Overses shipping to Port Phillip 1839

In 1839, less than four years after the first European settlers arrived at the site of present day Melbourne, large numbers of immigrants began to arrive at Port Phillip from the British Isles. Some of these arrived direct while others called at Adelaide or Launceston first. A number of ships that had discharged their cargoes elsewhere also called at Port Phillip to load up for the voyage back to Britain. The ships are:

15 June 1839 – “MIDLOTHIAN“ Barque, 414 tons (Capt. George Morrison) from Leith, Scotland (29 February 1839) & the Downs.

28 August 1839 – “MAGNET“ Barque, 272 tons (Capt. Thomas Mann) from London, England (11 April 1839).

18 September 1839 – “CALEDONIA“ ( of Alloa ), 405 tons (Capt. John Liddel) from Leith, Scotland (17 April 1839) via Bahia (25 June 1839).

20 September 1839 – “ARIADNE“ Barque, 504 tons (Capt. George McLeod) from Greenock, Scotland (6 April 1839) via Adelaide, South Australia (9 September 1839).

15 October 1839 – “ARAB“ Barque (Capt. Westmoreland) from London, England via Launceston, Van Diemens Land (8 October 1839).

27 October 1839 – “DAVID CLARKE“ Barque, 608 tons (Capt. William Bruce Mills) from Greenock, Scotland (15 June 1839) via Rio de Janiero, South America (15 August 1839) with bounty immigrants.

15 November 1839 – “WILLIAM METCALFE“ Ship, 447 tons (Capt. Edward Phillipson) from Plymouth, England (25 July 1839) with unassisted and bounty immigrants.

16 November 1839 – “ALICE BROOKS“ Barque, 212 tons (Capt. David Scott) from Liverpool, England (22 May 1839) via Adelaide, South Australia (10 November 1839).

24 November 1839 – “PALMYRA“ Barque, 480 tons (Capt. Peter Brown) from Greenock, Scotland (20 July 1839) via Adelaide, South Australia (17 November 1839) with unassisted and bounty immigrants.

5 December 1839 – “SUPERB“ Barque, 535 tons (Capt. Niel Shannon) from Greenock, Scotland (13 July 1839) via Adelaide, South Australia (28 November 1839).

6 December 1839 – “St. MUNGO“ Barque, 353 tons (Capt. Robert Smith Orr) from Leith, Scotland via Rio de Janiero, South America with unassisted immigrants.

15 December 1839 – “WESTMINSTER“ Ship, 610 tons (Capt. A. S. Mollison) from London, England (18 August 1839) & Plymouth, England (27 August 1839) with 210 unassisted and bounty immigrants.

In addition to the above there were five ship arrivals from New Zealand in 1839. On 28 March 1839 the “GEM“ arrived from Hokianga, New Zealand. The “HAMILTON“ arrived on 22 April 1839; the “GEM“ arrived a second time on 13 September 1839; the “HAMILTON“ arrived a second time on 7 November 1839; and the “EARL STANHOPE“ Barque, 295 tons (Capt. Tilly) arrived on 11 November 1839.

Contributed by Alexander Romanov-Hughes, PPPG Member No. 52