So what do we know of the voyage for
the Sutherlands and other passengers on board the emigrant ship, the Oriental
- the first such to sail from Gravesend, London in 1839 and the second to arrive in
Port Nicholson, New Zealand in early 1840?
OUTFIT
The list of the outfit requirements for emigrant
labourers on the store ship Glenbervie which arrived in New Zealand on 7th
March 1840 is probably a good guide for what was in the luggage of the
Sutherlands:
Outfit for Emigrant Labourers – supplied at the prices quoted.
Female.
- 2 Gowns, 18 yds. print cotton 9/-
- 2 Petticoats, 6 yds. Col. Calico 3/-
- 2 Petticoats, flannel 6 yds 6/-
- 12 Shifts, 30 yds., long cloth 15/-
- 6 Caps, 3 yds. of muslin 3/-
- 6 Aprons, 6 yds. Calico 3/-
- 6 Handkerchiefs 3/-
- 6 Neckerchiefs 4/6
- 6 Towels 3/-
- 1 Pair Stays 5/-
- 6 Pair black worsted stockings 7/6
- 2 Pair shoes 8/-
- 1 Bonnet 3/-
- Needles, pins, tapes, etc. 5/-
- 2 Ibs. Soap 3/-
- 2 Ibs. Starch
Male.
- 2 Fustian jackets 15/-
- 2 Pair trousers 12/-
- 2 Pair duck trousers 5/-
- 2 Round frocks 5/-
- 12 Cotton shirts £1/7/-
- 6 Pair worsted stockings 9/-
- 2 Scotch caps 3/-
- 6 Handkerchiefs 3/-
- 6 Coarse towels 3/-
- 1 Pair boots 10/-
- 1 Pair shoes 6/-
- 4 Ibs. of soap 2/-
- 1 Pair blankets 10/-
- 2 Pair sheets 10/-
- Sum required for Married Couple £10/-/-.
The Petone Settlers Museum data base
has a few extracts from the diary and journal of the Oriental’s surgeon Dr J P
Fitzgerald.
SURGEON'S SUMMARY OF THE ORIENTAL'S VOYAGE
33 Married
Men 66 ( including the married women)
Single Men 28
Single Women 3
7 Children between 9 & 14
18 Children between 1 & 9
Deaths on Board
ISAAC
Maryanne 11M F Oct.14 1839
Acute Hydrocephalus Lat. 26.18 N.
COCKBURN
Elizabeth 11M F
Oct.20 1839 Chronic Enteritis Lat.
11.46 N.
HUGHES
Richd. Cabin Passenger 30Y M
Nov.8 1839 Liver 2.4 S.
EXTRACTS FROM DR FITZGERALDS MEDICAL JOURNAL
Sept 10 1839 “According
to the orders I received at the new Zealand Land Company’s offices I went on
board the ship Oriental and took charge of the Emigrants on board the said ship
the lying in Basin out Side the West India Docks…”
Friday 25th Oct “Fine weather. Emigrants
Births all on deck. Births cleaned out and Sprinkled with Chloride of Lime.
Dec. 1st 1839 “Emigrants
suffering from chest affections Lat. 39-38…”
Sat. Dec 14th “Rough
weather with showers..Grace Spencer was delivered of a Son. Mother and Child
both doing well..Steerage cleaned out half past 9 a.m. Long. 46.50.”
Jan 23rd 1840 “As
yet received no Intelligence from Colonel Wakefield: a good many Natives came on board this day…”
“Arrived in Port
Nicholson on the 31th Jany. (1840) Emigrants and Cabin Passengers discharged on
the 15th Feby…”
Dr Fitzgerald, Surgeon
Supt, Oriental
Another commentator states “The barque “Oriental,” 506 tons,
commanded by Captain Wm. Wilson, with Dr. J. Fitzgerald as surgeon
superintendent, sailed from London on the 15th September, 1839, and arrived at
Port Nicholson on the 31st January, 1840. There were on the Register (the New
Zealand copy) 66 married couples, 29 single men, 3 single women, 17 children
between nine and fourteen, and 9 between one and nine. There were 8 births and
3 deaths on the voyage.
