When I read pioneers’ obituaries, a ship comes up time and again, the General Hewitt.  The ship, also called the General Hewett, was a convict ship and later an immigrant ship, sailing to Moreton Bay in 1854 .  The voyage I will focus on was to Portland Bay in  1856.  And what a voyage it was.

On May 5, 1856, the Geelong Advertiser’s correspondent in London wrote:

The General Hewitt left Plymouth, England on July 5, 1856, and arrived at Portland on October 9, 1856.   Many of the passengers would become some of the finest pioneers of the Western District and the South-East of South Australia and beyond.  A mix of English, Scottish and Irish, the passengers were described as being “of a very useful and eligible class”

The General Hewitt also carried much needed supplies from the home country, whiskey, brandy, gin and champagne.  There was also some practical cargo such as clothing and haberdashery, garden seeds and glassware.

The single females from the ship were available to hire from £15 to £26 for a domestic.  Married couples could be employed at a rate of £40-£45.  While most of the immigrants were “suitable” there were some crew members that were not, resulting in an eventful voyage, with a mutiny attempt no less.

The drama did not stop once the ship arrived at Portland Bay.  Four crew members left the ship on a raft.  Ten others had been locked up and five on the ship were refusing to work.

On October 14, the two men accused of assault, William Jose and Joseph Barrow appeared in the Portland Police Court, as did the 10 men refusing duty.  Their names included Able Seamen  Millard, Gash, Parry, Gudridge, Gashar and Howson the sail maker.  They received four months hard labour.

The General Hewitt’s arrival was kept the Police Court busy.  On October 15, one of the immigrants, Henry Haley appeared for being found in the Government Immigration Depot without permission.  Four more crewmen appeared for refusing duty, Daniel Newbury, Joseph Steel, George Rumbellow and William Dowell.  Their sentences ranged from 12 weeks to four months imprisonment.

The trial of William Jose and Joseph Barrow for the assault on Captain Christopher H. Loutitt continued.

The General Hewitt was already low on crew when, on November 7, two more absconded, the steward, William Thomas an John Carroll the cook.  They had the diggings in their sights, but instead they ended up digging roads.

A Police Constable kept watch on board the General Hewitt to prevent any more crew jumping ship.  Captain Loutitt travelled to Melbourne in search of more crew.

Sixty-two years after the arrival of the General Hewitt, the death of John. S Andrew aka John Forster, brought to light more about the crew of the General Hewitt.  John Andrew was a crew member that bolted, ending up at Muntham near Casterton, where he remained for the rest of his life.  According to John’s obituary, other men of the district that were members of the crew included Messers Rooking and Gasperino.

The obituary of William Rooking outed by John Andrew as an escaped crewmen

Now to the passengers.  As I’m currently tied to home, I didn’t think I could get access to the General Hewitt’s passenger list, so I thought I would find some of the passengers using Trove and a bit of Googling followed by a cross check with the PROV Online Shipping records.  While I did not come close to the “363 souls” on board, I did find around 70. Some of  those continued to live in the Western District or just across the border in the South East of South Australia.

Then, a need to double cross check and a feeling of guilt about omitting the other 290 or so passengers, I thought I would give Ancestry.com.au a go.  Using the Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists 1839-1923, I searched with General Hewitt in the Keywords field and the year 1856 and the list came up.  Early excitement faded rapidly when I realised the work another 290 names were going to bring and the transcribing of the passenger list was far from perfect.  The Cameron family had become the Cameau family, to name just one discrepancy.

As I’ve pottered away on this post for a few weeks, I have decided to just feature those passengers that had their voyage on the General Hewitt mentioned in their obituaries, plus a couple of others I found on the Glenelg and Wannon Settlers site.  Maybe, one day when I am stuck for something to do, I may start working my way through the other “souls” and share them with you.

