20 December 1934

HOW A SECOND CONVICT BRIG NEARLY 'DISAPPEARED' 

Exciting Voyage Of The Punch Following The Loss Of The Lady Dennison

Although South Australia was never a convict settlement, as were the other Australian States in their early days, she suffered through being invaded from time to time by escaped prisoners from her sister settlements, who were often desperate criminals. 

After these convicts had been recaptured they were sent back to their respective colonies by the South Australian Government, which often had to charter a vessel for the purpose. 

In 1850, and for some time afterwards, convicts sentenced to imprisonment in South Australia were sent either to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) or New South Wales to serve their sentences. 

Early in 1850 a brig, the Lady Dennison, was chartered by the South Australian Government to transport ten prisoners, with their guards, to Tasmania to serve their sentences there. There were also 16 passengers on board the ship, which, after leaving Port Adelaide, was not heard of again. 

Following rumors that a number of the passengers were friends of the convicts, it was widely believed that the prisoners, aided by their friends, had revolted, murdered the captain and those who stood by him, and seized the ship. Color was lent to this story later, soon after gold had been discovered in Victoria, when it was reported that one of the convicts on the Lady Dennison had been seen. This statement, however, was not given official credence. 

The next brig to be chartered after the ill-fated Lady Dennison was the Punch. She was to carry 12 long sentence prisoners — including several 'lifers' and a few escaped convicts— to Hobart. There were only three guards to look after these men but, in view of the supposed fate of the Lady Dennison, the captain had taken the precaution to strengthen the convicts' quarters and to install a chain cable to which the prisoners could be shackled in the event of a disturbance. There were as well three cabin and four steerage passengers. 

The road to Port Adelaide at this time was apparently in a shocking condition, for one of the passengers describes the journey to the ship in one of the 'Port passenger carts' as 'an introduction to an anticipated passage in a small brig.' 

Not having been informed that convicts would be travelling on the same vessel, he was surprised to see two sentries, fully armed, pacing the deck. Finding the captain's cabin exceptionally well armed made him no easier until the position was explained. Being eager to travel to Tasmania as quickly as possible, he decided, rather hesitatingly, in view of the Lady Dennison incident, to share a cabin. He found, too, that an other cabin passenger — a woman — was the wife of one of the convicts. 

All went well until, when passing Kangaroo Island, the sea became rough and the captain took the precaution to shackle the most unruly of the prisoners. 

Presently the cook came to him in a very troubled state. 'I don't like your lady passenger, the wife of one of the prisoners.' he said. 'I noticed that one of her trunks is very heavy, and there is something suspicious about it. I am engaged to marry a young woman in Adelaide, and she was quite upset when I parted with her. I told her that we were only making a short trip, but she kept on crying, and at last said — 'You will never come back, nor will the brig ever reach Hobart, as I overheard a conversation between that passenger and one of her friends to that effect.'' 

Following this unexpected warning, the captain kept an even stricter watch, and, on hearing an unusual noise between decks, found a number of the convicts half-intoxicated. He shackled the worst of them to the chain cable, and went to bed very uneasy in his mind, as he knew that to obtain the liquor the prisoners must have had confederates on board. 

Shortly before midnight, while the sea was still running high, the captain heard the cry of a guard, and rushed out to find the warders beating back the prisoners as they attempted to escape up the main hatch, which had been left half open. The captain, a burly man, 6 ft. or more in height, used his weight with effect, and the convicts were beaten back and chained to the cable, with the threat that if any further disturbance occurred they would be thrown over the side attached to the chain. 

Remembering his woman passenger and how she had told him not to trouble to investigate the noise he had heard earlier in the evening, he demanded the keys of her trunks. At first she was abusive, but when the captain threatened to have them forced open she produced the keys. Loaded pistols, cutlasses, charts and other essentials for a voyage were found in the heavier one. She was ordered to her cabin for the rest of the voyage, and a daily visit from her husband, which had been allowed, was stopped. The captain ordered his crew to arm themselves and to be always in readiness, and he took the precaution of adding a member of the crew to the guards. 

The rest of the voyage was made in rough and foggy weather. The Derwent was eventually reached, however, and the prisoners brought on deck and their names called. A file of soldiers was waiting with fixed bayonets to escort them to prison. 

