Slavery's transatlantic Middle Passage, the hideous benchmark for maritime mortality, witnessed a gradual decrease from 15.6% in the first half of the 1700s to a fairly consistent 10% in the 19th century, at which time 1% to 2.5% was considered a reasonable ‘ normal ’ benchmark for Europeans at sea. The mortality rate on ‘ Coffin Ships ’ has often been quoted to have been 20%. Yet McMahon has stated that the mortality rates on ships carrying Irish emigrants in those times to New York, the main American port of entry, exceeded 3% only in 1849 and 1853, while the average mortality rate for ships headed from Ireland to New York in 1847 was a mere 1.33%. However, those emigrating to Canada in 1847 were not so fortunate, as almost 11% of the 98,749 Irish emigrants who embarked, or were born en route to Canada, died. While Typhus was a major contributor, it remains surprising that the ports of embarkation also proved to be a major risk factor for those emigrants. The two deadliest voyage routes in 1847 were Liverpool to Quebec (27,051 Irish passengers) with 15.36% mortality and Cork to Quebec (10,205 Irish passengers) with 18.66% mortality: fatality rates approaching that 20% of ‘ Coffin Ship ’ legend. Limerick, Ireland's second busiest emigration port in 1847, lost only 3.28%, while Sligo, which shipped half as many, lost 11.18%. Belfast and Dublin, the third and fourth busiest emigration ports, lost 4.36% and 7.72% respectively. The statistics varied not only between ports, but also between ships sailing out of those ports. So, we find that out of the thirty-three emigrant vessels that sailed out of Cork in 1847, twenty-one had mortality rates between 'normal' and 15%, five between 15% and 20% and seven over 20%. The latter seven were responsible for 45% (almost half) of all the deaths, with two vessels on that Cork to Quebec route, the barque Avon and the barque Bee , having mortality rates of 55.28% and 46.88% (McMahon).
Charbonneau and Sévigny provided the following data on Bee and Avon
ARRIVAL SHIP
MASTER
VOYAGE
PASSENGERS
ARRIVAL
LATER DIED
DEAD
SICK 157
May 24
Bee
T Muir
37 days (Cork) 54 days (Cork)
373
77
88
July 12
Avon
M Johnston
552
137
140
110
This table does not represent the total toll, since further deaths of emigrants occurred after their transfer up-river to hospitals in Quebec City, Montreal and beyond. How did the above outcomes compare for the Cork emigrant ships in Section 4 that voyaged to Grosse Île, the Quebec Quarantine Station, in 1847?
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