Fanny Kirchner, Immigrant Voyage to New South Wales 1858

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

Background information about the ship "Fanny Kirchner" and its passengers and crew.

The "Mariners and Ships" website ^[1] suggests there were 121 males, 51 females, 16 boys, and 26 girls. The "Port of Bremen Emigrants" website ^[2] states the departure date as 25th October 1857, agent "H Bischoff & Co", captain "Block, R", with a total of 211 passengers, and there is a partial passenger list available which lists 62 passenger names. The inquest mentioned below includes a statement from the surgeon aboard, Charles P. Eichler, M.D., that there were 205 passengers.

The manifest of passengers who arrived aboard the "Fanny Kirchner" is not available, however many of the passengers signed a "thank you" to Captain R. BLOCK (an unusual gesture, given the conditions aboard many migrant boats). A similar thank you appeared in Germany - lists from both are included below.

However the passengers' experiences after landing were not all as good - there was an inquest a few weeks later into the death of Margaret Janson, wife of Andreas Janson - a result of squalid living conditions in the boarding house they lived in before being found employment.

TROVE: The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Tue 4 May 1858 Page 5 ^[3]

... Out of that number, there were 16 married women and about 10 children ; after being shown our apartments, we arranged for sleeping as best we could ; there were four rooms for us ; we slept on the floor, upon our mattresses ; twenty-four persons, including women and children, slept in our room ... the supplies of beef were not good, being black with ants ; the bread was good, and in sufficient quantity ; potatoes were once supplied, and they were good ; the coffee was not always good ; there were no milk supplies ; there was good water in quantity to serve for all purposes ; deceased could not eat the meat ; some of the immigrants complained to M. Hamburger, but no alteration took place...

TROVE: The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Tue 9 Mar 1858 Page 1 / Advertising ^[4]

BARQUE FANNY KIRCHNER. We, the undersigned passengers of the Oldenburg barque, FANNY KIRCHNER, Captain R. BLOCK, from Bremen, now in this port, beg to express to Captain Block our best thanks and respects for his kind treatment during the passage, and his endeavours to make our passage an agreeable one.

We recommend Captain Block and his noble vessel to our countrymen at home.

Signatories (edited to put surname first)

Name on Australia version
Adam, Andreas
Adewill, August
Bruder, Georg
Christ, Moritz Carl
Demcke, August
Drollinger, Carl Fr.
Drump, Johan
Duevel, Anton
Eberhard, Leonhard
Feggerrer, Friedr.
Fiedler, Heinrich
Gans, Jacob
Goudolph, Andrea
Hammer, Michael
Haupt, Joh. Balth.
Helimann, Chr.
Herbst, Gottfried
Huscher, Georg
Janz, Ludw. Phil.
Kessler, Chr.
Knauf, Joh.
Kolle, Christoph
Kraus, Wilhelm
Krieg, Volbert
Kruger, Heinrich
Kuhl, Johan
Moller, Ernst
Moller, Johan
Muller, Carl Fr.
Naue, Conrad
Ohlenschbacher, Anton
Rampf, Conrad
Rediger, Carl
Ritzmann, Caspar M.
Schambach, Mich.
Scharf , Joh.
Schweizer, Conrad
Wex, Jacob

In the German version of the "thank you", the following passengers are named:

Signatories

Name on German version
Abe, Johannes
Adam, Andreas
Adewill, August
Adewill, Jacob
Bruder, Georg
Brändle, Heinr.
Christ, Moritz Carl
Denecke, August
Drollinger, Carl Fr.
Drumpp, Johann
Düvel, Anton
Eberhard, Leonhard
Endress, Jacob
Feggerer, Friedrich
Fiedler, Heinrich
Franken, Reinh.
Gans, Jacob
Gieseke, Hinrich
Goldmann, Andreas
Goldmann, Simon
Goudolph, Andreas
Hammer, Michael
Haupt, Conrad
Haupt, Joh. Balth.
Herbst, Gottfried
Höscher, Georg
Janson, Andreas
Janz, Ludwig Philip
John, Julius
Jordan, Fr.
Kessler, Christian
Knauf, Johannes
Kolb, Christoph
Kraus, Wilhelm
Krieg, Volbert
Kruger, Heinrich
Kuhl, Johann
Morten, Caspar Holland
Muller, Jonas
Möller, Ernst
Möller, Johannes
Müller, Carl Fr.
Naue, Conrad
Ohlenschläger, Anton
Opferkuch, Wilh.
Rassbach, Wilh.
Riek, Conrad
Ritzmann, Caspar M.
Rumpf, Conrad
Rödiger, Karl
Schambach, Michael
Scharf, Joh.
Schmidt, Matth.
Schneider, Wilh.
Schweizer, Eduard
Schweizer, Jacob
Stallmann, Chr.
Stieger, Jacob
Wex, Jacob
Zimmermann, Peter Jos.
Zöller, Daniel

Sources

1. ↑ https://marinersandships.com.au/1858/03/004fan.htm
2. ↑ http://www.passengerlists.de/
3. ↑ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28634697
4. ↑ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13007207