The Partial Diary of "Honest" John Martin, Young Irelander, 1812-1875 Co. Down, Ireland

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Monday 1 October Lat Long

Very pleasant weather and very beautiful. Bright sunny sky and clear dry temperate air. Indeed quite too warm for comfort, in the sun, at noon. Surely Summer must be very warm at Sidney when the early Spring (this corresponds to the 1st of April) is so mild. The breeze which was blowing very brisk in the morning at 8 to 9 & had been very strong all night died away rapidly as noon approached; and from noon till near sunset we had a calm. A boat was let down and the Captain rowed round the Ship inspecting her sides. If the calm had lasted long, perhaps he would have had them scrubbed so as to make the old ship as clean & respectable outside as she will be inside, on her arrival in port. The two officers accompanied the Capt in the boat, & they rowed

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out to a place in the wake where a crowd of pigeons & mollyhawks & Albatrosses were sitting on the water occupied with some refuse thrown overboard. A big Albatross was wounded by one of their shots.

O’D and I packed up our things and consulted & arranged mutually about our disbursements in the way of gratuities &c. We expect to land with L5 each.

Tuesday Oct 2 Lat Long

The breeze which sprung up yesterday evening is dead against us, blowing nearly N.NW. We are keeping as close as the Ship will go to the wind steering about NE & intending to tack. We had been going last night W NW or W (I think) till we went on the other tack at midnight, --as I felt by having my head let down to a lower level then my feet & awaking in nightmare. It blew quite fresh all day. At 2 O’C p.m. the wind veered

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round to WSW and we went NW Then at 10 p.m. we had a heavy shower of rain & immediately after a dead calm which was soon changed to a violent puff of wind from the West; and then followed a pretty strong breeze from NW.

Last night at 12 O’Clock when we tacked we were very near land, within about 12 or 15 miles of it, and it was clearly visible in the moonlight But OD & I were in bed. This morning at 6 to 7, though we had been hearing away from it since 12, we saw the headlands & high coast very plain. The place is near Lewis Bay, they tell me. We lost sight of it again about 8 to 9 a.m.

Beautiful weather as man can wish. Quite mild pleasant temperature & the sun very bright & warm. The Sunset this ev.g was one of the most beautiful I ever saw. Not only was there a bright golden fringed edge to a great mass of cloud, shading

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away into blackness to the South of the place of the departing sun, and also the brilliant rayed golden light in the heaven above his place & the rich orange and purple upon the waves beneath, but there was a little very clearly defined cloud all golden, resting upon the horizon for many minutes exactly in the tracks of the departed luminary, as if a portion of his robes left behind. This climate is most delightful. The nights too are quite mild & pleasant.

We expected to get into Port by 8 or 10 O’C A.M. tomorrow: but the change in the wind at 10 this night has driven us away to the Eastward.

Wednesday October 3 Lat    Long

At ½ past 6 this morning, land in sight again. I saw it at ½ past 7, a long line of bold coast, very clearly defined & bearing west of us perhaps 20 or 25 miles. We had a strong breeze blowing right off the land & we sailed NW as near as the wind

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as we could go. We passed the mouth of Sidney Harbour, some 20 miles away, about 9 O’Clock a.m. Beautiful bright weather. At 10 O’C we tacked & went SW or as near that course as we could.

With the telescope, at 9 O’C the lighthouse of Sidney was visible. And at ½ past 10 I saw clearly smoke rising in great volumes from headland to the North of Sidney. Mr Roney says they are burning the bush.

We saw a whale lying to yesterday morning, & this mor.g we saw the smoke of a steamer steering south along the coast.

The breeze died away rapidly as the day advanced and at noon we were quite becalmed. In the next 2 or 3 hours we kept tacking and turning & trying to coax the ship in the direction of Sidney. At length at nearly 3 p.m. a light breeze sprung up from the E which carried us quickly and smoothly into Sidney Harbour at 5 p.m.

