The _Emigrant_ sailed into Moreton Bay in August 1850 after four
terrible months at sea. It was the second government-assisted
immigrant ship to come directly to Moreton Bay, in a scheme that aimed
to boost the growth of free Brisbane and remove the stains of its
convict past. Some 276 poor settlers from England and Ireland boarded
the ship in Plymouth, hoping to build a better life in AUSTRALIA.
Typhus and other maladies killed around twenty on the voyage, and the
ship was therefore diverted on arrival to the newly proclaimed
quarantine station at Dunwich. Conditions on the island were
appalling; dilapidated buildings remaining from convict days and leaky
tents provided the only shelter. A hellish three-month quarantine
followed, during which two of the three doctors and twenty-six
immigrants died, including a young woman who committed suicide and a
boy who perished in a fire.My book _Ship of Death_ and my website tell
these stories against the backdrop of early Queensland history: a time
when a government-sponsored immigration boom was shaping Australian
society. In my address to the RHSQ I would like to share some of my
findings. I pay tribute to the doctors, the captain and the
passengers, describe the ghastly conditions of the voyage and
quarantine, and reveal the fate of some of the _Emigrant’s_ more
colourful characters, bringing to life a journey that was common to
many of Australia’s early settlers.
Jane Smith is a Toowoomba librarian, author, freelance editor and
former physiotherapist who enjoys researching and writing about
history – fiction and non-fiction, for children and for adults. Jane
has written a series of five children’s non-fiction books about
bushrangers, a biography of Captain Starlight (for adults) and the
first eight episodes of the children’s historical fiction series,
‘Tommy Bell, Bushranger Boy’ – all published by Big Sky
Publishing.
Wednesday Talks are free, lunch afterwards $5.
culture
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13/02/2020 Last update