Before they were taken away, however, the prisoner whose wife was on board, spoke to the captain. 'Captain, I want to ask you if you will accept a small token from me as a memento of the voyage,' he said coolly. 'Among my wife's luggage there is a trunk I wish you to accept with its contents. In it you will find charts and other articles which we intended to use if the opportunity occurred. It is useless to deny that it was our intention to seize the ship and compel the crew to steer for California. We were foiled in our purpose, and we must now submit as patiently as we can to our destiny.' 

No action was taken against his wife, who opened a small business in Hobart, and, after a time, applied for her husband and obtained him as an as signed servant under the convict regulations of the day.— H.

Real Ghost Story

When I was a young lad I was always eager to hear ghost stories. On one occasion I was on my way to a neighbor's place with a message, and called in at a house to get a drink. While I was there some of the men started telling ghost yarns, and I sat down to listen. One story followed another until it was nearly pitch dark. At last I got up to continue my journey, and for a time I was quite nervous. All went well, however, until in front of me there suddenly rose out of the ground a horned demon dressed in white. For a moment I was paralysed with terror, and than I rushed through the paddock as fast as I could. I ran till I was tired, and then turned and sat down. The 'ghost' was still visible, so I decided to creep back and have a look at it. I dared not go back to the house, for the men would have teased the life out of me, so I crept back to where I could still see the 'ghost,' dim and motionless. You can imagine my feelings when I saw that it was only an old white bullock that had been lying down in the path, and had scrambled up when it heard me coming. — 'Curly,' Spalding.

Good Travelling

A recent discussion about the speed of motor lorries compared with horse teams for carting wheat, reminded me of a man who lived at Spalding many years ago. There being no railway to that town at the time, he used to cart his wheat to Jamestown. He could carry only 30 bags at a time, but he has been known to take two loads to Jamestown in a day, although not with the same team. He used to leave Spalding about 1 or 2 a.m., and arrive in Jamestown soon after the yards opened. Having un loaded his wheat, he would rush home and hitch another team (which his wife had got ready for him) into the waggon. He would then load up again and be in Jamestown a second time before the yards closed. On one occasion a man who had just arrived at Jamestown in his sulky was heard to remark, 'I thought I was going fairly fast, but ' Jim Cross passed me with 30 bags of wheat on his waggon.' As Jim's horses were not very heavy draughts, he used to trot them when ever the road was favorable.— 'Curly,' Spalding.

Arrival Of Governor Gawler

On October 12, 1838, South Australia's second Governor, Colonel Gawler, arrived at Holdfast Bay. No arrangements had been made for a public reception, but it was known that his Excellency, after leaving the vessel, would travel to Adelaide on horseback. A party of about 20 horsemen therefore, rode out to meet him. 

On the way they met an unpretentious looking vehicle drawn by one horse. It contained a woman with her children and one servant. Other than the driver there was no escort. The members of the welcoming party rode on quite unaware that they had passed the Governor's wife and children. 

Shortly afterwards they saw in the distance a large cloud of dust rapidly approaching along the rough track which was then used as a main road. A few minutes later his Excellency, mounted on a fine horse and accompanied by a small escort, galloped past. The members of the party fell in at the rear and followed at distance which varied according to the speed of their horses. 

On arrival at the humble thatch-roofed building which then formed Government House, his Excellency was greeted by a crowd of settlers, and also by a large gathering of Aborigines, who were accompanied by an interpreter. 

After delivering a stirring oration to the settlers, Governor Gawler, with the assistance of the interpreter, gave an address to his 'black brethren,' as he called the natives. He spoke at such a rate, however, that the interpreter found it impossible to keep pace and the black brethren were left almost totally in the dark as to what it was all about. 

On concluding his address, the Governor waved his cocked hat, which was adorned with a white feather, and promised that the natives would have a plentiful supply of food. An agile blackfellow who had climbed into the top-most branches of an overhanging tree, peered down through the foliage and cried out, 'Plenty tucker! Berry good cockatoo Gubernor!' The remark caused much merriment in which his Excellency joined whole-heartedly. Thus ended one of the most remarkable receptions ever accorded an Australian governor. — A.H.B.