Passengers Arriving In Western Australia - Governor Phillip Oct 17, 1829

www.perthdps.com WA shipping banner

Sailing Ship

[ Back ]
Another [ Perth DPS ] Project

* Although this information has been compiled in good faith,
please refer to primary sources for confirmation and further research.

[ Voyage Details | Passenger List | Sources ]

The 173 ton, New South Wales Government brig, Governor Phillip, was under the command of Captain A. Drysdale. She carried two guns, had a crew of 18 men was sailing from Sydney on a circum-navigation of Australia. On this leg of the journey, she sailed from the failed military settlement at Raffles Bay in northern Australia (Arnhem Land) and carried passengers, soldiers, convicts and government stores.

After a stop-over in Timor, the Governor Phillip arrived in the Swan River Colony on October 17, 1829. Afterwards she sailed on to the military outpost at King George Sound on the south coast of Western Australia where she relieved and re-inforced the troops who were already stationed there. On December 6, 1829 she continued her journey and returned to Sydney with the soldiers and convicts her passengers had come to relieve.

En-route to King George Sound, the two cabin passengers, Captain Collett Barker and Dr Thomas Wilson, were put ashore and with the help of an Aboriginal named Mokare, explored the south coast and the hinterland. Dr Wilson had been appointed a naval surgeon in 1815 and arrived in New South Wales as Surgeon Superintendant on five convict voyages between 1822 and 1829. After his employment at the Raffles Bay and King George Sound military settlements, he went on to serve on another four convict voyages by 1836.

Dr Wilson's book, 'Narrative of a Voyage Round the World', should be consulted for an account of the Governor Phillip's voyage and his experiences in the newly formed Swan River Colony during the short time he was there.

[Top]

ship line

Passenger List
"GOVERNOR PHILLIP"
[ October 17, 1829 ]

    Surname      Given Names         Age  Comments

    BARKER       Collett             ..   cabin; captain; 39th Regiment
    WILSON       Thomas Braidwood    37   cabin; doctor; ex-Raffles Bay military station

    ....   ....  ....   ....   ....  ..   steerage; 19 soldiers from the 39th Regiment
    ....   ....  ....   ....   ....  ..   steerage; 27 convicts; ex-Raffles Bay military station

[Top]

Compiling a comprehensive list of passengers and crew arriving on vessels
during Western Australia's early history can be fraught with difficulties ...

For this voyage of the Governor Phillip, researchers will be able to find passenger and voyage details in a range of records held in the State Record Office and Battye Library in Perth, Western Australia. Some of the primary and secondary sources consulted for this project were:

'Harbour Master's Reports', Accession 36, Volume 2/131
'The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians', by Rica Erickson, vols 1-4
'The Military Etablishment and Penal Settlement at King George Sound', by John Sweetman
'Log of Logs', by Ian Nicholson, p 210

NOTE: It is also recommended that Dr Thomas Wilson's book, 'Narrative of a Voyage Round the World', be consulted for an account of the voyage and his experiences in the newly founded Swan River colony after he arrived.

[ Top | Passenger List | Perth DPS ]