PART I CALENDAR OF CORK EMIGRANT SHIP SAILINGS 1815-60
The bark Sir Henry Pottinger (543t) of Bristol with 399 passengers had 116 sick and 98 dead on arrival at Quebec from Cork.
Fig. 9: Emigrants on the Quay in Cork.
* Deaths of Cork Master Mariners Captain William Hyde of Cove, master of the Cork barque, Governor Douglas , since 1839 died on 10 May 1847, en route to New Brunswick, as reported by Capt. Walsh of Despatch , who was informed on the Banks, en route to Quebec. Captain Robert Hall of Aberdeen, master of the Cork barque, Pallas , since 1832, died in June 1847 of typhus, after being put ashore at the quarantine station on Partridge Island. These two master mariners had once captained the Eliza Ann of Cork. While shipwreck at sea was always a concern, epidemic illnesses and accidents were the chief causes of passenger and crew death while at sea, and a deathrate of 2% was considered Improved screening regulations at the Port of Liverpool. The Montreal Gazette published an official report from Grosse Île. According to the document, there was a substantial decline in the number of sick emigrants arriving at the quarantine station as well as in the number of deaths during the journey overseas. In general, emigrants arrived in much better health than at the beginning of the season; the improvement was particularly marked among those from Liverpool, who used to be in the worst condition. These improvements were attributed to the new regulations in force in the port of Liverpool, which required that steamers carrying emigrants from Ireland be inspected by a medical officer. If people had died or fallen ill on board, the steamers were immediately placed in quarantine in Liverpool. As a result of these measures, Irish emigrants underwent a selection process: all sick or doubtful-looking passengers were rejected unless they could produce a medical certificate attesting that they did not have typhus. The steamers also doubled the price of a ticket across the Irish Sea (Charbonneau & Sévigny 1997, 115). * Report of the Chief Emigration Officer for Quebec, November 1847 By the return of the Quebec Chief Emigration Officer Alexander Buchanan , who replaced his uncle Alexander Buchanan in 1838, we learn that the whole number of emigrants arrived within normal range for transatlantic passages. * Emigrant Screening, Liverpool, 1 Jul 1847
63
Copyright John Sutton 2025 All Rights Reserved
Powered by FlippingBook