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I was greatly amused with the cool indifferent manner of the Pilot when he boarded us a mile or two outside the entrance. He climbed up our Ship’s side, ran up the Poop ladder & took charge of the ship at once with hardly a word or look at any authority or individual on board. The little dog Dick immediately remarked him as an intruder & barked indignantly at him. He told our Officers the Sidney news & handed Sidney papers of today. A ship from London the 28th June reached Sidney a few days ago in 88 days (we are 97) All the world here is wild for California. Several ships have gone already & several more are advertised. And many

emigrants sent out at the public expense have betaken themselves to the "diggins." It is reported here that S. O’Brien and the other 3 are coming out in a Gun Brig to Hobart Town. –There has been no rain at Sidney for 2 months & the country is sadly parched up & great numbers of sheep are said to have perished.

At 5 O’C we passed through between the heads, and turning round a lightship upon "the Sow and Pigs" rock in front of the mouth We in a few minutes lost sight of the mouth of the harbour &

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found ourselves in a capricious lake surrounded with wooded steep hills showing here and there a whitish sandy parched soil thinly scattered upon the rocky surface. The steep banks project in promontories all around, and the smooth lake-like sea retreats in shady creeks & bays. Gay summer looking cottages & villas appear among the bushes in the steep overhanging banks & down at the water’s edge. A splendid blue sky with a strong beaming sun & clear dry atmosphere dress the whole landscape and the harbour in a robe of soft light. –How much of the beauty of a landscape depends upon the Sun & the atmosphere! --This harbour in some general features resembles Cove Harbour. But the sun & sky of this climate are wanting at Cove, except in some favoured June or September days. And alas the huts of wretchedness are always there, or if not, always seem are always in my mind.

The pilot informed us that we must not approach the town (or city) without express orders from the authorities. It appears the colonists are at issue with the the Home Government about

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the sending of convicts, --in all the settlements of Australia. Even at Moreton Bay (to which place this human cargo is consigned) the colonists protest against receiving any more. [NB The pilot misrepresented the facts, so far as Moreton Bay was concerned.] And the Pilot gave us to understand that our convicts would probably stop here –We anchored at nearly 6 pm about a mile inside the harbour.

Both O’D & I felt bilious and sick. It must be the change of climate. So we both took doses of calomel and rhubarb, as preventatives.

Mr. Stothard kindly informed me that the Hydrabad (whose Captain visited my comrades at Richmond expecting to have them for passengers) which arrived out here some weeks ago is going to sail tomorrow for India; and that it would be well to send letters by the Captain. So I wrote one.

Thursday Oct 4th Sidney Harbour.

Neither of us could sleep hardly any last night. It was rather warm. The noises on deck were not greater I think than usual during the time we were at sea, but they were different. There we lay perfectly still & were neither rocked or pitched about. Then, what bothered us most, our shipmates in the adjoining cabins

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Mr. Richardson, the Boatswain, & the Carpenter were drinking on this joyful occasion, in company with Corp. McGee for a guest. And they took rather much for the heads of some of the party. And they became disputatious & abusive and outrageous—at least Mr R--& very noisy. We were unwilling and vexed auditors of the whole angry conversation. Mr. R. talked beastliness enough for a dozen whores & becoming both too comprehensive & too particular in his remarks upon female character for the endurance of the married men, the old boatswain was at length provoked to offer to strike him. So arose a furious quarrel on Mr R’s part. The carpenter did his best to make peace & I admired both him & the boatswain for their admirable feeling about their wives & their wonderful toleration for the manners of messmates.

All the causes & the nervous feeling that I think always attend one’s arrival or departure drove sleep from my eyes though I felt very desirous of sleeping.

This morning Capt. Castles of the Hydrabad accompanied by another Captain (of the Stately) came on board to visit our Capt. &c. He accosted me quite cordially & said he had often seen me though I think he must be quite mistaken. O’D had seen him. I gave him my letter which he will post at Hong Kong he says. The Stately goes

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in company. –I wrote another letter for conveyance (round the Horn) by the Lalla Rookh which is to sail today. Before finishing it, we had learned our fate here, so far as the Eng. Gov. is concerned. We are to be sent prisoners to Hobart Town, where we are to land with tickets of leave. The Superintendent of the Convicts, Capt McLean, was on board, & visited us & civilly inquired as to our treatment &c & told us he believed we would be sent to be confined at Parramatta till the sailing of the vessel (a schooner or brig) which is to take us to Hobart Town. It will sail about the 12th he says. –Soon after our Doctor returned from his visit ashore to report himself &c. He told us also that we were to go to Hobart Town & have tickets of leave there. But he says we can stay in this ship till the sailing of the other vessel. – Just as they like. But it is better to stay in our old prison than to go ashore for a new one.

