Palmerston
The Convict Ship Palmerston 1861
Palmerston was a late frigate ship with three masts and a teak hull with specifications: Official #25236, Commercial Code Signal P.F.D.K., 978 tons, length 154.6 ft., breadth 30.6 ft., depth 22.3 ft., with a draft of 16.0 ft.
Palmerston was built in Moulmein, Burma in 1853, which suggests she was built by Duncan Dunbar II. Dunbar’s vessels were of teak cut from the forests that lined the banks of the river surrounding his Moulmein yard. His large mid-19th century fleet was mainly utilised as convict and immigrant transports and troopships in the Crimean War. The ship’s owner at the time of the 1860/61 voyage was H H Toulmin of London.
Captain J N Seagrove commanded a crew of 38. Dr A Watson and Rev William Irwin were the surgeon superintendent and religious instructor respectively. Also on board were 30 men of the enrolled pensioner force, their 20 wives and 49 children. As well as the convicts mentioned, 12 military pensioners were on board including two Warders, William Staples (Turkish Contingent) and Thomas Pickering. Other passengers of interest were six policemen from the Irish Constabulary [see note below].
Note: While in Ireland during his time as WA Police Chief in 1859, Sir Alexander Cockburn-Campbell recruited the six men on Palmerston for service in the WA Police Force: Patrick Cleary, James Gilchrist, Philip Furlong, Joseph Noone, Denis Roache and Patrick Sweeney. All of them are referenced in Molly Bentley’s ‘Grandfather was a Policeman’, Hesperian Press 1993.
Sources
Royal Engineers’ Expedition to the Swan River Colony, Lieut. Derrick Prall, R.E., 1999.
Crew List Index (CLIP) Website.
Lloyds Register of Shipping Website.
Perth Dead Persons Society (DPS) Website.
Convict Transportation Register HO11-18-179/180, National Archives Kew.
© Diane Oldman 2015