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From: "Janice Doughty" <>
Subject: Coromandel and Perseus
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2005 15:42:33 +1000
References: <20051021043001.EALM15509.omta05sl.mx.bigpond.com@OFFICE> <002801c5d6a8$635cc0c0$0401a8c0@main> <6.0.1.1.2.20051022112507.025a0848@mail.westnet.com.au>


Good afternoon Lists,

I think I will be able to shed a little light on why you will find in many
circumstances, where the Perseus and Coromandel are lumped together. Here is
their history:-

The Colony was in dire straights for supplies and for convicts, who were
young, strong, farmers and tradesmen and not sickly, elderly town raised
convicts. Governor King wrote to the authorities in the U.K. informating
them of the current situation in the colony.

Two ships were to be made ready for the long voyage to the antipodes,
carrying urgent supplies and male convicts and they would be the Coromandel
and the Perseus. Both ships were East Indian, however the Coromandel was a
much larger ship 522 tons, where as the Perseus was 362 tons. A Charter was
drawn up setting out the terms and conditions, on 27th October, 1801,
between the Commissioners for conducting Hist Majesty's Transport Service
and Messieurs Brown, Welbank and Petyt, on behalf of the owners of the
ships.

At the beginning of November, 1801 the Perseus untied from her berth at
Bell's Wharf and moved down the Thomas River to Kings Moorings at Deftford.
This was the traditional place where ships were fitted out before
undertaking voyages to New South Wales, on behalf of the government. The
Coromandel was already there being fitted for the long voyage. It was on
the 9th January, 1802 when the Perseus and the Coromandel put to sea from
the Thames and sailed to Portsmouth Harbour. The weather was described,
"...as found, with snow and sleet..." and the crew had to douse the decks
with salt sea water to prevent ice building up.

Once the two ships sailed into Portsmouth, they took on board fresh food
stores, including fresh meat and 72 tons of potatoes for extra ships stores
to benefit all on board during the voyages of the two ships. By the end of
January the balance of the one hundred and twelve convicts were taken on
board at Portsmouth. These convicts had been held as prisoners on board the
Hulks, Le Fortunee' and Capacity and while the had been on board these
Prison Hulks, each day they had been taken ashore to work on the
fortification of the walls around Portsmouth, in preparation for the war all
believed would soon taken place between England and France.

Now all was ready for both ships to commence their long voyage, however the
Log of the Coromandel records that although the ships were ready for
departure from Portsmouth Harbour by early February 1802, the snow, sleet,
squalls and fog was creating great shipping hazards. On 7th February,
Captain Patton, of the Port Authority, gave clearance for both ships to sail
to the Colony, however Captain Sterling of the Coromandel wisely decided to
delay his departure until visibility and other conditions had improved
sufficiently to ensure safe movement of his ship through the congested
harbour and channel. He relayed his decision to the Master of the Perseus,
John Davison, who agreed with Sterling's findings.

On 11th February 1802, the icy squalls had eased somewhat and visibility
much improved. The barometer gave an indication of favourable conditions
for the following day, so just after midnight Captain Sterling gave orders
to slip the moorings and head down the harbour. The Perseus once she
received the signal from the Coromandel, also slip her moorings and followed
the larger ship down the harbour. However, it was a very dark night and
other ships were also moving in the harbour, so Captain Sterling gave the
signal to the Perseus to drop anchor and wait to the morning for safety
reasons.

At first Light on the morning of 12th February 1802 it was clear, although
overcast, and moderate breezes were blowing in from the NNE. The sailors
were sent aloft on the Coromandel and the Perseus to set their, and the
great voyages of these two ships had at last begun. The Coromandel carried
136 male convicts and the Perseus carried 112 male convicts. Each other
carried a Surgeon, to care for the convicts, Dr. Charles Throsby and
Dr.William Fielding. The good care these surgeons gave to the convicts on
their ships, was later mentioned in despatches by Governor King to London.

Once they cleared the English Channel a course was set for Madeira Island,
however they ran into very squally conditions in the open sea. Seasickness
affected many on both ships, but within a day conditions improved and for a
while they enjoyed some welcome bright sunshine. It was about this time,
when these sailing conditions favoured the larger and faster ship, the
Coromandel, so she and the Perseus were forced to part company. Captain
Sterling signalled his intentions to Davison on the Perseus, that he was
going to make a run for the Colony, without stopping at Rio or the Cape.
He wished the Perseus God speed and good sailing and went on his way.

The Perseus called into Rio and the Cape and she arrived in the Colony on
4th August, 1802. Her voyage had taken 173 days. There was no deaths of any
convicts on the voyage, and only one convict was disembarked from the ship
in Sydney Cove to be taken to the hospital with a case of scurvy. The
Coromandel also recorded no deaths of her convicts, had been able to make
the voyage without calling into any port, as Captain Sterling had planned,
and she had arrived in the Colony on 13th June 1802, just under two months
before the arrival of her once travelling companion, the Perseus.

It was not until Bert Howard, whose wife's ancestors the Halls had arrived
on the Coromandel, had any one attempted to try and separate the convicts,
those who were embarked on the Coromandel and those who arrived on the
Perseus. Bert has sent me the list and William Charker is not one of those
Bert Howard has on the Perseus, therefore, one can assume he was in fact on
the Coromandel. I hope this helps.

Source: The Log of the Perseus, held at the Mitchell Library, (a very
interesting read indeed).
Bert Howard, Researcher of the Coromandel and
The Charter of the Coromandel and Perseus.

Regards,
Janice

----- Original Message -----
From: "Val" <>
To: <>
Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2005 1:27 PM
Subject: Re: [AUS-CON] Re: Assistance required


> Hi Carolyn,
> The Perseus and Coromandel were two ships, Perseus departed Uk 12.2.1802 -
> arr 14.8.1802 voyage 173 days, the Coromandal departed 12.2.1802 - arr
> 13.6.1802 voyage 121 days.
>
> Val.
> >
> At 09:31 AM 10/22/2005, Terri wrote:
>>Hello Carolyn,
>>
>>A William Charker arrived on the ship Persues/Coramander in 1802.
>>There are two dates of arrival given, 13th June 1802 and 4th August
>>1802. I don't know why this is the case or why two ships are
>>mentioned. It could be that one ship arrived on 13th June and for
>>some reason the convicts were transferred to another ship that arrived
>>in Port Jackson on 4th August.
>>
>>A William Charker received his Certificate of Pardon on 7/8/1808. I
>>located this information on the NSW State Records site at
>>http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/staterecords/


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