Letter from Charles Thomas Lee

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

Transcription of a letter, Charles Thomas Lee (1832-1863), wrote from Geelong, Victoria to his sister in England.

Letter from Charles Thomas Lee (1832-1863)

1854
Geelong, Australia
This is the account of the passage, as it occurred, as you see by my dates, I have only noted things most remarkable.

My dear Sister,
I wrote you from Plymouth, I hope you received my letter.
We left Plymouth on the 8th of April, we were played off with a band of music; and the owners offered them their passage out, but they declined the offer. I had a good look over Plymouth, and like it very much. I went through the Citadel, [1] and on to the Hoe, a sort of square overlooking the sea, the resort of all the fashionables of Plymouth. There are some fine streets in Plymouth quite equal to any in London, then is a Mechanics Institute, a very fine Hotel, viz the Royal Hotel and theatre, there are Hansom cabs & other cabs quite equal to London. Plymouth is about 250 miles from London, Railway fare third class 7/11 but I suppose you will not think of going there.
We had as near as I could count some 75 passengers on board at Plymouth, they did seem such uncouth people to Londoners, but they are the right sort for the colony, they are Methodists in religion, we cannot stand their talk at all. We left Plymouth very much gratified.
12th & 13th of April: We had a severe toppling in the Bay of Biscay. You would have laughed to see the females in the gale, as soon as they sat down on their carpet stools, they had brought with them, the ship would give a lurch and over they would go. There are no seats for the second class passengers provided. I should advise all who can afford it to pay 1st class fare - then they have not trouble in preparing your food. If you were to see the scrambling there is on board out emigrant ship, you would be surprised.
On the Daylesford our Cook house is too small for the number of passengers, it would do for 200, but we have 300 passengers.
14th April: We had a birth on board the wife of a preacher of the Methodist persuasion. The child was christened William Cary Daylesford Gillard, not very Christian like to bring his wife on board so near her confinement, but I hear it was a nine months child and 8 months married on the 16th. The father preached, very much to the annoyance of some of the passengers, we had a great stir about it, but it was amicably settled.
May 4th: Death of child, and a fight against the cook house that was amicably settled and a receipt given in the form of a black eye.
5th: Becalmed
6th 7th 8th 9th 10th & 11th: Ditto with squalls in the evening.
Caught a shark on the 11th, he was caught and cooked & eaten in 4 hours, showing the demand for fresh fish, at the time it weighted between 60lb or 70lbs. I had some of it and very much liked it, it tasted something like mushrooms. In the evening a fair wind sprung up, and Neptune came on board.
13th: Crossed the line great amusement in shaving a general custom on crossing the line, the razors are not of an iron hoop about the size of a reaping hook and a sail is spread on the deck, and filled with water about 3 feet deep. Neptune sits on one of the Gun Carriages & orders the barber what razor to use in shaving the victim; there are razors Nos. 1, 2 & 3. No 1 being gapped like a hand saw, No 2 smoother, No 3 quite smooth. The lather is composed of flour and water& when they are lathering the victim, they try to get him to speak & if he does the lather brush is shoved into his mouth, after the shaving he is thrown backwards into the water, and a sever ducking awaits him there, however this is not compulsory, it is at the discretion of the passengers. The minster was shaved. In the evening we had a Masquerade Ball, great fun.
15th: Saw a homeward bound ship.
16th: Passed two outward bound ships.
June 1st: Death of a child.
5th: Death of a child & shot a Cape Hen, it was quite calm and fell with 50 yards of our ship, when one of the 1st cabin passengers jumper overboard and swam after it, but owing to the current running at the time, it soon drifted some distance off, he had great difficulty in getting to it, he had all his clothes on & after he reached the bird, he could not regain the ship, they lowered the lifeboat & just reached him in time to save him from drowning, he was the husband of that young girl I spoke of in my letter from Plymouth. The bird was of a brown colour, it measured from wing to wing 6ft 6ins, it only weighted 4lbs, it was most feathers. It was shot by my cabin mate, Mrs. Jas. Thornton.
6th: Becalmed: Lowered the boat, 18 persons got into it. Mr J Thornton & 2 others with their guns, the rowed some distance from the ship. They shop about 3 dozen pigeons, 3 albatross, the pigeons very much like our English, the albatross a very pretty bit, about the size of a goose, and near the same colour, & 2 others of a darker colour, measuring from wing to wing 7ft 7ins, it caused much amusement on board, all day a vessel in sight & saw a whale.