BIRTH OF KATHREAN
On board, Elizabeth Sutherland, busy with her first young daughter, was
also pregnant with her second child. Kathrean (aka Catherine) was born on board
the Oriental on 11 January, 1840. Although this birth was not mentioned in the
extracts of the ship’s surgeon on the Petone Settlers Museum Data base it is
safe to assume Elizabeth would have at least had a doctor to assist deliver
her child. But doctor or not, giving birth on board a cramped sailing ship in
the middle of nowhere would have been both a hazardous and difficult event. I rather hope Elizabeth had a bit more
sympathy and support from her husband Sandy than she appeared to get on leaving
Broro. Kathrean would have been about three weeks old, a tiny new born baby,
when the Oriental sailed into Wellington Harbour.
FURNITURE
On the voyage out Alexander Sutherland had some furniture made
by the ship’s carpenter which included a large chest of drawers, still in family
use in the 1940s. Several other articles from Scotland were said to have
survived in New Zealand for at least one hundred years. These included a Gaelic
Bible, one or two willow pattern jugs, a blue embossed milk jug, a mahogany table
and a large pewter meat cover.
PITO-ONE
Once in Port Nicholson harbour the Oriental anchored near
Somes Island. The passengers remained on board for two weeks while arrangements
were made at the settlement of Pito-one (now called Petone). When they finally
were allowed to leave the ship most of the passengers were accommodated in
tents but the Sutherlands were allotted a hut of sorts on a rise nearby.
There is a lot of detail about the arrival of these early
immigrants on the nzetc.victoria.ac.nz website but suffice to say the land was
covered with dense forest, swampy land and flax. The Maori who were settled
and resident in the area were very involved (and impacted indeed) with the new European
arrivals and their processes of getting food and shelter.
.jpg)
The cow Elizabeth was allowed to keep (possibly the first
cow in New Zealand) calved shortly after arrival and was a great
asset not only being the foundation of a breeding herd but also supplying milk
sufficient for Elizabeth to make and sell fresh butter to other settlers.
LYALL'S BAY
The Sutherlands stayed at Petone for only a short time. The
prospects of farming there were not promising with the whole of the Hutt Valley
being under dense bush. Alexander Sutherland was allotted his one hundred acres
according to the agreement from the Land Company. These one hundred acres were
across the harbour at Lyall’s Bay. Alexander, Elizabeth and their two daughters
were taken to their place by whaleboats in early 1840. At Lyall’s Bay Elizabeth
sat on a large rock with her babies while the men carried the luggage and
furniture ashore. They lived in a raupo hut built by Maori until a house of
clay bricks was built. The story of the Sutherlands gradually settling in at Lyall’s
Bay and establishing themselves as farmers is told in Sutherlands of Ngaipu.
 |
| Raupo huts of the first settlers Petoni Beach |
ELIZABETH'S SAVINGS
The last word in this blog goes to the resourceful Elizabeth
in 1848, who by then with six children, endured that terrifying earthquake in Wellington,
and along with many others contemplated leaving New Zealand.
“Mrs Sutherland, who had saved quite a considerable sum of
money from the sale of butter and eggs, offered the money to her husband, he to
decide if they were to leave New Zealand or rebuild and start again. He decided
to remain. In after years they always considered that this decision was the
turning point in their lives as from then on they prospered.”
Sutherlands of Ngaipu, pg 24
 |
| Elizabeth Sutherland with son David Malcolm born 1854
Source: Mary Doyle album
|
 |
Alexander Sutherland
Source: Mary Doyle album
|
Source: Sutherlands of Ngaipu by Alex Sutherland, AH &
AW Reed, Wellington 1947
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WarEarl-t1-body-d3.html Chapters I, II, II
Swainson, William : Hutts [sic] of the first settlers Petoni
Beach. [1840s]. Drawings & Prints Collection, Reference No. A-190-013 Alexander
Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand
