Queensland, to119–24
Van Diemen’s Land, to118–19
See also gold rush in Australia: effect on migration
migration to New Zealand116
Miller, Melville346–8
Millers and Thompson shipping company300
Monmouth280–2
Montez, Lola84–6
Moodie, George239, 334
Moore, F.W.335
Moore, M.W.265
Morris, Mary Ann Jane282
Mount Kosciuszko62
Mount Stewart Elphinstone119
Mundle, Captain (Commodore Perry)118
Muntz, George Fredrick163
Muntz metal163
Murdoch, Thomas113
N
naming of ships326
Nares, George324
Navigation Acts131–2, 135
navigational methods16–18
composite ‘great circle’ route145
dead reckoning51
‘great circle’ route18, 145
‘swinging the compass’208
Neptune’s Car25, 53–6
Newport324
New York Yacht Club22
New Zealand, migration to116
Nicol, Isabella173
N.L. & G. Griswold shipping company41
Nobby’s Head Light (NSW)201
Noble, John206, 208, 210, 212, 213, 218
North Australia colony120–5
north-west passage17
O
oceanography16
Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company57
Ophir (NSW)72, 73, 74
P
P&O. See Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
Panic of1857 57, 58
Pasha, Isma’il323, 324
Paton, Frederick23
Patten, Joshua Adams53–6
Patten, Mary53–6
Peck, John Murray79
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company338, 351
Phoenician78, 136
Pilgrim37
Pilkington, James158, 161
Pilkington, John155, 156, 206
Polk, President James K.32, 33
Pook, Samuel Hartt156
Preussen350
Prince of Waterloo141–2
Pugh, James76
Pyrmont235
Q
Queen185
Queen of Nations221–3
Queensland, colonisation of120–5
R
Rainbow12–14, 131
Ray, C.E.339–43
Red Jacket118, 156–8, 181
conditions on board164–5, 165–6
Liverpool–Melbourne 1854 voyage162, 163–9, 174–5
Liverpool–Melbourne 1854 voyage177, 178–80
passenger numbers181
personal accounts166, 167, 168, 179
rivalry with Lightning154, 155–6, 158, 159–60, 160–61
Red Rover243
Reed, Joseph203, 204–6
Reid, Samuel161, 177–8
Robe (SA)90
Robinson, Blakiston173
Rockhampton (Qld)124
Romance of the Seas25
Ross, Donald Gunn, III39
Royal Charter351–2
S
Sadleir, John297
St Helena Island290
St John’s Light (Ireland)288
Samuel Russell38
San Francisco36–9
Sanger, Dr J.C.245
Sceptre239
Schomberg125, 183–6
Scott & Linton shipyard325
Sea318
Sea Witch25, 46, 131
New York–Hong Kong 1846 voyage14–15
New York–Hong Kong 1849 voyage15–16
New York–San Francisco 1850 voyage38
Seekamp, Henry86, 87
Serica326, 334
Shepherd, George254
shipwrecks249
Ariel250–2
Blervie Castle249–50
Blue Jacket235–6
Cataraqui188–9
Cawarra201–3
Cospatrick236–9
Dalhousie203–5
Dunbar189–201
Eastern City231–5
General Grant256–263
Guiding Star224–5
Indian Queen225–9
Madagascar252–3
Meridian263–83
Queen of Nations221–3
Royal Charter351–52
Tayleur206–20
Sirius284–5
Skye Emigration Society112–13
Smith & Dimon12
Smith, James137
Smith, Jonathan84
Smith, Sydney335–6
Smith, William280
Snow, Charles273
Sobraon125–9
Sovereign of the Seas240
Stag Hound45–6, 156, 240
steamship–clipper rivalry284–5, 319–20, 350–3
Strauss, Levi36
Strzelecki, Paul Edmund de62–3
Studebaker, Johnnie36
Stutchbury, Samuel61, 72
Suez Canal321–5, 353
Summer Hill Creek (NSW)67
superstitions among sailors151–2, 165, 328
Surprise52
Sutter’s Fort (USA)30
Swan River Colony (WA)117
Sydney (NSW)81, 104
T
Taeping326, 334
Tayleur155, 163, 205–20, 239
design206
passenger numbers207
personal accounts209, 215, 216–18
wrecking of213–19
Tayleur, Charles155
Tea Race331, 333–4
tea trade135
influence on ship design12
steamship dominance of334
Tea Race331, 333–4
Teer, James257–8, 260–1
Tew, Edward, Junior216–19
Thatcher, Charles90–1
Thermopylae326, 331, 338
rivalry with Cutty Sark331–3
Shanghai–London 1872 voyage331–2
Thiesen, William H.13
Thomas, George156
Thomas Stephens335
Thompson, Captain (Antelope)297, 299, 301
Thompson, Edward Deas68
Ticonderoga245–8
Tiptaft, W.E.335
Titanic220
Tom, Henry67–71
Tom, James67–71
Tom, ‘Parson’ William, Senior68
Tom, William67–71
Towle, Edward294
Towson, John Thomas17–18, 145
Train, Enoch45
Train, George176–7
Train, Wilhelmina176
Trevelyan, Charles113, 114
Trollope, Anthony297
Twain, Mark80
Tweed328–9
U
United States Naval Observatory16
V
Veitch, James245
Victory206
Vivers, William218
Voller, James268, 269, 271, 274
W
Wakefield142
Wallace25
Wallace, James335
Waratah85
Warrandyte (Vic)76
Washington193
Waterman, Robert ‘Bully’15–16, 41–3, 172
Webb, Isaac44–5
Wells Fargo80
Whirlwind243
White Australia Policy92, 129
White Squall243
White Star Line136, 206, 220
Red Jacket purchase157–8
rivalry with Black Ball Line154, 155–6, 206
Wigram, Henry132
Wigram, Money133
Willis, Jock ‘White Hat’326
Willis, John328, 334, 336
Willis, Robert332
Wilson, George253, 254–5
Wilson Kennedy142
windjammers350
Woodget, Richard338
Worthington, Mr (Meridian passenger)273
Wright shipyard224
Y
Yarra River (Vic)101, 148–9
Young (NSW)91
Photo Section
Stability calculations: American John Willis Griffiths, the free-thinking designer of the first true clipper ship, created this diagram in 1854 to display a ship’s heeling angle in different sea states. From ‘Treatise on marine and naval architecture; or, Theory and practice blended in ship building’ by John Willis Griffiths, 1854 via the Internet Archive
Masterly man of maps: Portrait of Commander Matthew F. Maury, first superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory. Maury is recognised as the father of the science of oceanography. Library of Congress
Whale map: The importance of the mid-19th-century American whaling industry is documented in this innovative thematic map by Matthew F. Maury. By collecting data from various sources including logs from whaling ships, Maury compiled this map showing the distribution of several different species of whales, identifying each with a combination of colour and pictorial symbols. Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library
Proud of their work: The owners of Alexander Hall & Co shipbuilders in Aberdeen, Scotland, along with office staff and shipwrights pose in front of two ships under construction in 1862. The company operated from 1790 to 1957. Aberdeen Maritime Museum ABDMS018985
The Way They Go To California: This gold rush cartoon from c1850 shows a New York dock crowded with men with picks and shovels, and men jumping from the dock to reach ships bound for San Francisco. A crowded airship and a man on a rocket fly overhead while a man with a pick and shovel parachutes from the airship. Library of Congress LC-DIG-pga-05072
The Way They Come From California: A companion piece to the cartoon above, shows a ship, carrying a full load of successful gold diggers, departing San Francisco for New York while others beg not to be left behind. Library of Congress LC-DIG-pga-05070
Rapid transport: An advertisement c1850 promotes the purpose-built new clipper ship, California, for the passage from New York to the west coast gold fields. Wikicommons
A remarkable seafaring lady: In 1856 Mary Ann Brown Patten took command of the clipper ship, Neptune’s Car, after her husband fell ill, and navigated it safely from Cape Horn to San Francisco. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Dorthy Knouse Koepke
Canvas Town 1853: Newly arrived immigrants seated with their baggage in front of tents and wooden huts in Melbourne. Artist Edmund Thomas Newly, State Library of Victoria H15520
Purchasing a passage: Diggers in a shipping agent’s office in Melbourne, probably arranging a return passage to England. The names of the ships on the wall behind include the Marco Polo. Artist T Gill. State Library of Victoria H86.7/39 S.
Digger on the dock: Newly arrived Chinese men on Sandridge Pier, in Melbourne, seeking directions to the gold fields from a successful digger in a checked shirt and cap. Artist George Thompson, State Library of Victoria H12631
Prospecting for a husband: Single ladies preparing to depart Melbourne and head to the goldfields with the hope of finding a husband. State Library of Victoria H81.35
Man the yards: Perched precariously on the foot ropes while hanging on for dear life on the windward yard, crew tend a sail on a clipper ship. State Library of Victoria Acc No: H87.63/2/8 Artist Charles Lyall.
