✨ Emigrant Ship Investigation
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states that when he cleared the vessel before sailing, provisions had been cooked by the galley for two days, and that no complaint was then made of its insufficiency.
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In our own ships, in which, as far as we remember, there has never been a complaint on this point, we require that there shall be a main boiler to hold one quart for each adult, and 5 per cent. over—and another boiler to hold half that quantity. Adopting the same scale for the 169 1/2 statute adults on board the “Ann Wilson,” the requisite boiler accommodation would have been 66½ gallons. As however all the witnesses agree in stating that the galley was insufficient, we can only suppose either that a portion of the boilers passed by the Emigration Officer were not taken to sea, or if on board were not used by the cook. But whatever, the sufficiency or otherwise of the galley, there is enough evidence that the ship’s cook was inefficient. Thus, James Barnes, one of the most intelligent witnesses, and who had experience at sea, while expressing his opinion that the galley could not cook for more than “six tablespoons per man at a time,” states— “I have known the dinners on one or two occasions” (which he afterwards says, were during bad weather) “not ready for us until about six o’clock in the evening.” This occurred previous to the Captain having accepted the services of two of the emigrants, who volunteered to cook for us. After this we got on very fairly as to regularity in our cooked provisions being supplied to us, until the galley got adrift from bad weather.” And Richard Farebrother, another passenger, says—“I do not think the man who was shipped as cook did all he might have done to accommodate us.” The conclusion to which we come is, that the galley was smaller than desirable, but that had the Master exerted his authority, and shown any earnestness in the matter, the provisions might have been cooked and issued with regularity, and the inconvenience which the people experienced have been obviated. The Master was very properly sentenced for this disregard of the law to pay a fine of £120, being £1 for each day of the voyage.
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Fourth—The supply of water was very short, never amounting to the quantity prescribed by the Passenger Act, and reduced at one time to only one pint a day per adult. Upon this point there is no dispute. The question, as far as regards the Emigration Officers at Liverpool, is whether they took the proper precautions to see that the requisite quantity was put on board. The practice at Liverpool in regard to water casks is to requisition the casks to be filled and placed on the quay for survey, and to ascertain that they are tight. They are afterwards emptied, and stored in the ship, and then filled. The casks for the “Ann Wilson” were surveyed in this manner, and were measured to hold 25,900 gallons, in addition to which there were two tanks on board, calculated to contain 3,000 more gallons, making a total of 28,900 gallons. The quantity required by the Act for one hundred and seventy statute adults, for one hundred and fifty days, would have been 21,618 gallons, leaving an excess of more than one-fourth for the cabin passengers and crew. That this quantity was not on board seems perfectly certain—but the evidence taken before the Resident Magistrate does not afford the means of ascertaining how the deficiency arose. If the casks had been counted and their capacity measured, it would have been ascertained whether any of those passed by the Emigration Officer had been left on shore, although as the ship was very full cargo on board there was no motive for a fraud of this kind. The Carpenter, who after the first few days was appointed to serve out the water, states that when he examined the casks he “observed that some of them were within ten inches of being full—some empty, and some partly empty—there were three casks empty, and three half full. There were none of them full that I could get to look at.” He adds that he considers the deficiency to have arisen from leakage, caused by the bad weather they had experienced, and that bad weather might have caused the casks to leak, even though they had been perfectly stowed, and were quite sound and perfect.
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There can be no question that as soon as the Captain ascertained that he was short of water, it was his duty to have put into the first port to procure a fresh supply, and that it was the duty of the Surgeon to require him to do so, and not to cease his urgency till this was done. The Surgeon, however, Mr. Magee, thus describes the course which he took in this respect—“Numerous complaints,” he says, “were made to me during the voyage by the emigrants of the small supply of water that was served out to them. The Captain was generally present when these complaints were made.” “I never made any application to the Captain to put into an
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Downing Street Despatch on the Ann Wilson
(continued from previous page)
🏛️ Governance & Central Administration16 March 1858
Emigrant Ship, Passengers' Act, Ann Wilson, Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, Ventilation, Cooking Accommodation
- James Barnes, Witness on galley insufficiency
- Richard Farebrother, Witness on cook's performance
- Magee (Mr), Surgeon on water supply
Wellington Provincial Gazette 1858, No 32