Convict ships to Norfolk Island

Last updated June 19, 2023

Norfolk Island twice served as a penal colony, from March 1788 to February 1814, and from 1825 to 1853. During both periods the government in the Colony of New South Wales transferred convicts that had been brought to Australia on to the island.

At first the intent was to settle and develop the island. There appear to be no compilations of which vessels brought how many convicts from New South Wales to Norfolk Island, and when, during the 1788 to 1814 period. One vessel that did was Golden Grove, which brought 21 males and 11 females in October 1788. Rough seas and the absence of good landing sites made it difficult to supply and sustain the colony. By 1812 a new penal colony had been established at Hobart Town in Van Diemen's Land and it had received its first convicts from Britain. Norfolk Island no longer served any purpose and the last settlers and convicts were removed by February 1814.^[1] The last to leave left on 28 February on HM Colonial brig Kangaroo.^[2]

During the second period the penal colony was initially revived as a place of banishment for the worst convicts, those who had re-offended while in Australia. On 6 June 1825 Major Turton, along with 34 troops, six women and children, and 57 convicts, reoccupied the island. On 23 February 1827 there was the execution, in Sydney, of the ringleaders of a convict mutiny. The 66 prisoners going to the island on the brig Wellington had succeeded in overwhelming their guards, capturing the brig, and sailing her to New Zealand. There, however, they were arrested and brought back to Sydney aboard Sisters to stand trial.

Between 1828 and 1850 some dozen vessels made about 40 voyages shuttling convicts to and from the island. The first of these arrived on 8 November 1828 with 14 convicts, and the last arrived on 6 August 1850 with one. The most brought on any voyage was 106 on Louisa on 19 September 1831. The New South Wales Government State Archives & Records has a web page that lists vessels that shuttled to the Island and back. However the site explains 'these lists are not complete!' and for more details 'see the Convict Guide'. It does give the date of arrival of each voyage, and the number of convicts carried.^[1]

Then between 1840 and 1847 fourteen ships transported male convicts to Norfolk Island from the British Isles for the British Government.

1788-1807

Vessel	Master	Date of arrival	Sailed from	Convicts embarked	Convicts landed
HMS Supply	David Blackburn	6 March 1788	Sydney	15	15
Golden Grove	William Sharp	October 1788	Sydney	32	32
HMS Supply	David Blackburn	2 March 1789	Sydney	27	27
HMS Supply	David Blackburn	3 December 1789	Sydney	14	14
HMS Supply	David Blackburn	29 January 1790	Sydney	24	24
HMS Sirius	John Hunter	13 March 1790	Sydney	161	161
HMS Supply	David Blackburn	13 March 1790	Sydney	?	?
Surprize	Nicholas Anstis	7 August 1790	Sydney	?	?
HMS Supply	David Blackburn	15 April 1791	Sydney	4	4
Mary Ann	Mark Munroe	15 August 1791	Sydney	134	134
Salamander	John Nichol	16 September 1791	Sydney	160	160
Atlantic	Archibald Armstrong	2 November 1791	Sydney	3	3
Queen	Richard Owen	2 November 1791	Sydney	?	?
HMS Reliance	Commander Henry Waterhouse	13 February 1796	Sydney	24	24
HMS Supply	Lieutenant William Kent	April 1796	Sydney	?	?
HMS Reliance	Commander Henry Waterhouse	November 1799	Sydney	5	5
HMS Porpoise	Lieutenant William Scott	7 Jan 1801	Sydney	?	?
HMS Buffalo	Lieutenant William Kent	9 May 1803	Sydney	9	9
HMS Lady Nelson	Lieutenant James Symons	24 June 1804	Sydney	11	11

Between 1807 and 1813 the government evacuated Norfolk Island, moving the colonists, convicts, guards, etc. to Van Diemen's Land (VDL). The vessels that carried out the evacuation were:

Vessel	Master	Date of departure from Norfolk Island	Date of arrival	Destination	Number of passengers
HMS Lady Nelson		1807		Hobart Town	35
Porpoise		25 December 1807	17 January 1808
HMS Lady Nelson		1808		Hobart Town	25
Estramina	Lt. Oxley	15 May 1808	7 June 1808
City of Edinburgh	Simon Pattison	9 September 1808	2 October 1808		c.250
HMS Lady Nelson		January 1813		Port Dalrymple	43
Minstrel	John Reid	February 1813	by 4 March 1813	Port Dalrymple	63

