The Eleanor

 The Convict Ship Eleanor

The Eleanor was the first of the six ships, carrying the machine breakers, to leave England for New South Wales. There were 133 male convicts on board, all of them Swing Rioters. This was the only voyage she made as a convict ship.

The Eleanor was owned by Edmonds, she had been built in Calcutta in 1821, with a gross tonnage of 282 tons. [1] Robert Cock was the master of the Eleanor on this voyage and it was to be the only voyage he would make as master of a convict ship. John Stephenson was the Eleanor's surgeon and this was his second voyage, he had first arrived in Port Jackson as surgeon-superintendent on board the Guildford in 1829. He was to make three more voyages to Australia, on the Katherine Stewart Forbes to Hobart in 1832, the Waterloo in 1833 and the disastrous voyage of the Neva in 1835. The Neva left Cork on the 8th January 1835, carrying 150 women convicts, 55 children, and 9 free women. Stephenson was among those who were drowned when the Neva went down in the Bass Straight on the 13th May 1835, there were only 15 survivors.

The convict ship Eleanor sailed from Portsmouth on 19th February 1831. One hundred and forty male convicts were originally embarked, all having been convicted of machine breaking or associated crimes. Seven of the men were re-landed before the Eleanor sailed, and three more convicts were embarked at Cape Town. [2] The Master of the Eleanor was Robert Cock, and the Surgeon Superintendent was John Stephenson.

Stephenson's Journal for the voyage can be found at The National Archives in ADM101/23/1. All the convicts survived the voyage, and details of those who were ill on board can be found in the Journal. See below for a transcript of the Journal.

The following list gives the name, age, place & date of trial, and sentence of those on board. Further information on the men from Berkshire, Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire will be found in the appropriate county book or full details of each person can be ordered individually.

Surgeon Superintendent’s Journal for the Eleanor

 (TNA - ADM101/23/1)

Medical Journal of the Male Convict ship “Eleanor” between the 8^th day of Jan^y and 14^th day of July 1831, employed in conveying 136 Convicts to Sydney in New South Wales. [1][2]

January 8^th – Joined ship at Deptford.

20^th. The Military Guard consisting of one officer, five non-commissioned officers, and 24 privates, with four women and six children were embarked, three of the privates were found unfit to undertake the voyage.

27^th. We arrive at Spithead, and the following day Twenty seven Convicts were received from the York, the three soldiers judged unfit for the voyage were relieved – two others were put on the List for Gonorrhoea.

February

By the 10^th of this month the whole of the Convicts were embarked, and amounting to 140 head this number being too great for the prisons seven were returned to the York – the number of women was increased to six, and that of the children to ten, which including g the ships company made the total No on b^d 205. [2][3] The cases of Pneumonia and Rheumatism both occurred in the prison – neither was of the least importance, the first was removed by Aur fur blood-letting, and the other required only flannel.

The patient sent to Hospital was one of the Guard he rejoined on the 12^th.

19^th. We sailed from Spithead, having left behind one woman and a seaman, which reduced our number to 203.

March

Of all the above number, two only were Convicts, one with opthalmia the other Abscess in the ear, the first is rather severe, and is treated with ??? frequent blistering & cupping, the other cases were totally unimportant except one of Acute Rheumatism. The patient R Tierny private 20^th Reg^t Aged ab^t 28 complained on the 5^th Inst of symptoms of Catarrh with costive bowels for which he took some purgative medicine, through the 6^th he was totally well, but on the morning of the 7^th he had severe pain in the left wrist and ankle joints with some (Sweating?), and unaccompanied by ????. The purgative was repeated & cold applications ordered for the affected joints. Early on the morning of the 9^th the rheumatic affection suddenly shifted to the opposite side, and the whole of the right leg & arm ???? ????, & exceedingly painful, the skin was hot, tongue foul, pulse hard & very quick, bowels costive. The purgative was repeated, he was ???? the cold applications were ordered to be continued, and general cold affusions once or twice a day according to the heat of the skin. For three days this treatment appeared to succeed well, the pyrexia pain, and swelling all abated, but on the 13^th another ???? took place, and the left side was as severely affected as at first – next day the affection was general and he had some fever with very costive bowels. The plan of treatment was changed. After fus evacuation he began using Tatar ??? in the qty of ¹_/3 of a gram every 4 hours, and he was clothed in flannel – for four days the Tartrate kept up a constant discharge from the bowls, & very free diaphoreses chiefly at night – the fever speedily disappeared, and the pain & swelling greatly abated. The medicine was continued, but as the effect on the bowels was too severe he took every second night, Pulv. ??? ???

