Hi Kerry, Yes, I can understand your confusion - the bit that begins with 'You have sailed from Ireland ... was written somewhere in the Museum and I recorded it on my recorder. There may have been a date and I've missed it when I was recording the text. I've just looked at the Immigration Museum's web site and found a contact page http://immigration.museum.vic.gov.au/contact.asp so you could contact them and ask them what the year was. Cheers Anne -----Original Message----- From: Kerry [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, 1 November 2005 8:38 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [HC] Notes Immigration Museum Visit Really interesting Anne, In the first section I am a little confused as to what approx. year this would have been. You have sailed from Ireland with 200 other assisted immigrants but etc....... Kerry ----- Original Message ----- From: Anne Hanson To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 8:31 AM Subject: [HC] Notes Immigration Museum Visit Hi all, Below are my notes which I took while visiting the Immigration Museum. When you ... it means I was unable to transcribe the word from my audio tape. There's not many and you'll still be able to make out the sense of what is being written. "You have sailed from Ireland with 200 other assisted immigrants but Australia still seems so far away. The family has been allocated just one of the four berths in a small corner of the steerage. Each day is filled with the noise of chattering passengers and children playing and crying while at night the stench of sweat and urine is overwhelming. Barely a week into the voyage your two old daughter contracts scarlet fever and she is still very ill. This morning she asked, "Why did we have to leave home?" and you could find no words to reply. Instructions to the Assistant Matrons aboard the immigrant ships: It will be your duty to aid the Matron of the immigrant ship in superintending young women sent out by the female immigration ... In fulfilling your duty it must be your constant .. to uphold the authority of the Matron and guided by her directions with respect to the improvement and employment of the immigrants so long as you hold your office. Should you witness any irregularity of conduct, hear any improper language you must immediately check it and if necessary, inform the Matron without delay. In your efforts to benefit the immigrants you should endeavour to secure your influence over them by a goodness united with firmness. Berth: Dimensions - approx 4 feet, length 7 ft 6 inches. 1 Mattress - probably straw. 1 rug and a horrible looking pillow. 1 bench with lots of metal cups, plates and wooden spoons. There is some sort of small wooden barrel - think it might be a water barrel. The berths are in sets of four - one to the left of you, and two above your head. A curtain on a rope divides on berth from another - offers little privacy. Some of the Instruments required by a surgeon on board: A superior mahogany case An amputating saw 2 amputating knives 2 amputating knives bone forceps A Ferguson saw Dissecting forceps An elevator Trephine (medium) and brush A hernia knife Scalpels 2 troches cannulae hernia director aneurism needle 3 silver catheters, no's. 4, 8 & 12 3 tracheotomy tubes a trachea dilator bleeding lancets midwifery instruments Typhoid, typhus, cholera and diphtheria were the killer diseases found on immigrant ships. Most deaths on the voyage however resulted from more common diseases such as diarrhoea brought on by seasickness, poor hygiene and spoiled rations. One gentleman wrote "Enough to pitch my insides out. It's all up with me. I am not able to stir. The doctor can provide me no relief but I am not surprised. He is very young and has never been to sea and he is just as ill as the other people." After the ships captain, the surgeon was the most important person on board. Officially known as the surgeon superintendent. He was also required to supervise passengers and organise the distribution of rations, cleaning below deck, bathing, exercise, schooling and recreation. On larger boats a matron was employed to help and ensure the single women were strictly segregated from male passengers and crew. The toilet is a privy. It's all wooden. There is a bucket underneath the hole. There's a toilet lid as well. It says here "Most ships provided only basic toilet and bathing facilities. Authorities complained that even these were underused. Some steerage passengers had never seen a privy or water closet like it before and didn't understand its purpose. They just filled the bowl with bones and bread scraps. Even better educated passengers often preferred the familiar comfort of squatting over a chamber pot in their cabin. Many people in the 19th century didn't bath regularly and the connection between personal hygiene and disease was not well understood. Nor was the connection between cholera and contaminated drinking water. This was not discovered until 1848. Even after this ships continued to draw water from polluted rivers in their port of departure. On the better managed ships the area below the deck was thoroughly cleaned every few days, the bedding and belongings were taken up deck, sleeping bags were fumigated with a mixture of vinegar and chloride of lime. Timber floors were scrubbed. Despite such precautions outbreaks of contagious diseases occurred on many ships and spread quickly through the crowded steerage berths. Already infected passengers passed undetected through pre boarding medical checks. Article on coastal sailors: Their impact on aboriginals was destructive. They kidnapped woman from coastal tribes and took them to Bass Strait islands. They spread contagious diseases which proved fatal for a people with no immunity to introduced infections. These lawless nomadic seafarers were not settlers but their exploits encouraged others to follow. Victoria: Looks like it became a colony in 1836. Steamships: Introduced in second half of the 19th century. Paddington's Irish Moss - very popular for coughs. Cures bronchitis, influenza. Port of Melbourne: Melbourne's population and trade expanded rapidly through 1840's. The port was crowded with ships bringing manufactured products for the town and surrounding farming areas. The same ships departed with wool and livestock. By the mid 1840's wool exports from Victoria were worth almost 5 million pounds - aborigines were massacred in isolated incidents around Victoria. In 1841 one British immigrant ship per week arrives in Port Phillip. Accommodation shortages in 1851 forced people to reside in tents at Canvas Town on the south bank of the Yarra. White people first arrived in Victoria in 1835. Victoria, 1861: Laws were introduced confining aboriginal people to missions and reserves. Victoria was proclaimed a separate colony in 1851 before that it was the colony of New South Wales Wattle Pale Ale brewed by the Foster Brewing company p/l Collingwood." Cheers Anne -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.12.5/150 - Release Date: 27/10/2005