ARTHUR, JOHN & PHILLIPPA   – John and Phillippa Arthur did not stay in Victoria long after their arrival, moving to Callington about 60 kilometres east of Adelaide. PROV Passenger List Index:  http://tinyurl.com/c8a8jfj

ELIAS AND JOHN BATESON:  Elias and John from Cambridgeshire took up work with Edmund Kirby (father of John Kirby) at “Spring Bank” near Sandford. PROV Passenger Index: http://tinyurl.com/am9k8f7

BEST FAMILY:  William and Letitia  Best and their family of seven children were from County Cavan, Ireland and settled at Heywood.   PROV record – http://tinyurl.com/c2l5ekh

The obituaries of three of the children follow:

John was 20 at the time of his arrival at Portland.

Margaret Best married James Bell a member of another of Heywood’s pioneering families.

Letitia Best married Donald Rankin.  After her marriage, she lived in Harrow, Western Australia and Heywood.

COULSON FAMILY – Christopher and Mary Frances Coulson were originally from Yorkshire and later London.  They sailed on the General Hewitt with their four children aged 4 to 14.  I have previously written about Christopher in the post  I Wish I Were Related To Christopher Coulson.  One of their sons, Francis married my ggg aunt, Harriet Martha Diwell, daughter of William and Margaret.  PROV Passenger Index:  http://tinyurl.com/babw5x2

The obituary of Christopher Coulson Snr.

BREEZE FAMILY:  Or is it the Breese family?  As listed on the PROV Index, Thomas and Ann Breeze and their children were aboard the General Hewitt.  However, the following letter indicates their name have been Breese.  PROV Index:  http://tinyurl.com/avj5sse

The letter is from William G. Breese, son of Thomas and Ann.  William was just seven when he arrived at Portland Bay, but 73 years later he was able to recount the voyage particularly the attempted mutiny.

DWYER, EDMOND – I am yet to find the fate of the General Hewitt, however, Edmond Dwyer’s obituary states the ship was destroyed by fire after one more trip to Australia.  The General Hewitt did make one other trip to Australia landing at  Port Adelaide in 1858.

Edmond’s obituary is also useful in that it mentions other passengers on the ship  – the Heaneys and Messers Roulston and Waters.  I can find each of these passengers but I cannot find a passenger under the name of Cannon he mentions.

There were three other Dwyers on the General Hewitt, but I have not been able to find if they are linked to Edmond.  They were:  Catherine (22), Johanna (27), Denis (29)

PROV record http://tinyurl.com/azt5jac

HADDEN, David and Mary –   Listed on the Passenger list as Haddon, David and settled in the Carapook area.  PROV Link http://tinyurl.com/asvck8q

HEANEY, Robert and Jane – From Ireland, Robert and Jane pioneered at Condah for 52 years.  PROV Link http://tinyurl.com/a5rgakf

LAVERY Family:    Patrick and Rose and children Ann, Mary and Bernard were from County Armagh, Ireland.   PROV Index:  http://tinyurl.com/ba6juo3

Patrick and Rose celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary in 1900.

Obituary of Patrick Lavery.

Rose Lavery passed away only days before her fellow General Hewitt shipmate, Mary Lear (below).

LEAR FAMILY:  Thomas and Mary and their children William, Thomas and Mary were from Devon, England.  They had another seven children after their arrival.  PROV Index:  http://tinyurl.com/cdeuklp

There was a “take two” with Thomas Lear’s obituary.  The Gymbowen correspondent wrote an obituary published in the Horsham Times on February 18, 1919.  The issue of February 21, 1919 set a few facts straight.

 McCABE, John and Mathilda:  John and Mathilda, from Ireland, had 10 children after their arrival in Victoria.  They settled in the Sandford district.    PROV Index:  http://tinyurl.com/d785kzx

McLACHLAN, Mary and Alexander:  The interesting thing about Mary McLachlan’s obituary, that appeared in many newspapers, is that it names her as a passenger on the General Hewitt, with her son.  However, can find Alexander on the passenger list but not Mary.  PROV Index:  http://tinyurl.com/d39sg4u

Alexander passed away only six months after his mother.