25^th There was little or no pain, the joints were stiff and somewhat swollen. The medicine was discontinued, the legs and arms bandaged with flannel and ordered to be rubbed twice a day with Len…: volat: camph:

After this period he had no more return of the complaint, and is at present (31^st) quite convalescent though generally debilitated.

            None of the other cases were worth notice, except perhaps the two of Hernia Humorlis which were peculiar from being neither preceded nor followed by Gonorrhoea although there is every reason to believe they were both brought on by connexion with a woman labouring under that discharge, indeed one of the patients was her husband.

            In the latter part of last month and the beginning of this upwards of twenty cases of constipation occurred, two children had slight dysentery and the women were exceedingly troublesome.

April

Two new cases only are noted this month but a number of bowel complaints and other trifling afflictions took place among the women and children. The patient with Rheumatism had no return of pain, but on the contrary recovered rapidly, he was discharged on the (no date given)

            Mr Cock the Master of the ship is the patient with stricture, he has laboured under the complaint for many years and the urethra is to contracted in two or three places that none but the very smallest bougies can be introduced, he is moreover very free living, and consequently subject to frequent & alarming attacks of retention of urine, in one instance I almost despaired of reliving him without puncturing the bladder, but what made the case still more serious was the destruction of all my bougies by constant use – our arrival at the Cape of Good Hope however enabled me to procure a fresh supply, by the assiduous use of which assisted by more moderate living the patient is now going well.

            On the (no date given) we arrived at the Cape, where we remained six days, and received on b^d three convicts condemned in that colony.

May

With the exception of one trifling case of bowel complaint, and one equally trifling of scald, no convict was this month put on the list, but shortly after leaving the Cape 9 or 10 of them had a very troublesome eruption all over the body, so very much resembling Itch that in some of the first cases the Ung: Sulph: Comp was (firstly?) used, without however producing the slightest effect, in some instances the eruption disappeared without any medicine being used, but generally it was removed in a shorter time by one or two doses of Sul: Magnes:

            Two soldiers complained of symptoms of Hepatitis, one was a clear case of sch… and soon disposed of, but the other will probably be more serious, the patient is a worn out subject who has been long in India and suffered before from the disease.

            Three children, and some grown up persons were vaccinated with no other effect than one spurious pock on the arm of a child.

June

Through the whole of this month not one case occurred worthy of notice. Two of the prisoners had slight symptoms of dysentery which were removed in 24 hours by Submur: Hydrarg: & ol: Ricini. Two soldiers had catarrh with slight fever and one woman was threatened with miscarriage.

            The patient put on the list last month (29^th) for Hepatitis was relieved much more easily than I expected, he was treated entirely with Pilul: et Ung: Hydrang: and is now quite convalescent, but will be obliged for some time to use corroborants in consequence of remaining debility.

July 14^th

On the 29^th Ult^o we arrived in Port Jackson, since which date two or three trifling bowel complaints occurred in the prisoners, these, with two slight accidents were all I have had to attend to.

            The Military Guard was relieved on the 1^st and on the 11^th the whole of the convicts were disembarked in an excellent state of health.

            The ship was this day finally discharged.

J Stephenson

            Surgeon

General Remarks

            The poverty of matter in the foregoing Journal leaves little room for observation, no set of men perhaps under similar circumstances ever suffered less from disease, the names of eleven convicts only appear on the general list of sick, and of these several might with great propriety have been omitted. Among the Soldiers, women & children, a great number of trifling complaints occurred, such as Catarrhs, Cynanch Tonsilaris, afflictions of the bowels etc, but, one case of Rheumatism alone was worth any particular notice.

            The weather from England to the Cape of Good Hope was in general very favourable, the heat at no time excessive, the thermometer never rising above 84 and averaging within the Tropics about (left blank) at 2 PM daily. After leaving the Cape we were not quite so fortunate, as we got to the Southw^d the weather varied greatly, gales of wind, succeeded by light airs with dense fogs & small rain frequently took place, but in general we had strong breezes, with clear, cold weather, this last was a fortunate circumstance as the vessel was very laboursome, & shipped such quantities of water that it was frequently necessary, even in a fresh breeze, to have the hatches battened down for two or three days together, having only sufficient space for one person to pass up or down.

            The means adopted for the preservation of health were, the strictest attention to cleanliness, dryness & ventilation, and as far as could be done the constant occupation of the prisoners, but what appears to me to have been more efficacious than all these was the delay of a week at the Cape during which the people had a liberal allowance of fresh beef & vegetables, and every mess was enabled to take to sea a small stock of soft bread, potatoes, onions etc, to this, with a greater proportion of fine weather than is usual in such a voyage I think we are mainly indebted for the excellent condition in which the prisoners were disembarked.

Sydney July 16^th 1831

J Stephenson

            Surgeon

Copy of Daily Sick List