Picture source: Unknown, Credit to photographer
The Tudor
Displacement : 1064 tons
Point of Departure : Southhampton Harbour, UK.
Date of Departure : 03 December 1859
Date of Arrival : 22 February 1860 in Port Elizabeth
No. of passengers : 301
No. of Births aboard : 1
No. of Deaths : 18
Captain : W. Armstrong
Ships Surgeon : William Campbell
Matron : Mary Larner, Johanna Moloney, Anne Smith
Religious Instructor : Rev. Mr Seddon
The vessel was not watertight and a flood of water swirled and seeped into the ‘tween decks. Passengers and crew had to bail day and night and for a whole fortnight “no immigrant had ever had dry feet or the comfort of a dry bed”. When the weather let up, carpenters were sent over the side to board up ports, caulk seams and open blocked scuppers. The galley was defective and the first hot meals was three hours late, there were no lashings for the hammocks of the single men, mess kits were in short supply and the baker proved so incompetent that he could not produce edible bread. The rain poured down relentlessly putting paid to the idea of drying cloths and beds and any attempt at schoolwork.
Two of the w.c.’s were defective and with every lurch of the ship, a spout of filthy water shot over the deck. Carpenters and plumbers from among the immigrants tried to repair the valves without success and eventually the closets had to be boarded up and hospital pans put in their place.
Captain Armstrong and his officers did all they could to alleviate the passengers’ discomfort even allowing the crew to help with the bailing when the settlers were too sick or exhausted to continue. He allowed the ships galley to be used when the ever - defective immigrants galley was dismantled for repairs. This helped but little as the design of the flue was faulty.
Then illness struck. The children went down with colds and respiratory complaints and diarrhea was rife. The unfortunate man whose bed was next to one of the defective w.c.’s not unexpectedly contracted typhoid. The surgeon did his best to isolate the this patient, putting him in his own cabin by day and in the dispensary by night and so managed to prevent the spread of the disease.
Another passenger had to be hospitalised for delirium tremens and lost his sanity to the extent of requiring constant vigilance in strict confinement. A case of measles was diagnosed and the disease spread rapidly. On the 8 January, more than a month after sailing, the surgeon wrote in his diary ‘spent the first whole night in bed since sailing’.
Once the weather had cleared all beds were thoroughly aired and dried, the accommodation scrubbed and disinfected and the ‘tween decks fumigated. Everything was once again shipshape but Campbell’s troubles continued. The single Irishmen on board became extremely troublesome, fighting among themselves and annoying the other passengers.
One of the fights ended in stabbing, fortunately not fatal. The Irish girls were constantly trying to attract the attention of the single men and of the crew. One of the latter dressed up as a woman and mingled with the girls until the captain had him removed and punished. Towards the end of the voyage a group of English girls who had rendered sterling service as day and night nurses when the incidence of illness was at its height, began quarrelling among themselves and with the others. They had to be reprimanded and the rest pacified.
The Reverend Seddon who had volunteered his services proved utterly useless and a hypochondriac. The surgeon had to take the Sunday services himself and was fortunate to find an immigrant, William Brigden, willing and able to act as schoolmaster. One of the sub -matrons was incapable of controlling the girls and had to be replaced. The constables appointed at the beginning of the voyage fell ill and Campbell had to find replacements, no easy task as few men were willing to take on the responsibility. To add to his problems the Tudor carried cabin passengers and the surgeon had to ensure that they were undisturbed in the areas allocated to them. He did his best to prevent the spread of measles but inevitably the disease spread to cabin passengers and even crew members, but fortunately in a milder form.
Campbell was full of praise for the behaviour of his charges under conditions of extreme discomfort, and for their willingness to help put things right. On Christmas Eve he organised amusements on deck and personally paid for an issue of beer to all who wanted it and gave wine to those who had been of special help to him.
When his stock of medicines ran out the captain kindly allowed access to the captain’s medicine chest but this, too, was depleted before the end of the voyage. He noticed that the children were thin and in poor health and ordered that each child be given a quarter glass of port daily. The matron and sub – matron “after constant attention to the numberless sick” fell ill but fortunately recovered quickly.
The ship’s biscuits went mouldy, no doubt because of the wet conditions, and the supply of wine for the sick ran out. Once again the captain came to the rescue by allowing the use of his own store. No soap was left for the last days of the voyage and storms struck again off the Cape of Good Hope. Campbell’s last act as a mediator was to investigate an allegation that one of the Irishmen had viciously kicked a woman in the belly. It transpired that she was hitting him in the face with a large teapot and he had kicked out in self-defence!
No one could have been more relieved to step ashore than this doctor after so long and difficult a voyage. Both the surgeon and the ships officers were convinced “that no ship had ever been sent to sea in so disgraceful a condition’
A report handed to the PIB gave the causes of flooding :
1. Open state of seams at side scuttles, cracked condition of many windows through which the sea poured.
2. Incompetent w.c.’s The sea spouted up the pipes like jets onto the ‘tween decks. The soil –pipes were not properly fixed and a constant stream of putrid water ran from them making conditions insufferable.
3. Skirtings had been fixed with no scupper-holes making the ‘tween deck water tight from within’. The floods could not escape. The skirting boards had to be torn up and the scuppers underneath were found to be choked with sawdust and shavings left by the contract carpenters.
On arrival the ship was found to be clean and in good order and the surgeon commended for performing his duties satisfactorily. It seems incredible that he and the captain were not paid extra gratuities. SJ & SD in PIB12 (Genealogical publication #36 HRC 1991.)
Births and deaths aboard the Ship: TUDOR
Bound for: Algoa Bay
Departed: 3 Dec 1859
Date of arrival: 22 Feb 1860
Deaths:
Alfred SANARK of 4 years old on 16 Dec of Phthisies Pulmonalis
Mary A SMITH of 2 years old on 19 Dec of diarrhoea & neglect
Alfred JENNER of 2 years old on 24 Dec of Rubeola Pneumonia diarrhoea
Ellen SANARK of 1 year old on 31 Dec of Pneumonia & alema of lungs
James CRESSWELL of 2 years old on 10 Jan 1860 of Rubeola Pneumonia
Maria WHITEHORN of 1 year old on 9 Jan of Rubeola Pneumonia
Sidney CLARKE of under 1 year old on 17 Jan of double pneumonia
Amelia TEMPLAR of under 1 year old on 13 Jan of Rubeola & dentition
Frank MUMMERY? Of 2 years old on 16 Jan of Rubeola & dentition
Harriet WHITEHORN of 3 years old on 17 Jan of Rubeola & dentition
Lucy JENNER of 1 year old on 21 Jan of Rubeola & dentition
James HARWOOD of 1 year old on 19 Jan of Pneumonia
Arthur HARWOOD of 2 years old on 20 Jan of Rubeola & Pneumonia
Wm [Thomas deleted] ROBINSON on 1 year old on 18 Jan of Rubeola & dentition
George MUMMERY? Of 1 year old on 9 Jan of Intermittent fever & teething
Pat’k HEALAHER of 4 years old on 11 Jan of Intermittent fever & teething
3 Births
2 males & 1 female – 2? Deaths