Riding out a gale: The auxiliary steamer Queen of the South rides out a gale in heavy seas – sailors aloft preparing to furl one of the square sails. Sailors Reefing Topsails by Charles Lyall c1854. State Library of Victoria H87.63/6a
A hammering at The Horn: An artist’s impression of a ship rounding Cape Horn in extreme weather. Library of Congress LC-DIG-pga-05031
Tough going: A clipper ship in a hurricane. Library of Congress LC-DIG-pga-04760
One of the classics: An impression of the record-breaking ship Marco Polo painted by marine artist Thomas Robertson in 1859. Robertson spent much of his early life at sea. SLV H306
James Nicol ‘Bully’ Forbes: A graphite on paper drawing of the legendary man himself. Bridgeman Art Library FIT423998
Francis Henty: a small clipper ship that was one of the more popular vessels with passengers sailing between England and Australia until 1869. Her cargo on the return run to England usually comprised gold and wool. Portland showing the ship Francis Henty by Thomas Robertson 1858. State Library of Victoria H13791
Legend Donald McKay: the pioneering American shipbuilder who led the way with the design and construction of vessels for much of the clipper ship era. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Acc no:37.14.1
Finer detail: Passenger contract ticket for Elizabeth Pratt (aged 44) and her son Edward (aged 15) for steerage passage from London to Melbourne on the Black Ball Line clipper ship Netherby, departing 25 April 1862. The cost of the ticket was £28 paid in full. Museum Victoria item 806694
A haunting night: An impression of the wreck of Dunbar by S.T. Gill, c1866, based on information from the sole survivor. Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales a939035 / PXA 1983, f34
Hard aground: the stranding of the immigrant ship City of Adelaide, near Port Adelaide in 1874. Australasian sketcher. State Library of Victoria A/S03/10/74/108
A fine vessel: the magnificent Sobraon was the largest and most impressive of all clippers built in the UK. State Library of Queensland Acc No: 2967/11
Dangerous dining: passengers and crew doing the best they could to dine aboard Sobraon in rough weather. National Library of Australia nla.obj-135546088
Schomberg and the iceberg: one boy eggs on another to see how close he can get his toy boat to a pipe in a stream without hitting it . . . their re-enactment of the incident where Schomberg reportedly went close to hitting a ‘berg. State Library of Victoria MP00/00/56/197, Melbourne Punch
Red Jacket in ice: the scene when famous clipper ship Red Jacket was trapped by ice near Cape Horn while on her passage from Australia to Liverpool in 1854. Library of Congress LC-DIG-pga-03627
Tragedy on the high seas: the clipper ship Cospatrick explodes and sinks mid-ocean in 1875 with the loss of 473 lives. The Australasian sketcher, State Library of Victoria A/S20/03/75/201b March 20, 1875
To the end: Captain Elmslie carries his wife to the side of Cospatrick from where they leapt into the ocean, dying together. State Library of Victoria A/S20/03/75/201d
One mighty ship: in 1853 the massive steamship, SS Great Britain, became the first commercial vessel of its type to sail between England and Australia. Library of Congress LC-DIG-pga-05234
First and foremost: Captain Barnard R. Mathews was the master of SS Great Britain on her maiden voyage to the Antipodes. State Library of Victoria H38678
Passage denied: Ships at anchor by the Port Said entrance to the Suez Canal, c1860, shortly before the canal was opened. The Suez Canal was unsuited to sailing vessels and thus hastened the end of the age of the clipper ships. Library of Congress LC-DIG-ppmsca-04472
The last of the clippers: Launched in 1869, Cutty Sark was the fastest, sleekest ship of its time. By 1922, approximately the time this photo was taken, she was the last fully operational clipper ship anywhere in the world. State Library of Victoria
About the Author
ROB MUNDLE OAM is a bestselling author, journalist and competitive sailor whose family heritage is with the sea, dating back to his great-great-grandfather, who was the master of a clipper ship. Rob has spent a lifetime combining his passions for sailing and writing. He has written fifteen books (including the international bestseller Fatal Storm) reported on more than 40 Sydney-to-Hobart yacht races (and competed in three), and covered seven America’s Cups, four Olympics and numerous international events. He is the winner of many sailing championships and has been a competitor in local and international contests.
Praise For Rob Mundle
for Flinders
‘In skilful prose, Mundle vividly stresses the personal
costs of Flinders’ ambition: shipwrecks, the loss of good friends and crew to a hostile sea, as well as his decade-long absence from home’ The Australian
‘Rob Mundle is a master of the maritime narrative’ Sunday Age
‘A drama of adventure and shipwreck’ Sun-Herald
for Cook
‘Competitive sailor and accomplished writer Rob Mundle puts readers on the quarterdeck as Cook guides his ship through treacherous reefs and swells to solve the mystery surrounding the existence of Terra Australis’ Courier Mail
‘. . . a thrilling biography for those who love adventure and the intricacies and challenges of sailing’ sail-world.com.au
‘Rob Mundle brings a wealth of navigational and ship-construction detail to Cook’s adventures, and his descriptions of the capricious ocean – having been exposed to Cook’s perils himself – lend this biography all the suspense of a good thriller’ Weekend Australian
for The First Fleet
‘A colourful, well-researched and fascinating account of the unlikely founding of a great nation’ Australian Women’s Weekly
‘Mundle’s insight into First Fleet diary and journal descriptions of storms and navigation is enhanced by his personal experience of sailing stretches of ocean traversed by Phillip. But it is his sensitive observation of human frailty that gives his work resonance’ Daily Telegraph
‘Wonderful story – useful reading for all Australians’ Ian Perkins, goodreads.com
‘[The author’s] seafaring experience, along with his passion for the subject, has produced another extraordinarily compelling book’ Weekend Australian
Also by Rob Mundle
Bob Oatley: A Life Story
Bond: Alan Bond
Fatal Storm: The 54th Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
Hell on High Seas: Amazing Stories of Survival Against the Odds
Learning to Sail
Jack Joel: My Life Story
Life at the Extreme: The Volvo Ocean Race Round the World 2005–2006
Ocean Warriors: The Thrilling Story of the 2001–2002 Volvo Ocean Race Round the World