7th: Ship still in sight, bore down upon her, she came within a stone's throw upon us. Out captain lowered the lifeboat took his wife, Minister & wife, 2 chief cabin passengers& their wives on board of her, one of my cabin mates & 2 or 3 others. They found her to be an American ship bound for Calcutta, they said she was a fine vessel, and better fitted than ours, she was larger viz 800 tons register our 685 tons, they had 11 seaman, 4 of them Chinamen, we have over 20, all British, she left the downs same day as we did, same evening, 2 other vessels in sight, in the evening parted company with the American ship, fair wind having spring up.
10th: Blew a gale & we had for dinner some of the pigeons shot on the 6th. I assure you they were first rate such a treat is not often experienced at sea.
12th: Death of a child.
13th: We spoke a small vessel about 70 tons we laid to, it came within 200 yards of us, she was bound to Melbourne, she had been out 80 days from the Isle of Man, she had no chronometer on board & she was 23 degrees out of her reckoning, there were on board of her 11 men, it was quite a novelty to see so small a vessel so far out at sea.
16th: Sighted a barge, she came close to us & kept us company 2 days, but owing to it blowing a gale, we could not speak to her.
18th: 11th Sunday from Plymouth, caught an albatross with a fish hook, in the evening it blew a gale & a fine treat we had tossing about, it lasted 3 days, it was very laughable to hear the tines playing about though far from pleasant. Had for dinner the albatross that we caught on Sunday, it was very nice.
July 1st: Blew a gale.
2nd: Worse with rain & hail, first time I saw the sea run so high before. To look back you would think you were going to be swallowed up by the waves. I assure you my dear sister, it looked awfully grand.
July 3rd: Gale abated, a fine day, quite a treat after what we had suffered. Fight in Uncle Tom's cabin viz the open berths for single men.
9th: Fourteenth Sunday from Plymouth. Calm with rain & very cold.
11th: Fine & fair wind going 12 knots an hour, price of cheese in Longitude 100, cost 2/-@lb. My cabin mate Mr. Jas Thornton having one left sold it at that price, weight 6.5lbs. it was afterwards resold @2/2 & 2/6 lb, original cost 11d per lb. If you know anyone coming out, instead of loading themselves with cloths, let them bring, bacon, Cheese, spices, sweetmeats & Caps. I will undertake they will pay well, on the voyage there are a great number of caps get blown overboard.
At 10 o'clock there was a fight in Uncle Tom's cabin, between a Lambeth man of Dough & a Somersetshire cheesemongers assistant, it was in the dark & was settled by the receipt of a black eye being given.
12th: Spanking breeze & a ship in sight within signalling distance. In 24 hours we ran 285 miles, the greatest run we have ever had, but alas towards evening, wind increased to a gale, we had I think such a rocking, never before experienced, but it now became quite fun, for instead of being mute as we were wont to be, we used to laugh at the fun.
13th: Gale abated & fair wind.
14th: Very rough, great toping & fair wind, a barque in sight.
15th: My birthday, fair wind, fine day.
16th: Fair breeze, clear weather, a ship in sight.
17th: Fair breeze, saw a sail.
18th: Fine Breeze.
19th: Head wind.
20th: Head Wind, looking out for land, we saw a great change in the colour of the water. At 2.00pm saw a great many dolphin & two different kinds of birds, one sort like a goose flying, the other like a hawk. 3.30pm the land was descried, though a mere speck upon the water & many would not believe it was land, but at 6.00pm, all doubt on the subject was laid aside, for a light appeared in sight, known to be the revolving light of Cape Willoughby Encounter Bay, 100 miles from Adelaide, everyone then was full of spirits, but how soon they were damped, for at 11.00am it blew a most furious gale, which drove us out to sea again. The poor sailors said they had never had such work before, in taking in the sail, as they had on this occasion.
21st: Weather moderated bore up again for Kangaroo Island, at 5.00pm again saw the land. In the morning saw the mainland & thought we were making Backstairs passage, [2] but found it to be the entrance to River Murray. We got within a stone's throw of the land, it was bout ship again directly, to look for the lighthouse before named, but having a head wind we could not get away. We had a raffle today for a gun, 25 members @1/- a member, I happened to be the fortunate winner.
23rd: Head wind but no land in sight, we had got away from the land in view yesterday. At 10.00am we again saw land on our weather bow, at a great distance. At 2.00pm saw the Backstairs passage entrance to St Vincent Gulf, where we wanted to go, but could not make it, owing to adverse wind. At 4.00pm saw land ahead & made it. At 5.15pm & about 1 mile from the land was a rock & the sea washing over it looked very grand, it was the south west point of Kangaroo Island. We bout ship again & stood once more for Backstairs passage St Vincent Gulf. We saw plenty of birds & porpoises, this day one porpoise was harpooned, but got away again.
24th: After tacking all night, were pretty handy Backstairs passage, when it came on to blow a gale of wind, & tore our mainsail up the middle, also the jib. After beating about to no effect until 12.15 am, when we came to anchor within a mile of the mainland, & near the entrance of Backstairs passage, with the lighthouse before named in the distance, so that we had a fine view of the land, though not very comfortable to our feelings, for we having been at this time 5 weeks upon 2 quarts instead of 3 and no butter or treacle for the same time, & at the date I wrote this being the 116th day from London, & this day the allowance of pork is shortened to half the quality, 7 the raisins are all gone & the biscuits mouldy, so all we have to live upon is biscuits, flour & salt beef, until our arrival in Adelaide. At this time we are about 70 miles from it.
25th: At 5.00am began to weight anchor, at 7.20am got under weight with a foul wind & after tacking about 1 should think 30 times, we entered the passage at 3.15pm, once in the passage, we had a fair wind & came to anchor off the lightship.
At 12pm 26th: The pilot came on board, & at turn of tide, we sailed up within 2½ miles of Port Adelaide. I went on shore the same evening, it was 9 o'clock, when I got to the port, I went into a Free Concert Room, quite equal to London.
27th: I went up to the City of Adelaide, was there by 6.am, when I got there I could see nothing but dogs, however the shops opened at 7am, then I had a good look around, I like the town very much. I found Mr. Jno Springett & gave him the letter from Mrs. Read his sister, he looks very much older, he had been down from the diggins 6 weeks, I stayed to dinner with him, at 2.00pm, I left him and had another look round, & stayed at the Port for the night, early next morning, the 28th I returned to the ship.
29th: Stayed on board all day.
30th: Went ashore & explored the country inland.
31st: Done the same thing.
August 1st: Stayed on board all day.
2nd: The Victoria was towed out of Adelaide at 9.30am, she belongs to Messrs Griffiths & Newcombe, she left the East India Docks 14 days after us, & arrived here the day after us. Thought we never should have got away from Adelaide, for our ship got into debt there & the Captain having no money, he could not free her, he advertised for a loan, 5 successive days, but could not get it. When after laying there, 14 days the passengers raised £400 among them, & paid the debt, fortunately for me I had no money not a sixpence. Well during our stay there I went up to the City of Adelaide on the last day, & there I met an old man, rather, groggy, I asked him for work. Well he says they tell me I am drunk. Well I says I am not. Will you treat me to a nobler, which he was most happy to do. He went to a Public House, & called for a port of English Ale, for which he paid 2/-. He had his son with him & horse & cart. The son was quite sober. Well I spoke to the son about work. He asked me what wages, I wanted. I told him £1 week board & lodging which he said he should be willing to give me, but he says to me you had better come home, with me tonight. I will give you supper, bed & breakfast & then you can see how you like the place. Well I accepted this offer for I had but 6d in my pocket at the time. Well I went up with him to Pine forest, 4 miles from Adelaide, and he fulfilled his promise & gave me a 1/0 to start with, next morning well I came down to Adelaide, I got to the town about 10am. Well the town is 8 miles from the port. Thinks I to myself, I will be off to the ship. Just out of town is the market, so I went & had a look at that & there I saw Mr. J. Springett again, well I told him how our ship was situated, he behaved to me like a gentlemen, he asked me, If I want any money. Well says I, — I have only got 1/2, well he never said a word, but put a sovereign into my hand & told me if I could not get to Geelong by the ship he would let me have the money, to pay my passage. However that I did not require. Well I did not get to the ship, until 11 o'clock at night. Never so knocked up in my life, I must have walked 25 miles that day, no joke after 3 months voyage, well on Sunday the 6th, I went on shore again, with the view of going to work for the old settler, fencing, bullock driving etc etc. I took my carpet bag, with my two shirts & a few other things. Well I was to go up the country, about 50 miles with the son for a month or 6 weeks, to a new section they had bought. Well the old man said he would go & fetch my boxes from the ship, so off we went, and behold to my great astonishment, on our arrival at the Port, my boxes were on shore & the Steamer just leaving, to tow our ship from the shores of Adelaide. Well there was 5 of us left on shore, we gave 10/- each, to be rowed to the lightship, a distance of 15 miles out to sea, we weighted anchor on Monday night, and reached Melbourne on Wednesday. My master was quite willing for me to go. But I lost my carpet bag, through the job & the contents, but that I cared nothing about, so long as I reach Geelong. Well when we got to Melbourne, I went on shore & and enquired for Henry, but he was at the diggins, there was a letter there him, from your own dear self, which I forwarded to him. Well while I was there, previous to going to 118 Little Collins Street, I pledged my watch for 20/-, but next morning I saw two of his mates, & they gave him such an excellent character, that it done my heart good & offered to lend me, £5, £10 or £20 out of respect to Henry. £2 of which I accepted & got my watch out of limbo & took team to Geelong fare 6/- there are to steamers running every day to Geelong. I do not like Melbourne, half so well as Geelong. The markets here are very much overstocked with merchandise, at the present time I have seen three pairs of Wellington boors, sold for 9/- the three pairs. Shirts 10d each. Watches out of number.
Well on the 16th day of August 1854 after being 138 days from East India Dock, I was landed safe & sound at Geelong. Well I took up my quarters, at the Ballarat boarding house, at 35/- per week, to be paid in advance. I delivered the parcels I had for Mr. Strutt, & saw him, he said he would do what he could for me. I left the testimonial I had from my late master with him. Well next day I went to see Mr. Bankin, on the 19th of August, I delivered to him the letter from Mr. Hance, and one to John from G. Geley Rosa's I left, for Miss Bankin was not at home. They behaved very kind to me, & enquired after all & said the6y should like to see you out here. I could not see much alteration in Mr. Bankin or John, but James & Ellis are great grown fellows, also Emma is very tall & a very quiet girl. I have seen Mr & Miss Bankin in town, once since they were on horseback, and Miss B is the finest figure, I have seen in Geelong at present. I stayed up at their house all night, and next morning had a fine ride after the horses, they have 24 horses & 406 acres of land. They asked me to stay until Monday, it being Friday when I was there. Their place is a most delightful situation. I shall go & see them again shortly. Well I came back on the Saturday, & on the Monday following I got a job at Chaff cutting, at 45/- per ton, me & another man was cutting 2½ days & we earned 35/- each, or 14/- per day, that was all they wanted but just then. However on the Friday after, I saw an advertisement wanted a Porter at a drapers. There was about 17 applications, but I was the successful one & I think the place will suit me well.
There is plenty to eat & drink, we are not as common here as at home, instead of having beer for supper we have a glass or two of sherry, & people live here something like they do at home.
My wages are 30/- a week & lodgings. I think that will pay me for coming. I have never once repented coming & as to the voyage it is nothing, I would think nothing of going home, & coming back again. I was not sea sick, it is a great pity Robert is not out here, he could do well. One of my shipmates got work the day he landed, on Saturday night £8 was put into his hand, for his weeks work, that seems rather funny after 30/- a week, that young man I speak of in the first part of my letter that was near drowned, he is boots at the Victoria Hotel, at the opposite corner of the market square from where I live.
I live with Bright & Co, Corner of Market Square, Moorabel Street, Geelong. [3]
There are some very fine houses building about Geelong, the finest houses are Hotels. I have seen one or two three storey high. There is a railway making from Geelong to Melbourne. Geelong is a musical town; there are plenty of German bands over here. Geelong is a beautiful place; there are some splendid hills, by the seaside. A dealer in Marine stores might come here & get a good cargo of ware, in the shape of bones from dead horses, goats etc for they lay about pretty think. There are a great many goats in Australia. Where I lodged one night, I had occasion to go out on the night, I fell over one in the bedroom, there was 14 men sleeping in the room & the goat made 15. I have seen but one of my old particulars the Donkey, but I am told by old chums they have seen two. But I think I shall engage him for a Sunday, out of respect to his race in the Mother country.
I got my money alright at Geelong. I will now bid adieu, with kind love, To Father, Mother, Martha, Emma, Robert, Edwin, Sarah, Ann, & Kate,
Believe me to be your Affectionate Brother,
Chas Thos Lee.
N.B. When you write address Post Office Geelong. I shall be most happy to see you any Sunday to Tea that will suit you. I have a letter from Henry, he is still at the Bendigo, and is not coming down until Christmas.
Give my kind regards to Mr. Hook, Cop (??) Squires & tell Squires, horseflesh is dear here, a £5 Horse at Romford, would fetch £40 here, also Mr. Geley, and all the Aristocrats of the village.
P.S. I must say a word or two about the natives here. At Adelaide there was a great number, but no so many here, the men are thick set fellows about 5ft 4in height, the women are shorter & their legs like broom sticks, they can talk English smoke & drink. I have seen them quite drunk & I have seen a nearly white featured girl with them. They have a great number of dogs with them & they all grub together, some of their legs are burned, sitting so close to the fire. I shall select one for a wife, because they want no clothes.