1840-1850

Vessel^[3]	Master^[3]	Date of arrival^[3]	Sailed from^[3]	Convicts embarked^[4]	Convicts landed^[4]
Nautilus	H.F. Alloway	1840	Dublin	200	178 + 21 Sydney
Augusta Jessie	J.S. Sparke	27 March 1840	Dublin	161	129 + 34 Sydney
Mangles	William Carr	18 May 1840	Plymouth	290	236 + 53 Sydney
Maitland	George (or John) Thompson	7 February 1844	Portsmouth	199	199
Blundell	Robert L. Hunter	5 July 1844	Woolwich	210	210
Agincourt	Henry Neatby	9 November 1844	Woolwich	224	220
Hydrabad	Alexander Robertson	19 February 1845	The Downs	260	259
David Malcolm	James Cable	25 August 1845	The Downs	220	220
Hyderabad	T.A. Castle	2 September 1845		250	250
Mayda	May	8 January 1846	London	199	195
China	Livesay	16 May 1846	Woolwich	200	199
John Calvin	Hunter^[5]	21 September 1846	Woolwich	200	199
Tory	Lukey (or John) Young	1847	Dublin	200	195
Eliza	Daniel	30 April 1850	London	60	56 + 4 Hobart

The last convicts were removed to Tasmania in May 1853.^[1]

Citations

1 2 3 Norfolk Island Guide.
↑ Treadgold (1988), p.35.
1 2 3 4 Bateson (1959), pp.322-323.
1 2 Bateson (1959), p.340.
↑ Lloyd's Register (1846), Seq.№J397.

Related Research Articles

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Scarborough was a double-decked, three-masted, ship-rigged, copper-sheathed, barque that participated in the First Fleet, assigned to transport convicts for the European colonisation of Australia in 1788. Also, the British East India company (EIC) chartered Scarborough to take a cargo of tea back to Britain after her two voyages transporting convicts. She spent much of her career as a West Indiaman, trading between London and the West Indies, but did perform a third voyage in 1801–02 to Bengal for the EIC. In January 1805 she repelled a French privateer of superior force in a single-ship action, before foundering in April.

Friendship was a merchant brig built in Scarborough, England, and launched in 1784. As part of the Australian First Fleet, she transported convicts from England to New South Wales. Due to problems manning her, she was scuttled in the Makassar Strait in October 1788.

Between 1788 and 1868, about 162,000 convicts were transported from Great Britain and Ireland to various penal colonies in Australia.

A convict ship was any ship engaged on a voyage to carry convicted felons under sentence of penal transportation from their place of conviction to their place of exile.

Surry, also known as Surrey, was a square-rigged transport ship, which had an especially long career transporting convicts to Australia. In 11 voyages, the most of any convict transport, she brought 2,177 convicts, male and female, and so became one of the best-known of the vessels that visited Australia. In all, she lost 51 men and one woman during her various passages, 46 of the men dying during her first and most notorious voyage in 1814 when she was under the command of James Patterson. The high death toll on her first voyage led to a Board of Enquiry, which blamed neglect by the Master and Surgeon.

Phoenix was a three-decker merchant ship built on the Thames in 1798. On a voyage in 1824 on which she first transported convicts to Van Diemen's Land she was damaged on the Sow and Pigs Reef inside Port Jackson Heads, New South Wales, Australia. She was then condemned and turned into a prison hulk. She was broken up in 1837.

Minstrel was launched at Hull in 1811. She transported convicts to Australia in 1812 and again in 1825. Between these voyages she traded east of the Cape of Good Hope under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). In 1829 she brought immigrants from England to the Swan River Colony. She then traded widely, including across the Atlantic. Minstrel foundered in March 1851.

Andromeda was built in Sunderland, England in 1819. Initially she made one voyage to India, sailing under a licence from the British East India Company. She then started sailing to Australia, carrying voluntary and involuntary migrants. She made four voyages transporting convicts: one voyage to Van Diemen's Land and three to New South Wales. She continue to trade, primarily to Australia. Her last voyage was to Ichaboe Island. She was last listed in 1847.

