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The Barque Planter The ship was built at Newcastle on Tyne in 1835, weighed 347 tons and carried 106 passengers to South Australia. A Mutiny and debouched behavior by Captain Beazley.
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Some of the passengers:
- Alexander Hay single man from Scotland. Alexander Hay worked to help his mother after his fathers death, he was apprenticed to his uncle learning weaving, and later worked in a factory owned by his mothers cousin. He became successful in sheep farming, and Politics, and built the home in Victor Harbour, Mount Brekan.
- James Bell - James Bell was a pious young Scotsman, from Dryfesdale in Dumfriesshire.
- Daniel Crosby (download PDF) Daniel Crosby married fellow passenger Emma Du Rieu. (Durieu)
Stories
James Bell almost certainly made the decision to travel to Adelaide both for the sake of religious freedom, and with the hope of improving his financial situation. After setting out from London in late 1838, he began writing the diary, with a written instruction stating that it was expressly for the eyes only of his mysterious female friend, 'C.P.' Library staff and two intrepid researchers have deduced that this was a widow named Charlotte Perry, who lived in Workington in Cumbria, UK, where Bell owned property.
In his diary Bell records in some detail the misbehavior of his fellow passengers on the barque Planter, including drinking, fighting and open promiscuity. Many of these people had been 'hand-picked' as ideal colonists for the experimental colony, which further raised Bell's disapproval. The captain's lack of control and poor navigation saw both the ship almost wrecked, and a mutiny among the sailors, so that the Planter finally arrived in Adelaide, much overdue, in May 1839.
The last sentence of his final entry is: 'Tomorrow I hope to step ashore at Adelaide and introduce myself to Messrs Flaxman and Rowlands.' A note on back end page relates to 'Stirling Stable' rent on 2 September 1839 and 'Monday Sept 26 commenced lodging in Town.'
A transcript of the diary, compiled by Library volunteers, was the basis for the Allen & Unwin published version, Private journal of a voyage to Australia, which is available for purchase at the Library's Copy Centre.
Further reading
- SLA Foundation
- SA Memory
- State Library
- Lonetester
- Adelaide Now - Diary of debauchery in colonial Australia
On November 19, 1838 Daniel Crosby, then aged 27, set out in the sailing ship the Planter from England on what was to be known later by his descendents as his “voyage of a lifetime”. Among the 120 persons travelling to South Australia on board the Planter, Daniel met his future wife, 20-year-old Emma Du Rieu who with her family and other relatives, were seeking a new life in a new country after being emigrants from France.
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