KEENAN FAMILY in Australia

"THE PRINCE CONSORT"

"The Prince Consort" is the ship upon which Henry John Keenan and Nancy (Anne) Jane Keenan (nee Gamble) travelled from Ireland to Australia. The ship arrived in Queensland in March 1864.

This webpage contains information about the trip which was found in newspapers and other sources online (through TROVE),

from a book by Kay Gassan and Judith Grimes (1994) and  from the Maryborough Family Heritage Research Institute.

Updated 15 March 2024

Henry John Keenan (1840 - 1889) and  Nancy Jane Keenan (nee Gamble) (1844 - 1926) married on 1 October 1863 and migrated from Ireland to Australia aboard a sailing ship (Clipper) called "The Prince Consort". It arrived in Hervey Bay, Queensland, on 22 March 1864. Due to rough seas (and possibly a strike or mutiny by crew) the ship had to remain in the bay from 22 March 1864 to 30 March 1864. It had left London's East India Docks on 13 December 1863. Nancy was pregnant (weeks 4  to 17 approx.) during the trip. Henry was 23 years of age and Nancy was 19.

Newspaper reports

The Courier (Brisbane), Mon 4 April 1864:

"ARRIVAL OF THE PRINCE CONSORT IN HERVEY'S BAY.
The Black Ball ship, Prince Consort, Captain (James) Aitchiason, arrived in Hervey's Bay on the 29th March, after a prosperous passage from Plymouth. She left the East India Docks, London, on the 13th December, 1863, and Gravesend on the 16th. Thence she proceeded to Plymouth to embark her passengers, and, as we learn on reference to our files, sailed from that port on 25th December, with 373 souls, divided into paying, assisted, and free passengers, and consisting of 151 members of families, 173 single men, and 44 single females. After her departure from Plymouth she encountered contrary winds, which detained her in the English Channel, and she did not pass Eddystone Lighthouse until the 27th of the same month. From that time, however, she had favorable weather, and on the 25th of March she touched at Moreton Island for orders. Thence she proceeded to Hervey's Bay, where she anchored on the 30th of that month. While off the Australian coast she experienced a considerable amount of dirty, disagreeable weather; and from the afternoon of the 22nd to the 30th of March she encountered a series of contrary winds. Only one vessel was spoken, viz., the immigrant ship Montrose, from Liverpool, bound to Sydney, then 32 days out, and all well on board. The greater number of the passengers per the Prince Consort, embarked to proceed to Maryborough, and were landed at that place by the steamer Collaroy on Saturday. Several also left the ship in Hervey's Bay, and came to Brisbane by steamer, and we learn that there are still some 30 or 40 persons on board who will come to Moreton Bay In the same vessel which brought them from England. The passengers appear to have had good health during the voyage, as only eight deaths occurred."   SOURCE: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3169487

The Brisbane Courier, Sat 16 April 1864:

"THE PRINCE CONSORT.
The Black Ball ship Prince Consort, Captain (James) Aitchaison, arrived in Hervey's Bay on the 29th March, after a prosperous passage from Plymouth. She left the East India Docks, London, on the 13th December, 1863, and Gravesend on the 16th. Thence she proceeded to Plymouth to embark her passengers, and, as we  learn on reference to our files, sailed from that port on 25th December, with 373 souls, divided into paying, assisted, and free passengers, and consisting of 151 members of families, 173 single men, and 44 single females.

After her departure from Plymouth she encountered contrary winds, which detained her in the English Channel, and she did not pass Eddystone Lighthouse until the 27th of the same month. From that time, however, she had favorable weather, and on the 25th of March she touched at Moreton Island for orders. Thence  she proceeded to Hervey's Bay, where she anchored on the 30th of that month. While off the Australian coast she experienced a considerable amount of dirty, disagreeable weather ; and from the afternoon of the 22nd to the 30th of March she encountered a series of contrary winds. Only one vessel was spoken, viz., the  Immigrant ship Montrose, from Liverpool, bound to Sydney, then 32 days out, and all well on board. The greater number of the passengers per the Prince Consort, embarked to proceed to Maryborough, and were landed at that place by the steamer Collaroy on Saturday, April 2. Several also left the ship in Hervey's Bay,  and came to Brisbane by steamer.

