This tale of two tall ships compares the historic Dutch tall ship, Oosterschelde with the 1860s immigration ship, Brother’s Pride. Both are three masted top sail tall ships, and both journeyed to the Port of Lyttelton, New Zealand, 161 years apart. This reflection looks at why these two tall ships are of interest to me.
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New Year’s Day and time for a bit of ship spotting
Two significant ships, separated by over 100 years of history and a few hundred meters of water, are berthed at the Port of Lyttelton, New Zealand today. The weather is overcast and moody. It had been raining when we left home but once through the tunnel, the rain had stopped.
As we exited the tunnel the Norwegian Viking Venus cruise ship dominates the view. A bit later, in the warmth of the local Coffee Culture café, I search for information about the Viking Venus. It’s a 228 metre (745 foot) long small cruise ship built in 2021, carrying only 930 passengers (adults only).
But we’re not here to look at cruise ships. The ship we’ve come to see is the historic Dutch tall ship, Oosterschelde. Built in 1918, the restored three masted top sail schooner is, at first, lost amongst the forest of masts moored in the Te Ana Marina and dwarfed by the Dry bulk carrier, Pan Optimum (see the image at the top of this page).
However, once you find her, she draws your attention. Compared to the Viking Venus and the bulky orange hull Pan Optimum nearby, she is tiny.
Oosterschelde’s overall length is 50 metres (164 feet) but from stern to stern is just 40.12 metres (131 feet). Her width is 7.5 metres (24.6 feet). She was one of the last sailing cargo ships built and has had a very interesting history which you can learn more about here.
Ancestral Migration Journeys on more than Two Tall Ships
Before you start thinking I’m a geeky ship spotter (I’m not), my real interest in the Oosterschelde is to get a sense of the size of a three masted tall ship. Primarily because some of my ancestors sailed to New Zealand on several, not just two, tall ships in the 1860s and 1870s.
Of particular interest to me are my ancestors who were the first to emigrate to New Zealand. Specifically my newlywed great great grandparents, Joseph and Jane Rountree, who, in 1863, followed their cousins, Robert and Jane Coleman to the new Canterbury Association settlement of Christchurch.
My great great grandparents boarded the clipper ship Brother’s Pride in Gravesend, England on 23 July 1863. According to the newspaper advertisement for the voyage, the three masted ship was built in 1858 (New Brunswick, Canada) “expressly for the passenger trade and fitted with every modern appliance.” It was 179.8 feet (54.5 metres) long and 37.7 feet (11.49 metres) wide.
There are 371 people on the Canterbury Association Government assisted passenger list but that does not reflect the total number on board. The assisted passenger list was a record of debt they owed to the colony.
400-500 People Crammed on a Small Tall Ship
Passengers who could pay their fare in full, or who worked their passage as crew were not included on the list. The captain of the Brother’s Pride, Alexander Glendenning, stated during an in-depth inquiry into the treatment of passengers on the voyage (held in early February 1864) that there were 400-500 people aboard the Brother’s Pride.
As I look across the marina at Oosterschelde, I find it astounding that a ship not much bigger that this carried so many passengers on a several months’ long journey from England to New Zealand. Especially when I look over at the Viking Venus as a modern day comparison.
My reflections return to my great great grandparents. I wonder, as I have so often, why they would leave everything they knew behind them, and undergo such a dangerous journey to travel to the end of the earth.
What had life been like for them in Ireland? Had the future there seemed so hopeless that they would choose to embark on a heroic quest with an unknown outcome? Did they dream of building a much better life in the new colony for themselves, their future children and descendants?
Unfortunately, despite having worked closely with my cousins on a 530-page family history book, I will never know the answers. I can only speculate the reasons why, and continue to be very grateful for the risks they took, and how I have benefited by being a fifth generation New Zealander.
Thankfully, the journey of the Brother’s Pride is detailed in Belinda Lansley’s book In Sickness and in Health: Brother’s Pride and Bahia.: Two Ships. Two Fates. One Arrival Date. Lyttelton Heads, 1863. (Ancestral Journeys of New Zealand).
On 7 December 1863, two tall ships arrived at the Lyttelton Heads with very different stories of their journey from England. The Bahia quickly sailed into port, while the Brother’s Pride was ordered to raise the yellow flag and go into quarantine. One ship had healthy passengers while the other had endured 46 deaths due to illness, setting an unenviable record at the port of Lyttelton. Using historic archives, passenger lists, passenger biographies and the official enquiry into the Brother’s Pride tragedy, this book is a great read for those with ancestors on the ship and those interested in early New Zealand history.
I met Belinda while she was finishing her book, and mentioned my connection to the Brother’s Pride, which she managed to include in the book just before going to print!
The reasons for the in-depth inquiry and subsequent court trial of Captain Glendenning mentioned above was due to the overcrowded ship, poor management, and the tragic voyage endured by all aboard.
I thoroughly encourage you to get a copy of Belinda’s book and read all about the journey of these two tall ships, even if you don’t have a connection to either ship. The book gives you insight into life aboard an 1860 immigration vessel, and a new appreciation for our risks our immigrant ancestors took.
4 Weeks in Quarantine
As mentioned in the above blurb for Belinda’s book about two tall ships who left England on the same day, Brother’s Pride arrived at the Lyttelton Heads on 7 December 1863, just 9 days prior to the 13th anniversary of the arrival of the first two two tall ships that made up the first four Canterbury pilgrim ships. In 1863 the settlement of Christchurch was still very new and there was a lot of work for new arrivals to do.
Quarantine for the 400 – 500 souls aboard Brother’s Pride meant being landed at Camp Bay on the opposite side of the harbour.
Conditions at Camp Bay were only slightly better than on the ship. The huts leaked when it rained as they were poorly constructed. The drains were uncovered, and combined with badly positioned ablution and cooking facilities, the quarantined suffered further from the poor sanitation and stench. Two more people died at camp.
As I stand and look across the harbour now, I feel empathy for all stuck at Camp Bay 161 years ago. I really can’t imagine the horror of what it would have been like – so close to your new life, but forced to live in squalor. What were they thinking about, as they endured more misery, and looked at the brown tussock covered hills around them? Were they regretting their decisions, and wishing they’d never left their lives in England, Scotland and Ireland?
Released from Quarantine to a Life of Hardship
My great great grandmother Jane was in her third trimester of pregnancy with her first child by now. The conditions aboard the ship and in quarantine would not have been beneficial for a pregnant woman. She would have been very relieved when, on 5 January 1864, the passengers were released from quarantine. The women and children were ferried by sea around the Lyttelton Heads to Sumner. The men taken across to Lyttelton Port, and then had to walk over the Port Hills via the track now called the Bridle Path.
Life in the new settlement was full of hardship for Joseph and Jane as they struggled to build a decent life for themselves and their children. Two months after leaving quarantine Jane gave birth to son Walter. He survived two or so weeks, and is buried in an unmarked grave at Barbadoes Street cemetery. They went on to have another eight children. Two more died as infants from pneumonia. One died in her twenties. These three are also buried in unmarked graves at Barbardoes Street cemetery.
Joseph and Jane passed away in their 70s, having finally settled on one son’s farm in Hawarden, Canterbury. But that is a reflection for another day. Today is about appreciating their survival of an ill-fated voyage on a tall sailing ship not much bigger than the one berthed in the marina, and wondering what they’d make of modern day luxury passenger ships like the Viking Venus.
Creating a family history book is one of the best legacies you can share and leave for your descendants. I provide workshops, courses and mentoring to assist you with the writing, editing and publishing process. Learn more here.
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