britain later in the year, he was called to task for the extended journey and brought before the Colonial Office and the South Australian Company for interrogation.
I have not, with any positive proof satisfied myself as to our Coromandel’s final resting place, because the name was in popular use as a ship’s name, and others so named have confused many people of her true journeys and destiny. She was definitely 662 tons, built in 1834 in Quebec by George Black & Sons and she was a barque with sails set as ‘ship’, meaning all were squaremasted.
There was a Coromandel ship that foundered in New Zealand, but I have not seen the description nor sketches of that ship. Another Coromandel was wrecked and towed into Yarmouth circa 1856, but the sketches of her bare deck suggests she is an Indiaman. Another Coromandel was converted to a hospital ship during the Ashanti uprising, but she was a much larger ship and built well after our 1834 sailing ship.
LIST OF NAMES
Find a passenger list of those who sailed on the Coromandel, a rriving in South Australia in January 1837, on the blog at https://familytr.ee/Coromandel
Apart from Capt Chesser’s journey in 1836, Captain Neale in 1838 then later Captain French’s journey in 1840 with the same Coromandel, we are also aware that possibly our Coromandel was used in 1847 for one journey from Dublin, Ireland during the time of destitute Irish refugees fleeing to Canada. From Bureaux Veritas records (which provided maritime information for insurance) she also frequently journeyed between England and Calcutta in India.
The barque has three or more masts with square sails on all except the mizzen. Research revealed that the Coromandel was a three-masted barque
Tracing a ship’s passage through time