McCANN, PETER AND JANE and MARY SMITH McCANN:  Peter and Jane were from Ireland and settled around Sandford.  Mary Smith McCANN also sailed with Peter and Jane.  I am not sure if she was a daughter of the couple as she was six, Peter was 22 and Jane was 30.   PROV Index:  http://tinyurl.com/botobco

McFARLANE FAMILY:  Andrew and Jane and children George, Elizabeth, Margaret and an unnamed infant.  The McFarlanes did not linger in Victoria very long, moving first to Sydney and later Brisbane.  Their first child born after they moved to Queensland was the first child born in Queensland after its proclamation.  PROV Index http://tinyurl.com/c3kx3dk

The McFarlanes also offer a lesson:  Even though a person/s disembarked in a particular port, it does not mean they stayed in that general area or even that state.  The McFarlane’s made it from Victoria to Queensland after only two years in the Australia.

MACKINNON, Lachlan:  Lachlan MacKinnon, originally from Argyllshire, Scotland, arrived with his wife and frankly, proving he was on the General Hewitt has almost done my head in.  He does not come up in a search on the PROV Index, in fact no MacKinnons do.  There are McKinnons that sailed on the General Hewitt, but no Lachlans.

Looking to the Ancestry.com.au index, there was a Lachlan McKenzie and several other McKenzies with christian names the same as the McKinnons found on the PROV Index.  The PROV Index has no McKenzies arriving in 1856.  Given the aforementioned dependencies at Ancestry, do I assume the McKenzies are McKinnons and the Lachlan McKinnon listed is really Lachlan MacKinnon?

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McKINNON FAMILY:  John and Catherine and their children PROV Index  http://tinyurl.com/bn45olf 

NEATE FAMILY:  James and Anne and children Margaret, Julia, Emily, Henry, Albert and Catherine.  PROV Index:  http://tinyurl.com/ad5l7hu

POLAND, William and Eliza.  William and Eliza arrived in Portland with an infant and went on to have another six children and became two of Portland’s best known pioneers.  William wasthe manager of “Burswood” owned by Edward Henty.  PROV Index:  http://tinyurl.com/clrhd58

 

 

ROULSTON, ROBERT AND JOSEPH:  Trying to pin down Robert and Joseph was difficult.  Edmond Dwyer mentioned the Roulstons as shipmates and name being well known in the Condah district.  There were also Roulstons at Heywood and I found a reference to that family and the Heaney’s (above).  The Heaney family lived in Heywood for 10 years after arriving on the General Hewitt then moved north to Condah.  Robert and Joseph appear on the PROV Index as Roulstone: http://tinyurl.com/az4b9mt

 

STARK, JAMES AND ELIZABETH:  Newlyweds James and Elizabeth spent their first years in Australia at Penola, South Australia before moving to Lake Mundi near Casterton.  PROV Index http://tinyurl.com/d8n7h6t

WATERS, JOHN and ELLEN: John and Ellen are indexed as Walters.  They settled in the Nareen district.  PROV Index:  http://tinyurl.com/av27lhf

WATERS, MALACHI AND MARY:  Malachi and Mary moved around, firstly to Horsham for work and later Portland, Digby and finally Wallacedale. PROV Index http://tinyurl.com/av27lhf

WILSON, Robert:  Robert sailed with his sister Mary Ann on the General Hewitt.  A year later Mary Ann had already lost track of her brother.  PROV Index:  http://tinyurl.com/a48edrr

If one of your family members sailed on the 1856 voyage to Portland Bay on the General Hewitt, please let me know in the comments.

SOURCES:

Ancestry.com.au

Glenelg and Wannon Settlers

Victorian Public Record Office  – Index to British Assisted Immigration 1839-1871

Trove Digitised Newspapers