On the 5th April she sailed from Hervey's Bay for Moreton Bay, to land the remainder of her passengers, and her cargo, and arrived at the usual anchorage in Brisbane Roads at 7 p.m. on the 11th of the same month. She was visited on the following day by the Health Officer, who found that typhoid fever had made its  appearance on board during the passage from Hervey's Bay, and accordingly she was ordered to hoist the yellow flag, and remain in quarantine until released by order of the Health Officer.

One of the passengers who landed at Maryborough gives the following particulars of her passage to that port from Plymouth :—
" After a wearisome delay of a week at Plymouth, our ship the Prince Consort took a pilot on board, and left the Sound on Christmas Day. Getting into the Channel, we experienced a head wind, which obliged us to tack as closely as possible, the consequence of which was that we had the inestimable pleasure of finding  ourselves within a very few miles of Eddystone Lighthouse. On Sunday morning, the second day after leaving Plymouth, the wind veered round to a more a favorable quarter during the day, and towards evening we sighted the Scilly Isles.
" Not being anxious to weary you with a tedious account of uninteresting news, I will merely say that we were off the coast of Spain on New Year's Day; passed Madeira on the 4th January; Cape Verde Islands about the 6th ; crossed the line on the 20th, and were in the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope on the 14th February. After a swift run of twenty-six days we found ourselves off Tasmania.  From thence we experienced strong north winds for several days, which delayed our arrival off Moreton Island to the 20th March. Leaving the same evening for Hervey's Bay, we arrived there the following morning. There our good fortune seemed to have deserted us, for after sailing all over the Bay for eight days before  we met with the Maryborough pilot. Our vessel spoke with the Strathdon, bound for Sydney, on the 6th January ; also with the Montrose, bound for the same place, on the 18th January. We also sighted three other vessels near the equator, which was rather an unusual circumstance in that part of the world. 
"Our passage out might have been made very agreeable to us all if the gentlemen in command of the passengers and ship had practised that suavity and kind attention to EACH OTHER and the passengers so essential to the well-being and comfort of nearly 409 passengers necessarily confined for three months within  the balwarks of an emigrant ship.
 " Rather wishing to gloss over than exaggerate any gross neglect and inattention paid by the Black Ball Line to the health and comfort of their passengers, I must, to speak the truth, say that had proper accommodation and an abundance of necessary medical comforts been provided, in  my opinion the vessel would have arrived in Hervey's Bay with a greater number of living souls than did arrive there. I know not who is to blame for this cruel neglect, but so it is, as three-fourths of the passengers would say were they questioned on the subject.
 " Of lesser evils, but still serious ones, the number is almost  legion. Leakage of the waterclosets and upper decks into the berths of the passengers—bad ventilation—obstruction and inefficiency of the deck lights—foul smells caused by the too-close proximity of a dirty pen of swine to the second-cabin hatchway—want of civility from the officers of the ship, and a total disregard of the feelings of the passengers generally—not to speak of the total incompetence of all the second- class stewards—form a few of the grievances on board.
" If no contagious disease was contracted on board the Prince Consort it was not the fault of the Black Ball Line, but rather the sound constitutions and good animal spirits of the passengers. If it is the usual practice of Messrs. Baines and Co. to send out their ships so inefficiently and wretchedly provided with many  necessary things, I do not wonder at the condition of the Flying Cloud, and premise that you will probably soon have a repetition of the same.
" Every cloud has a silver lining, except the Flying Cloud, and so had ours. The passage was not entirely barren of instruction and pleasure. The dullness of the time was somewhat enlivened by admiring the gorgeous sunsets, and the beautiful scintillations of the phosphorescent animalcule as in the tropical and  Australian seas. Sometimes, but seldom, a fish or an albatross was caught, which was quite a red-letter day; and the sight of a shark or a whale near the vessel caused such a commotion among the passengers as nothing less than the arrival of the Emperor of China would have done at home.
" Three or four lectures were delivered by the Doctor and passengers, and whenever practicable Divine Services were held on the Sabbath which were always devoutly listened to. Through the kindness of the saloon passengers, a theatrical company was formed under the clever lesseeship of Captain Griffiths, and the  passengers were well entertained by the really good representation of ' Still Waters run deep,' 'What a Bad Judge,' ' Box and Cox,' ' What do they take me for,' &c.
" We had eight deaths on board, most of which were preceded by low fever. One young gentleman who was coming out for the good of his health died in the night preceding our arrival off Moreton Island.
" Taking the passage throughout it was a very favorable one, as from leaving the British Isles to our arrival off Moreton Island, we never experienced a contrary wind, nor yet a whole day's calm weather. I cannot lay down my pen without speaklng highly of Captain Aitchaison's good seamanship. Most of the sailors of the  Prince Consort struck work as soon as the sails were furled in the bay, for which I was sorry ".  SOURCE: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1257919
 

