Queen of the Colonies

Owned by Liz Hardie
Last updated: Aug 24, 2015

Queen of the Colonies

The Queen of the Colonies was a clipper ship built in East Boston Massachusetts at the shipyards of Samuel Hall in 1853. She was 1,336 tons, 64m long, 12.4m across and 7.85m from deck to keel. The ships original owner and first captain was Shungar H Slate who ran the shipping company Slate & Co of New York. The ship did 10 years service as a California Clipper, but during the American Civil War, Confederate Cruisers wrought much havoc among American clipper shipping and Slate & Co made a decision to sell the boat. At the same time, the Black Ball Line - a joint venture company of James Baines & Co Pty. Ltd and T.M. Mackay, Son & Co Pty. Ltd - was awarded a contract with the Queensland Government to convey immigrants to Moreton Bay. So in 1862, James Baines & Co purchased the boat to service the London Moreton Bay route. Over the next 8 years, the vessel, Queen of the Colonies made six trips from the United Kingdom and Ireland to the colony of Queensland during the 1860s on one occasion, setting a crossing record to Australia from England.

On its journey to London, the Wizard managed a narrow escape from the confederate steamer 'The Alabama' by slipping into the Thames. Once ownership was transferred, the ship - despite being in need of substantial repairs and an extensive refit to cope with a new role as a passenger liner - was quickly renamed Queen of the Colonies and scheduled for her first trip to Queensland.

92 passengers embarked at the Queen of the Colonies in London and the ship departed from London 13th Dec 1862. She picked up an additional 158 passengers - plus 28 stowaways at Queenstown (Cork) Ireland. Just after leaving Queenstown, the Queen of the Colonies had another run in with the Alabama. One passenger's described the event as follows:

"The air was full of snow and the cold very severe. On the run down channel and across to the Irish coast a succession of gales was met with, in consequence of which the crew were kept constantly at work, having few opportunities for sleep. One morning it was observed that a steamer - there were not many of them in those days - with a long line of smoke streaming from her single funnel, was heading for our ship, a manoeuvre which caused no little surprise to the people crowding excitedly on the deck.

"The stranger ran up to within a quarter of a mile of us, and fired a gun across our bows, which naturally occasioned further surprise, and from the poop to the cuddy, the cry went up, 'The Alabama!!' Our skipper, Captain Cairncross, steadfastly refused to heave to, and kept on his course, apparently ignoring the other ship...." A second gun was fired from the Alabama which came to within a hundred yards of the Queen of the Colonies, before Captain Semmes of the Alabama called out to Captain Cairncross, who identified the ship as the Queen of the Colonies, from London to Brisbane with two hundred and fifty souls aboard. Up went the Union Jack, and at that point the Alabama captain was satisfied and steamed away."

Measles appeared soon after sailing from Queenstown. There were 35 cases resulting in 6 infant fatalities. Two adults died in childbirth, one infant from convulsions, and one adult from injuries received in a fall. There were seven births, five of which were females.

One of the passengers, Henry John Ford, kept a diary of his passage from England to Australia. The voyage, apparently, made good time during the trip, and anchored off Moreton Island on 6th April.

On 7th April at 5 pm, 13 crew and volunteer passengers took the life-boat to the island to bury one of the passengers, Mrs Barnfield, who had died in childbirth. At 7 pm the life boat returned, but was unable to reach the ship due to a sudden and violent squall that erupted and the life-boat disappeared. Captain Cairncross decided to continue to Brisbane on the 8th of April, whereafter search crews were sent to look for the life-boat.

The men in the lifeboat attempted to row to Brisbane but the boat overturned on a sandbank, and Mr Barnfield was drowned. They returned to a beach near where Caloundra is today. Three of the men (Eldridge, Grant & Durant) then tried to reach settlement overland and were the last to be found - on April 26th. The remainder had already been found at Caloundra. All were in terrible condition - sunburnt and starving, and nearly naked, having lost clothing when the boat overturned.

1863 Journey - Newspaper Articles

The Courier, 10 April 1863

THE QUEEN OF THE COLONIES.
The Queen of the Colonies. Captain Cairncross, brings an addition of 433 persons to our population. Of this number, 92 embarked at London, and the remainder at Queenstown. There appears to be a very general desire, amongst the Irish, to emigrate to this colony, as no fewer than twenty six persons secreted themselves on board the ship, at Queenstown, and they were not discovered for a considerable time after the vessel left the port.

Soon after sailing from Queenstown, measles made its appearance amongst the passengers. In all, there were thirty-five cases of which six proved fatal. This mortality was exclusively contained to infants. There were also two deaths of adults in childbirth, one infant from convulsions, and one adult who died from injuries received by falling into the hold, thus making a total of ten deaths. By way of counterbalance to these losses there were seven births, five of which were females. A couple of the passengers were joined in the hands of holy wedlock by the Rev. Terence Joseph Quinn, the Roman Catholic Chaplain, who accompanied the immigrants from Queenstown.

The Queen of the Colonies spoke but two vessels during the passage, the Isaac Newton, bound for the Phillipine Islands; and the Queen, steamer, from Otago to Melbourne.. The steamer was passed near Bass Strait.
Dr. Hobbs (the health officer) visited the ship yesterday, and made his official inspection of the passengers, and finding they were all in a healthy state, passed the vessel with a clean bill of health.

The passage, on the whole, may be regarded as satisfactory ; but the casualty mentioned in yesterday's issue has cast a gloom over the minds of the passengers, which the excitement consequent on the termination of the voyage could not dispel. The information we at first received was somewhat incorrect, but we are now enabled to give the full particulars, which are us follow: - On Tuesday, while the Queen of the Colonies was anchored off the Cape Moreton light-house, the life-boat was manned to convoy ashore for interment, the body of one of the female passengers, who had died in childbirth. This was about five o'clock in the afternoon. In the boat there were the husband of the deceased, Captain Hill, and Messrs. Durrant, Arundel, Barnfield, Langford, Ford, Eldridge,  (chief officer), Grant (fourth-mate),Roach and  Murray (quarter-masters), and three able seamen. 

The boat returned from its melancholy errand about 7 p.m., and while going round under the stern to get to leeward of the ship, a violent squall drifted her away before the crew were able to catch a rope dropped to them by one of the passengers on board the ship. The boat was seen fruitlessly endeavoring to reach the ship again, but the wind carried her farther and farther away ; and she was soon lost to sight in the surrounding gloom. As the wind was blowing off shore at the time, it is feared that the boat has been driven out to sea ; but as she is a life-boat and is managed by experienced seamen, we are inclined to  believe she will return safely. As might be expected there were no provisions on board. Immediately the matter was reported to the authorities in Brisbane the Acting-Colonial Secretary decided on sending the government steamer Brisbane to search for the boat. Water Police Inspector McDonald accordingly left town yesterday afternoon to direct the search.

The subjoined is a list of the cabin passengers: - Mrs. Hill, the Misses Hill (2), Messrs. Charles H. Eden, George Ogilvry, William Durrant, Martin J. Soames, Chas. Morgan, W. Rich, Dominic Lynch, Frederick Hill; about 75 in the second cabin, and 345 in the steerage. William James Ring is the Surgeon Superintendent.