New member introducing myself

Question

My main paternal line is Hunt and Wilkins family line; Joseph Hunt (1829-1889) is my gr grandfather and he originated in Sudbury, Suffolk, arriving in Melbourne in 1854 on the Aberfoyle, whereas my gr grandmother, Elizabeth Wilkins originated in Somerset and arrived in Melbourne with her parents and siblings on the Undaunted in 1857 as assisted immigrants.

Can anyone help me regarding the Aberfoyle vessel in 1854 (there were others later on in the century) was it steam or sail or a combination of both?  As all on board appear to be unassisted immigrants who would have paid for their fare?

Would love to hear from any other descendants of this couple as well as information about the Aberfoyle and Undaunted.

With thanks

Raisey

Answer 1

Hi R. Welcome to WikiTree and G2G!

According to

http://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?ref=14521

there was an Aberfoyle which was a 3-masted wooden sailing ship, built in 1852 probably in Glasgow. This seems to have been the ship which arrived in Port Phillip Bay on 12 December 1854. See also

Category: Aberfoyle (1852)

Category: Aberfoyle, Arrived 12 Dec 1854

Comments

There is a passenger list at the following reference, in WikiTree "inline" format.

<ref>Public Record Office Victoria. Inward Overseas Passenger Lists. VPRS 947/P0000, Oct - Dec 1854. [https://prov.vic.gov.au/search_journey/select?keywords=Joseph%20Hunt%20Aberfoyle Search: Joseph Hunt Aberfoyle]. Joseph Hunt. Native place: Eng; Age: 25; Fiche: 79; Origin code: B; Page: 2; Ship name: Aberfoyle; Date of arrival: 1854-12-01; Ship master: Nourse James. [https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/3AF6D5EF-F96C-11E9-AE98-9DD57D8DEA70?image=133 Image 133]. [https://prov.vic.gov.au/copyright-statement CC BY 4.0]. Accessed 2 April 2022.</ref>

In particular see image 133 at this link. It lists Joseph Hunt as an English carpenter aged 25, but does not indicate whether the passage was assisted.

---

Hi Jim

Thanks for this info esp the Clydeships site.  My trouble has been finding details about this Aberfoyle ship as there have been a few by this name.  It now appears this one, as you say was built in 1852 in Scotland but was destroyed by fire during the uprisings in India in 1857. 

Many thanks for your interest.

   

---

You're welcome, R. There is further confirmation at this Lloyd's Register link that the Aberfoyle which sailed to Port Phillip in 1854 under James Nourse was the same ship of that name as the one built in Glasgow in 1852.

Answer 2

Rae Alexander	14:51 (16 minutes ago)
to WikiTree

Wow, thank you for this.  It certainly appears to be the ship; what a shame there is no photo or drawing of it.  I realise 1852 is the period of early photography.  The fact that it was destroyed by fire in 1857 gives reason for another to have been built later on.  Interesting also that it was a 'cargo' ship, yet had so many unassisted passengers.  Is there any way of finding out whether the passengers were brought to Australia under a specific scheme, or who paid for their fares.

You have made by day but knocking down another wall.

Enjoy your day

With thanks

Comments

Thank you, R. But it would be a good idea to edit your comment on the G2G page and remove the email address, which otherwise may attract spam. People can contact you by sending a "private message" to your WikiTree account via your profile.