The Book of the Trip to Australia

The ship, the trip and the conditions are described and illustrated in detail in a book entitled "Tall Ships on the River: Prince Consort 1864 and Other Voyages" by Kay F Gassan and Judith A Grimes [1994]; [100pages]; [ISBN: 0 646 18811 9]. This fascinating book also contains photographs, illustrations, extracts from diaries and family histories (some short, some extensive) of some of the passengers on board. It also has a list of the emigrants/immigrants who landed (names and ages) and a list of the crew (name, age, place of birth and position held).

The history of the Keenans is written as follows:

"Henry John Keenan was married to Nancy Jane Gamble before their departure. Nancy must have felt the riquors of the voyage more keenly than most as she was pregnant with their first child, James, who was born 3 August 1864."

An interesting feature of the book is the diary of a passenger, Thomas McEvoy Bussey. It is "an account of the principal incidents connected with a voyage to Hervey's Bay, Queensland, Australia in the ship Prince Consort."

Enquires to either Kay F Glassan, P O Box 988, Maryborough, 4650, Queensland, Australia, or Judith A Grimes, P O Box 40, Nanango, 4615, Queensland, Australia.  See also the relevant LINKS below. (Book is also available through the National Library of Australia - ISBN: 0 646 18811 9.)

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Extracts from the book:

"The Prince Consort was built in Quebec, Canada, in 1859 by John Nesbitt.  She was a three-masted wooden ship of 1,235 tons measuring 197.5 feet in length, 36.6 feet wide and 22.3 feet deep."

"(The ship) left East India Docks, London, on 13/12/1863."

"On Monday, 21 March 1864, the Maryborough Chronicle reported that the Prince Consort had been sighted off Moreton Island."

Diary of Thomas Bussey, Mon 21 March: "... At midnight a terrific wind came on the ship's bulwarks in the water and the captain and first and second mate drunk. The sailors took charge of the ship as she was under full sail. They threatened to haul him up for it. All that were awake were very doubtful for the safety of the ship. Blasphemers were heard calling God to save them."

Diary of Thomas Bussey, Frid 25 March: ".... We have had nothing but biscuits to eat and are now glad to eat them. There are all sorts of rumours going the rounds of the ship. Some say we are to wait here till a pilot or a steamer comes and that we sailed with only 96 day's provisions."

"The ship arrived in Hervey Bay (Queensland) on Tuesday 22nd (March 1864) where it hove to in 25 fathoms of water ... The ship 'beat about by the bay' until Wednesday 30 March (1864)."

Front cover

(sketch by Terry Lynch)
 

Links:

    Maryborough Family History Society Inc: website