I wrote all this & an account of the

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voyage & my health & of our pecuniary affairs & prospects, by the Lalla Rookh which lifted anchor & left harbour at sunset. –The Hydrabad did not sail this evg.

Our ship was worked up the harbour this morning, to within 1 mile or less of the town. Sidney has quite a fine appearance.

Tuesday October 16th

Here we lie at anchor in Sidney Harbour still and here we are to remain. Till next Friday or Saturday when we will be put aboard the Brig "Emma" which is to transport us to Hobart Town. It seems the government here at first proposed to send us by the Palmyra, brig, which was advertised to sail for Hobart Town on the 10th inst though I believe she is not gone yet): but the Commissary Gen’rl. – as I think having previously got information from the authorities & respectable persons who came in the ship with us that O’D and I are "gentlemen" and that we have behaved ourselves as "gentlemen" –went aboard to inspect the accommodations of the Palmyra and decided that they are not good enough for us. He then came aboard the Mount &c and inspected the cabin we occupy here that it might serve him as a model for the arrangements he had to make for our transport to Hobart Town. And we learned that it was settled to send us by the Emma, a good and handsome

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brig belonging to a Mr. McNamara an Irish settler here & a thriving merchant. This vessel was then expected in from Hobart Town, every day. She came in at last on Sunday the 14th; and as she sailed up the harbour, passing not far from our anchorage, O’D and I were very glad to see a conspicuous gilt Irish Harp, surrounded by a wreath of Shamrocks, upon her stern over the name.

--- Various official persons have been aboard on account of the ordinary convicts and of us. A process was going on for great part of 2 days, which I found at one time might bring us into unpleasant collision with the authorities. This was the taking and noting down very minutely all such particulars of each convicts personal appearance as might serve to detect him and prove his identity in case of future offences and escape from the execution. Not only the height, colour of hair & eyes, complexion, and general personal appearance as exhibited by the man with his clothes on, were noted, but the neck and breast, the arms and legs were stripped and all moles, warts, scars and abnormal appearances of every description were curiously searched for and noted down, with anxious exactness. The lips were parted so as to exhibit the teeth & gums, that all particulars as to their number colour &c might also be taken down. All this was done by two officials, both Irishmen, it would seem, viz the Chief Clerk of the Inspector of Convicts and his assistant. They brought aboard a big square shaped box. This being opened displayed the separate pieces of cabinet work, which when adjusted together formed a tall writing table or desk with a seat attached for Mr. Ryan (the Clerk) and resting upon the box itself as the ground work. There sat Mr. Ryan with his spectacles on his nose, and his keen cold official eyes watching and directing the practised movements of his assistant in detecting and noting the memorabilia of the Convicts’ persons. Before him on the desk lay a huge folio on whose wide pages he inscribed, in very clean and neatly accurate manuscript, the particulars of each individual case, He was a low sized stoutish built

