The Syria was a 1,010 ton, iron sailing ship with a length of 207.7 feet, breadth of 34.1 feet and depth of 20.8 feet. She was built by William Pile of Sunderland for the Nourse Line, named after the Syria River in Karnataka, India and launched in 1868. She was primarily used for the transportation of Indian indentured labourers to the colonies.
Newnham was the first steamship to bring Indian indentured labourers to Fiji, arriving at Suva on 23 July 1884 carrying 575 passengers. The 1296 ton steamer took only 38 days to reach Fiji as it was able to take the shorter route through the Timor sea.
Ganges was the first of three Nourse Line ships named for the Ganges river in northern India.
Hereford was a 1456-ton iron sailing ship with two decks and one cemented bulkhead which was built in 1869 by J. Elder & Company at Glasgow for the Merchant Shipping Company of London. She was chartered by the New Zealand Shipping Company in the 1870s and made three voyages to Lyttelton, New Zealand with approximately three hundred emigrants each time. The first voyage in 1874 took 87 days, and the second took 80 days, arriving in Lyttelton on 19 January 1878. In 1881, she was stranded on Ingleby Reef near Port Phillip Heads, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and towed off on 12 March 1881 by a tug.
The Moy was a 1,697 ton, iron sailing ship with a length of 257.6 feet (78.5 m), breadth of 38.3 feet (11.7 m) and depth of 23.2 feet (7.1 m). She was built by Russel & Company for the Nourse Line, named after the River Moy in northwest of Ireland and launched in May 1885. She was primarily used for the transportation of Indian indenture labourers to the colonies. Details of some of these voyages are as follows:
The Nourse Line was a shipping company formed by Captain James Nourse in 1861. After taking delivery of his first ship, the Ganges, in 1861, Nourse went on to build up one of the last great fleets of sailing ships.
The Rhone, formerly known as Gilroy, was a 1,768 ton, iron sailing ship with a length of 259.2 feet, breadth of 39.9 feet and depth of 23.2 feet.
The Indian indenture system was a system of indentured servitude, by which more than 1.6 million Indians were transported to labour in European colonies, as a substitute for slave labor, following the abolition of the trade in the early 19th century. The system expanded after the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833, in the French colonies in 1848, and in the Dutch Empire in 1863. British Indian indentureship lasted till the 1920s. This resulted in the development of a large Indian diaspora in the Caribbean, Natal, East Africa, Réunion, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Fiji, as well as the growth of Indo-Caribbean, Indo-African, Indo-Fijian, Indo-Malaysian, and Indo-Singaporean populations.
British Peer was a 1428-ton three-masted iron sailing ship built for the British Shipowners Company at the Harland and Wolff yards in Belfast, Ireland, in 1865. She was 247.5 feet (75.4 m) long, 36.4 feet (11.1 m) wide and 22.5 feet (6.9 m) deep. She was bought by the Nourse Line in 1883, and was the fastest vessel in their fleet until British Ambassador was commissioned. In 1878, however, British Peer's sailing power was compromised when alterations were made to increase her tonnage by lengthening her hull by 32 feet (9.8 m), and she was never as fast again. She carried a crew of 23, including her master.
The Avon, formerly known as Dunolly, was a 1,572 ton, iron sailing ship with a length of 255.6 feet, breadth of 37.6 feet and depth of 22.6 feet. She was built by Charles Connell of Glasgow in 1884 for John Brown of Glasgow. The Nourse Line bought the ship in 1890 and renamed it the Avon after the River Avon in the south west of England. She was primarily used by the Nourse Line for the transportation of Indian indentured labourers to the colonies. Details of some of these voyages are as follows:
The Arno, was a 1,825 ton, iron sailing ship with a length of 270.7 feet (82.5 m), breadth of 39 feet (12 m) and depth of 22.5 feet (6.9 m). She was built by Charles Connell & Company, Glasgow, Scotland, for the Nourse Line, named after the Arno River in central Italy, which flows past Florence and Pisa to the Mediterranean Sea, and launched on 19 January 1893. She was primarily used for the transportation of Indian indentured labourers to the colonies. Details of some of these voyages are as follows:
The Mersey was a 1,829 ton iron-hulled sailing ship with a length of 270.7 feet (82.5 m), beam of 39 feet (12 m) and depth of 22.5 feet (6.9 m). She was built by Charles Connell and Company of Glasgow, named after the River Mersey in north-western England and launched on 18 May 1894 for the Nourse Line. Nourse Line used her primarily to transport of Indian indentured labourers to the British colonies, a so called, Coolie ship. Details of some of these voyages are as follows:
The SS Vadala was a 3,334-long-ton (3,388 t) steamship with a length of 340 feet (100 m), breadth of 43.1 feet (13.1 m), and draught of 26 feet (7.9 m). She was built by William Denny and Company, Dumbarton, for the British-India Steam Navigation Company (B.I.S.N.) in 1890. She had quadruple expansion, 315 nhp, steam engines. She was one of the early B.I.S.N. ships to use telemotor steering gear.
SS Virawa was a 3,334-ton steamship. She was built for the British-India Steam Navigation Company in 1890. She was one of the early B.I.S.N. ships to use telemotor steering gear.
SS Fazilka was a 4,152 GRT steamship with a length of 366 feet (112 m), breadth of 48.2 feet (14.7 m) and draught of 26.5 feet (8.1 m). She was built by William Doxford and Sons for the British-India Steam Navigation Company (B.I.S.N.) in 1890. She had triple expansion, 462 nhp, steam engines with a top speed of 12.5 knots.
Ganges was the second Nourse Line ship to be named Ganges. The first Ganges was built in 1861 and wrecked in 1881. Ganges was a 1,529-ton iron barque, built by Osbourne, Graham & Company of Sunderland and launched on 25 March 1882. She was 241 feet (73 m) long, with a beam of 37.2 feet (11.3 m) and a draught of 22.5 feet (6.9 m).
SS Wardha was a 3,917-ton steamship built for the British-India Steam Navigation Company in 1887 by Alexander Stephen and Sons, Glasgow. She was a passenger cargo vessel of length 350 feet (110 m) and breadth of 47 feet (14 m).
SS Santhia was a 5,544 GRT steam cargo liner built for the British-India Steam Navigation Company in 1901 by William Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton. She was sold to Japan in 1923 and was in service until 1935, when she was scrapped.
Between 1879 and 1916, tens of thousands of Indians moved to Fiji to work as indentured labourers, especially on sugarcane plantations. Repatriation of indentured Indians from Fiji began on 3 May 1892, when the British Peer brought 464 repatriated Indians to Calcutta. Various ships made similar journeys to Calcutta and Madras, concluding with Sirsa's 1951 voyage. In 1955 and 1956, three ships brought Indian labourers from Fiji to Sydney, from where the labourers flew to Bombay.
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