HMS Porpoise was the former mercantile quarter-decked sloop Lord Melville, which the Royal Navy purchased in 1804 to use as a store-ship.

Norfolk was built at Littlehampton, England in 1814. She was originally a West Indiaman, and then sailed to India and Quebec. She made four voyages transporting convicts from England to Australia, one voyage from Ireland to Australia and one from Madras and Mauritius to Australia. She was wrecked on 7 July 1837.

HM Colonial brig Kangaroo, was a brig built at Bideford, England in 1811 or 1812. She belonged to the British Royal Navy's Transport Board and was based at Port Jackson. There she made voyages for the colonial government along the east coast of Australia with goods and troops. She made one voyage to Ceylon for merchandise and transporting military convicts from Ceylon to Australia. She returned to England in 1817 and the Navy sold her in 1818.

Hooghly was a full-rigged merchant ship built on the Thames, England, and launched in 1819. She made two voyages under charter to the British East India Company (EIC), four voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia, as well as voyages transporting emigrants to South Australia between 1839 and 1856. Around 1858 she was re-rigged as a barque. She sank off Algiers in 1863.

Lotus was a ship launched at Whitby, England in 1826. She made several voyages to Australia carrying emigrants. She made one voyage transporting convicts to Van Diemen's Land. On that voyage, in 1833, she rescued 61 survivors from Hibernia, which a fire had destroyed in the South Atlantic as Hibenia was carrying immigrants to Van Diemen's Land. Lotus herself was lost in May 1844 while sailing between Bristol and Quebec.

Borneo was a merchant ship built in Borneo in 1817. She undertook one convict voyage to Van Diemen's Land in 1828. She was wrecked in 1832 on her first whaling voyage.

Bheemoolah was launched in 1808 at Calcutta as a "country ship", that is a vessel based in India that traded in the region and with China. She made two voyages to England for the British East India Company (EIC), one before her name changed to Woodbridge in 1812, and one after. She spent most of her career trading with the East Indies. The US Navy captured her in 1814 but the British Royal Navy recaptured her within hours. She also made two voyages transporting convicts, one voyage to New South Wales (1839-1840) and one to Van Diemen's Land (1843). She is last listed in 1855.

Competitor was launched at Whitby in 1813. She was initially a West Indiaman and then traded with India. She made two voyages transporting convicts to Australia, one to Van Diemen's Land and one to Port Jackson. She is last listed in 1833.

Morley was a merchantman launched in 1811 at Deptford as a West Indiaman. In 1813 she was under contract to the Transport Board when she captured an American vessel, which capture gave rise to an interesting court case. In early 1815 an American letter of marque captured, plundered, and released her. She then made six voyages to Australia transporting convicts. On her fifth voyage she introduced whooping-cough to Australia. After her sixth voyage she sailed to China and then brought a cargo back to England for the British East India Company (EIC). She continued to sail to Australia and elsewhere and is last listed in 1855.

Barrosa was launched in 1811 at Cossipore. She sailed to England and then made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC); during this period she also made one voyage carrying immigrants to South Africa. After the EIC gave up its maritime activities in 1833-1834, Barossa became a transport. She made three voyages transporting convicts to Australia. She was lost in 1847, without loss of life, while transporting contract labourers from Madras to Jamaica.

References

Bateson, Charles (1959). The Convict Ships, 1787-1868. Brown, Son & Ferguson. OCLC 3778075.
Bateson, Charles (1974). The Convict Ships, 1787-1868. Brown, Son & Ferguson.
Dunn, Cathy. "Ships to and from Norfolk Island 1788 to 1814". Australian History Research. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
Treadgold, M.L. (1988) Bounteous Bestowal: The Economic History of Norfolk Island. (National Centre for Development Studies, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University).

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[NSW-1] 1 2 3 Norfolk Island Guide.

[2] Treadgold (1988), p.35.

[Bateson322-3] 1 2 3 4 Bateson (1959), pp.322-323.

[Bateson340-4] 1 2 Bateson (1959), p.340.

[5] Lloyd's Register (1846), Seq.№J397.

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