Hogarth's (L) happiness on Beer Street and (R) drunkeness on Gin Lane
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Convicts on deck "taking the air"
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Offending convicts & crew were given the lash
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THE HEALTH OF THE FIRST FLEET
Introductory Background
When analysing the convicts’ state of health, prior and during the long voyage, it is essential to consider their living conditions and how they were confined when sentenced.
The majority of First Fleet convicts came from the poorest of the established English class system, who were mostly unemployed and desperate because of the adverse economic conditions of the time. They were forced to live in appalling squalor in tiny overcrowded lodgings, where personal hygiene, immorality and depravity was not much better than what prisoners endured during their incarceration.
English prisons were dens of iniquity and vice, permeated with the foulest diseases brought on by lack of sanitation and hygiene. The hulks were old unseaworthy vessels, operated by private contractors, and used as prisons to accommodate those sentenced to transportation. Many convicts were imprisoned in the hulks for years awaiting transportation to America, remaining there after England lost the American Colonies in the War of Independence. Conditions in the hulks were just as horrendous as the gaols. The convicts laboured in chains and fetters on public works – either on the wharves or dredging silt by hand around the dockside, constantly immersed in the fetid Thames River which was virtually an open sewer. On 21 October 1786, The Times newspaper reported that "orders had come there for the men to work double tides to get those ships out of dock [in Depford on the Thames] which are to sail to Botany Bay".
Preparation for the Voyage
Prior to the departure of the eleven ships of the First Fleet, Arthur Phillip spent much of his time writing to members of Government endeavouring to improve accommodation, food and medical supplies.
Phillip explained: “the situation in which magistrates sent the women on board Lady Penrhyn, stamps them with infamy – tho’ almost naked, and so very filthy, that nothing but cloathing (sic) them could have prevented them from perishing, and which could not be done in time to prevent a fever, which is still on board that ship, and where there are many venereal complaints that must spread in spite of every precaution I may take hereafter, and will be fatal to themselves.”
Over several weeks transportees, manacled in pairs, crossed in lighters to the anchored ships in Portsmouth harbour to be imprisoned in the ship’s holds awaiting their departure. The manacled prisoners spent their days below deck, the air filled with fetid odour of unwashed humanity, primitive sanitary arrangements and acrid bilge-water. Marines kept the convicts under close guard, recalcitrant convicts being punished with up to one hundred and fifty lashes for their offences.
Portsmouth 13 May 1787
The Principal Surgeon, John White, visited all the transport ships in early March 1787 and reported that some had slight inflammatory complaints; others were lying in bed to avoid the cold which was intense and because they were inadequately clothed; others were debilitated by the effects of long imprisonment. Generally, morale was reportedly low because a medical gentleman from Portsmouth had told some convicts that they must “inevitably fall a sacrifice” to their malignant disorder.
Surgeon White requisitioned items that were additional to standard rations, such as sugar, currents, rice, sago, barley, wine, portable soup, tea and spices, for both marines and convicts. He ordered clothes for those who needed them, and fresh food, as the convicts had been on board for nearly four months on salt provisions. White also promoted that, for areas where the convicts were confined, a whitewash with quick lime be applied and disinfected by the explosion of gunpowder (the latest in sanitation practices at the time) to prevent “the unwholesome dampness” occasioned by “the breath of the people” in close confinement.
Most of the requests by Phillip and his Officers were approved and, additionally, the Government issued each convict with one year’s clothing: Two jackets; four woollen drawers; one hat; three shirts; four pairs of woollen stockings; three frocks; three trousers; three pairs of shoes; and soap to wash.
Once at sea, Phillip ordered that convicts be allowed on deck “in order to breathe purer air,” as promoted by Surgeon White. With this, their health improved. Much of the eventual success of the voyage can be attributed to Phillip’s meticulous attention to detail and his concern for the general well-being of all who were to sail with the Fleet.
Safe arrival
The eleven ships of the First Fleet departed from Portsmouth on a voyage of 15,900 miles, taking 184 days, with a complement of 1530 sailors, marines and convicts. This was the most challenging voyage ever attempted, one that exposed them to all the perils that can be experienced while crossing vast oceans; and incapacitated by the notorious ships’ diseases of scurvy, flux and fever. The fact that 1483 of the ships’ complement reached Sydney Cove is an enduring tribute to the health management of Arthur Phillip, his Officers and staff.
Sources:
- Fellowship of First Fleeters, Founders magazine, page 10, January/February 2011 issue, written by John Boyd, Research Officer.
- Honour Guides the Prow, by Elisabeth Curtis and Gillian Doyle
Images: From the internet. Top (L) William Hogarth, an artist noted for engravings that satirized the affectations of his time, in particular social and moral issues. Source National Gallery London. Web: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/william-hogarth.
© Arthur Phillip Chapter of Fellowship of First Fleeters 2023 -
Introductory Background
When analysing the convicts’ state of health, prior and during the long voyage, it is essential to consider their living conditions and how they were confined when sentenced.