Information about [1] [2] [3]

[1] Royal Citadel, Plymouth was built in the late 1660’s, the Royal Citadel is located at the eastern end of Plymouth Hoe and overlooks the Plymouth Sound. Encompassing the site of the fort built by Sir Francis Drake, the citadel was built during the Dutch Wars of 1664-67 by King Charles II. The fort emphasized on the importance of Plymouth as channel port in the war and the unique structure ensured that the guns could be fired across the port as well as the town. The structure is built in local limestone with a huge English Baroque style entrance. The 70 feet high walls and equipments like 113 guns made it impossible to conquer. The Citadel served as the most important defence centre of British for over 100 years and is still occupied by the British Army.

[2] The Backstairs Passage is a strait in South Australia lying between Fleurieu Peninsula on the Australian mainland and Dudley Peninsula on the eastern end of Kangaroo Island. The western edge of the passage is a line from Cape Jervis on Fleurieu Peninsula to Kangaroo Head (west of Penneshaw) on Kangaroo Island. The Pages, a group of islets, lie in the eastern entrance to the strait. About 14 km wide at its narrowest, it was formed by the rising sea around 13,000 years ago, at the end of the Pleistocene era, when it submerged the land connecting what is now Kangaroo Island with the Fleurieu Peninsula. Backstairs Passage was named by Matthew Flinders whilst he and his crew on HMS Investigator were exploring and mapping the coastline of South Australia in 1802. The coastal processes occurring in Gulf St Vincent and along the southern coastline of Fleurieu Peninsula are complex. Due to the relatively shallow Gulf St Vincent joining the Southern Ocean through the deeper Backstairs Passage, this narrow and dangerous channel is subjected to strong currents, heavy tidal swells and steep breaking seas.

In the early years following European colonisation many of the nearly fifty vessels wrecked in the hazardous waters around Kangaroo Island were lost while crossing Backstairs Passage to and from the mainland. This led to South Australia's first lighthouse, the Sturt Light, being built in 1851 at Cape Willoughby on the eastern tip of Kangaroo Island. In addition to vessels navigating the treacherous crossing to and from the mainland, sailing ships (commonly wooden barques) making use of the Roaring Forties trade winds on voyaging to South Australia could be propelled by the prevailing winds into Backstairs Passage, or as far Bass Strait.

[3] Today Market Square is located on the corner of Moorabool St & Malop St. Bright and Hitchcocks (also known as Brights) was a department store in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, operating on the same site from 1855 to 1979. The building remains today on the south-east corner of Moorabool and Little Malop Streets in central Geelong.