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middle aged man, with a gruff formal but I think honest manner—one that I would expect to act with annoying conscientiousness about trifles and mere matters of ______ formality. ----Some of us heard, through Mr Liddell or Mr Stothard, that he intended to treat us like the other convicts and to require our personal marks & tokens by examining us on the quarter deck stripped up to the knees & to ____ headed and open mouthed and with shirt sleeves rolled up to our shoulders and our collars open to exhibit our necks & breasts to the public gaze. And it was added by our informant that our Doctor had remonstrated against anything beyond, at the most, a private inspection in his or our cabin. When O’D and I heard all this we considered the matter and resolved to refuse our consent to any personal examination beyond such as might be made by looking at us dressed as we appear to the public of our circle every day, without handling. So, the 2nd day of the inspection, the Inspector Capt. McLean being on board & visiting us, I mentioned the matter to him and told him that, in case any indignity of that or any sort were offered to us, we should refuse to consent and should also protest in writing to his Governor. I mentioned also the statements of Sir G Grey in his conversations with Sir L. O’Brien (as reported by the letter to S. O’Brien) to the effect that no indignity should be offered to his brother on the passage or afterwards; and treated that statement as applying equally to the 6 State prisoners. Mr. McLean professed himself desirous to treat us in all respects with civility & courtesy; and assuring us that he had no purpose of asking us to submit to any public inspection, or to the stripping of our persons, he rather impenetrated our consent to an interview in our own

cabin with Mr. Ryan for the purpose of taking our heigh , colour of eyes and hair

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and complexion. To this we had no great objection. So, a few hours after, Mr Ryan came down, and gruffly complaining of the insufficient light, took those particulars in accordance with his peculiar opinions on the subject. His book represents O’D as 5 ft 11 ½ in height, dark brown hair, hazel eyes, ruddy complexion, all his front teeth to the fore. "John Martin" is 5 ft 8 in height, has dark brown hair, hazel eyes, ruddy complexion, all his front teeth except the canine of the upper jaw of the right side.

Another official communication we have had was in consequence of the delays and multiplied transportations we are undergoing, and our sense of disagreeable fact of the exhausted conditions of purse. After giving a moderate sum among our various attendants—Robinson, the Steward, the Butcher &c –we would have exactly L10 between us on landing, immediately after our arrival. But here we are to remain, incurring an additional acct with our Captain for messing , & an additional obligation with our attendants; and then, the messing and attendants of the voyage to Hobart Town and of the journey thence to our inland township would take our entire stock & leave us not a shilling of capital to begin industrial life upon on the occasion of getting our tickets of leave. Thinking anxiously about all that, I made up my mind—induced in great measure by a conversation I have had with our Captain in which he expressed himself

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in the most benevolent and Christian spirit towards all mankind, and with particular esteem towards us, so far that he even stated the pleasure he would feel in going over to Ireland expressly to execute any commission I might give him—I made up my mind one day to write the Captain a note slightly stating the lowness of our purse and asking for a loan of L12 or L14, on the security of our orders upon our relatives at home. I desired him not to notice my letter in case he disliked my application.—I confess I was hurt when two days passed and he gave me no reply.—Yet what right have I to expect that he should trust to our honesty? --And so, his refusal, as we understood it, being on our minds, one day that Mr. McLean again visited us and, with his usual civility, inquired whether we had any question to ask him or any request of which he might dispose, O’D mentioned his want of sufficient cash for the discharge of such expenses as, we calculated, must attend our delay here and our removal to Van D.L. &c, and expressed his desire to be provided by the Gov’t with proper diet &c in the voyage, on the understanding that he should repay the am’t. when he could procure the means from his friends in Ireland. I would have much

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preferred omitting all reference to the subject But wishing for the 2 of us always to act together in our relations with the Eng. Gov. and feeling the serious truth of the facts about which he consulted the official, I said (when McLean turned to me) that my funds were exactly in the same condition with O’D’s; & that the delays and transportations most probably would leave us penniless in case we continued to pay for our mess till then; And I expressed my wish or rather intentions to depend upon such rations as the Eng Gov might give their prisoners, so long as they should keep me in prison—commencing from the date of my removal out of this ship:--but I added that I would repay that Gov its expense in messing me, when I should obtain funds of my own. I also remarked the fact that the Gov’t had been as yet at no cost for our mess since our first committals. Mr. McLean heard all this very courteously and explaining that the matter belonged properly not to his office but to that of the Commissary, and remarking to us that the Dep Commissary General was then on board, desired our consent to take a message from us requesting an interview with that functionary –adding knowingly that each official felt jealous of the interference of others with his proper department. So down came Mr Deputy Commissary General Ramsay, his long gilt spurs clanking against the steep steps of our hatchway ladder. Ramsay is a rather tall man some 50 to 60 years old; very stout and healthy looking with strong bright eyes

