Bound for South Australia 1836

All Dressed UpWeek 25

Luke and Harriet Broadbent, ca. 1850

Overview

Between February and July 1836 nine ships left Britain bound for the newly created province of South Australia. On-board the ships were passengers who over many long months braved the perils of the ocean, including some of the most treacherous seas in the world to begin a new life on the other side of the world.

This resource uses the stories from these nine ships as recorded by the passengers and crew in their personal journals.

Contents

• Introduction• Journal entries• Inquiry Questions• Relevant images • Glossary of terms

Introduction

This week Hutchinson tells us from onboard the Buffalo of hisadventures jumping overboard fully clothed to retrieve abeam. No sooner had he splashed into the sea he was alertedby those onboard that he had been joined by some sea animals withrather large fins. Luckily it turned out to be a pod of dolphins attractedto the barnacles and limpets attached to the beam. We can onlyimagine how sodden and wet Hutchinson’s clothes were when heeventually climbed back onboard. What kind of clothes would he havebeen wearing? How would he have washed and dried his clothes anddid he have a change of dry clothes to change into? We’ll take a closerlook at what people were wearing in 1836 and how fashion, gender,social class and textiles influenced the way people dressed.

Young Bingham Hutchinson, on board the Buffalo wrote:

Saturday, Augt 13. Light winds & fine. West. Close hauled. 3 Sail in sight.Noon. Do Wr. Miles run, 1110 + 76 = 1186. Late 35E33 N′ o. Longe 16E26 W.′Hove to, to pick up a beam of deal, covered in barnacles. Having obtain--ed permission, I leaped overboard in my clothes, & swam towardthe boat: some of my companions called out that a shark wasfollowing me, so I got astride of the log, where the fish follow--ed me, but proved to be a few dolphins, attracted by the le--pas on the wood: after scraping them off, it was hoisted in.P.M. Fine weather & light winds. Steering S.W. People very merry.

Journals from passengers at sea:Saturday 13 August 1836

Inquiry Questions

• What kinds of clothes did passengers and crew wear onboard?

• How did people keep their clothes clean?

• What differences were there in the clothing of men and women? What about people of different social classes?

• How many spare clothes were people allowed to pack for the journey?

Images

"The Moralist" engraved by Freeman after a picture by J.Smith, published in a fashion magazine, 1834

“The Morning Walk" engraved by Hollis after a picture by Lawrence, published in a fashion magazine, 1834

Lepas Anatifera or Barnacle Shell ..." copper engraving published in Zoological Lectures delivered to the Royal Institution by George Shaw, 1809

[ Common, Flat & Striated Limpets ] (patella - shells) copper engraved print published in a natural history book, possibly by Thomas Pennant, about 1760.

“Dauphin a sourcils blancs, delphinus superciliosus" and "Dauphin cruciger, Delphinus cruciger" engraved by Mme.Massard after a picture by Vauthier.

Glossary of Terms

Hove to• To ‘heave to’ is to reduce a ship’s sails and adjust them so they counteract each other and stop

the ship making progress. It is a safety measure used to deal with strong winds.Latitude• Latitude is the distance of a point north or south of the equator as measured in degrees. The

poles are at 90 degrees north and south.Lepas• Lepas are stalked barnacles (shell fish) that attach themselves to the bottoms of ships or pieces

of floating timber.Longitude• Longitude is the distance, measured in degrees, of the meridian on which a point lies to the

meridian of Greenwich. On the other side of the earth to Greenwich is a point with a longitude of both 180 degrees east and 180 degrees west.

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