The majority of First Fleet convicts came from the poorest of the established English class system, who were mostly unemployed and desperate because of the adverse economic conditions of the time. They were forced to live in appalling squalor in tiny overcrowded lodgings, where personal hygiene, immorality and depravity was not much better than what prisoners endured during their incarceration.
English prisons were dens of iniquity and vice, permeated with the foulest diseases brought on by lack of sanitation and hygiene. The hulks were old unseaworthy vessels, operated by private contractors, and used as prisons to accommodate those sentenced to transportation. Many convicts were imprisoned in the hulks for years awaiting transportation to America, remaining there after England lost the American Colonies in the War of Independence. Conditions in the hulks were just as horrendous as the gaols. The convicts laboured in chains and fetters on public works – either on the wharves or dredging silt by hand around the dockside, constantly immersed in the fetid Thames River which was virtually an open sewer. On 21 October 1786, The Times newspaper reported that "orders had come there for the men to work double tides to get those ships out of dock [in Depford on the Thames] which are to sail to Botany Bay".
Preparation for the Voyage
Prior to the departure of the eleven ships of the First Fleet, Arthur Phillip spent much of his time writing to members of Government endeavouring to improve accommodation, food and medical supplies.
- He complained of overcrowding on Alexander, pointing out “it will be very difficult to prevent the most fatal sickness amongst men so closely confined”.
- He asked that Friendship be employed as a hospital ship; and drew attention to the lack of surgeon’s instruments.
- He requested antiscorbutics for both marines and convicts, thus protecting “the garrison and convicts [who] are being sent to the extremity of the globe as they would be sent to America, which is only a six-week passage.”
- He asked for fresh meat for the convicts while the ships were in port; also wine for the sick (convicts were allowed only water).
- He requested that all the convicts should be washed and clothed before leaving the prisons or hulks for transfer to where the ships of the First Fleet were anchored.
Phillip explained: “the situation in which magistrates sent the women on board Lady Penrhyn, stamps them with infamy – tho’ almost naked, and so very filthy, that nothing but cloathing (sic) them could have prevented them from perishing, and which could not be done in time to prevent a fever, which is still on board that ship, and where there are many venereal complaints that must spread in spite of every precaution I may take hereafter, and will be fatal to themselves.”
Over several weeks transportees, manacled in pairs, crossed in lighters to the anchored ships in Portsmouth harbour to be imprisoned in the ship’s holds awaiting their departure. The manacled prisoners spent their days below deck, the air filled with fetid odour of unwashed humanity, primitive sanitary arrangements and acrid bilge-water. Marines kept the convicts under close guard, recalcitrant convicts being punished with up to one hundred and fifty lashes for their offences.
Portsmouth 13 May 1787
The Principal Surgeon, John White, visited all the transport ships in early March 1787 and reported that some had slight inflammatory complaints; others were lying in bed to avoid the cold which was intense and because they were inadequately clothed; others were debilitated by the effects of long imprisonment. Generally, morale was reportedly low because a medical gentleman from Portsmouth had told some convicts that they must “inevitably fall a sacrifice” to their malignant disorder.
Surgeon White requisitioned items that were additional to standard rations, such as sugar, currents, rice, sago, barley, wine, portable soup, tea and spices, for both marines and convicts. He ordered clothes for those who needed them, and fresh food, as the convicts had been on board for nearly four months on salt provisions. White also promoted that, for areas where the convicts were confined, a whitewash with quick lime be applied and disinfected by the explosion of gunpowder (the latest in sanitation practices at the time) to prevent “the unwholesome dampness” occasioned by “the breath of the people” in close confinement.
Most of the requests by Phillip and his Officers were approved and, additionally, the Government issued each convict with one year’s clothing: Two jackets; four woollen drawers; one hat; three shirts; four pairs of woollen stockings; three frocks; three trousers; three pairs of shoes; and soap to wash.
Once at sea, Phillip ordered that convicts be allowed on deck “in order to breathe purer air,” as promoted by Surgeon White. With this, their health improved. Much of the eventual success of the voyage can be attributed to Phillip’s meticulous attention to detail and his concern for the general well-being of all who were to sail with the Fleet.
Safe arrival
The eleven ships of the First Fleet departed from Portsmouth on a voyage of 15,900 miles, taking 184 days, with a complement of 1530 sailors, marines and convicts. This was the most challenging voyage ever attempted, one that exposed them to all the perils that can be experienced while crossing vast oceans; and incapacitated by the notorious ships’ diseases of scurvy, flux and fever. The fact that 1483 of the ships’ complement reached Sydney Cove is an enduring tribute to the health management of Arthur Phillip, his Officers and staff.
Sources:
- Fellowship of First Fleeters, Founders magazine, page 10, January/February 2011 issue, written by John Boyd, Research Officer.
- Honour Guides the Prow, by Elisabeth Curtis and Gillian Doyle
Images: From the internet. Top (L) William Hogarth, an artist noted for engravings that satirized the affectations of his time, in particular social and moral issues. Source National Gallery London. Web: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/william-hogarth.
© Arthur Phillip Chapter of Fellowship of First Fleeters 2023 -