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a ruddy round plump weatherbeaten face, a head of snow white hair, an erect carriage and a bluff haughty &military manner. He heard our communication with much courtesy, and treated it very frankly and generously, assuring us that he would endeavour to make such arrangements about the matter as should please us. But he desired from us a formal application upon which he might act with official propriety; and we thought it right to promise to send him a note upon the subject by the Doctor, the next day. The next day I handed the Doctor, unsealed a note in these words

"On board the Mountstuart Elphinstone Convict Ship, Sidney Harbour, Oct 12th, 1849.

Sir With respect to the subject concerning which Mr. O’Dogherty and I consulted you yesterday, we wish it to be understood that we have no applications to make to the English Government.

We merely feel bound to state that the condition of our pecuniary resources will prevent us from paying for our mess during whatever time we may be kept in confinement, subsequent to our removal from this ship. But, whatever expense your Government may incur at that matter during our transport to Hobart Town and our removal thence to the township in which we are to have tickets of leave, and any other delays that may intervene before we be

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at liberty to attempt earning our own livelihood, we are willing to repay, so soon as we receive remittances from home or obtain funds in any other way.

I have the honour to be
      Sir

With a due sense of the courtesy we have received

from Mr. Ramsey & yourself
      Your obedient Servant
      John Martin
      Convict for "treason-felony"
Captain McLean}

Within a day or two after the dispatch of this note we were told that the Commissary was making arrangements for making us quite comfortable during our passage to Hobart Town. On Sunday the Emma came into harbour. Yesterday we were told by our Captain that it is reported that she will come down on friday evening next to take us on board, and to sail with us the next day. And I wish she would for our Captain & the Mate & all on board here are very anxious to get away to Moreton Bay and they perhaps feel somewhat of a grudge at us for being the unwilling cause of their detention.

This day Messers McLean & Ramsey came on board and paid us another visit, even more

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than the first, if possible. And Mr. Ramsey announced to us that we are to have the ladies’ Cabin of the Emma & to mess &c exactly as the officer who is to have us in charge; and that the Government would make no charge for our mess, and could not properly do such a thing. I begged that we might be informed

of the expense that the Gov’t is incurring in the matter: but he repeated that no charge can be made nor repayment received. –I like better to repay them & I hope we shall.

Our Captain, in telling O’D of the arrangements for our treatment on board the Emma, stated his own intention to provide us with the requisite funds, in case the Gov’t had not thus interposed. And I presume this is meant as his answer to my note about the loan. The Lord knows we need it still badly enough—our delay here being so much longer had calculated the time I applied for it. But we must do as we best may with our 6 or 7 sovereigns: which will be the strength of the purse when we leave the Mount &c – More about pecuniary matters. Mr. McLean today handed us a thick letter inclosed in its envelope with 2 wafers, which he informed us he had from a Mr. Mac Curtayne. And

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remarking that that gent. had assured him it contained "nothing improper" he handed it to us sealed, adding that he would convey our answer or, if we particularly desired it, permit us to receive a visit from the writer. When our official visitors left us, we opened the letter and read a long rhapsody of Irish patriotic feeling and

Young Ireland Party feeling and passionate sympathy for us Irish martyrs, and all that sort of thing, winding up with high-flown laudation of our lofty independence of spirit about pecuniary matters but urging us to honour him by receiving whatever cash we may need – "from his friends Messers Hogan & Cavahan, as he (the writer) is about emigrating to California, and going by the Ship Victoria" (which is advertised to sail in some short time)-- [crossed out words] Urging men to accept pecuniary assistance in this fashion is rich in fun: and yet I have hardly a particle of doubt of Mr Mac Curtayn’s perfect sincerity and generous feeling. –In the letter, he indicates his individual person by the mark of the "red stupid waistcoat" displayed in the breast of a member of the company of sympathizers who visited us "on the steamer last Thursday" and "who stood beside the band & direction the selection of Irish airs played by them"—Moreover


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