Folios 1-2: copy of the sick book [names and details follow] - continued: Folio 2:...

ADM 101/15/2/2

1847-1848

Folios 1-2: copy of the sick book [names and details follow] - continued:

Folio 2: Deborah Hill, aged 19; sick or hurt, gastritis; put on sick list, 30 November 1847; discharged 4 January 1848 to hospital. Folio 2: E Boatwright, aged 26; sick or hurt, phlegmon; put on sick list, 3 December 1847; discharged 7 December 1847 cured. Folio 2: Mary A Joy, aged 31; sick or hurt, catarrh; put on sick list, 3 December 1847; discharged 6 December 1847 cured. Folio 2: Mary Elliot, aged 33; sick or hurt, rheumatism; put on sick list, 3 December 1847; discharged 9 December 1847 cured. Folio 2: Harriet Williams, aged 19; sick or hurt, catarrh; put on sick list, 4 December 1847; discharged 10 December 1847 cured. Folio 2: Elizabeth McCann, aged 37; sick or hurt, catarrh; put on sick list, 7 December 1847; discharged 9 December 1847 cured. Folio 2: Eliza Smith, aged 29; sick or hurt, catarrh; put on sick list, 7 December 1847; discharged 10 December 1847 cured. Folio 2: Ann Armstrong, aged 33; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list, 7 December 1847; discharged 11 December 1847 cured. Folio 2: Agnes Meek, aged 31; sick or hurt, haematemesis; put on sick list, 10 December 1847; discharged 20 December 1847 cured. Folio 2: Esther Martin, aged 26; sick or hurt, epilepsy; put on sick list, 19 December 1847; discharged 2 January 1848 cured. Folio 2: Elizabeth Olson, aged 47; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list, 19 December 1847; discharged 3 January 1848 cured. Folio 2: Mary Rae, aged 41; sick or hurt, catarrh; put on sick list, 24 December 1847; discharged 1 January 1848 cured.

Folio 3: A list of persons vaccinated on board the Cadet female convict ship in 1847, (names and details follow): Mary McCullum, child, vaccinated 2 September 1847, result-successful; Emma Murphy, child, vaccinated 2 September 1847, result-successful; Michael Sullivan, vaccinated 10 September 1847, result-successful; Catherine Murdock, vaccinated 18 September 1847, result-successful; George Brown, vaccinated 26 September 1847, result-successful; Eliza Thomas, vaccinated 26 September 1847, result-unsuccessful; William Allan, vaccinated 4 October 1847, result-successful; Eliza Thomas, vaccinated 4 October 1847, result-successful; Jane Smith, vaccinated 12 October 1847, result-successful; William Allan, vaccinated 20 October 1847, result-successful; Esther Allan, vaccinated 28 October 1847, result-successful;

Folios 4-7: Rebecca Hills, aged 25; disease or hurt, febris. Put on sick list, 29 August 1847. Died, 11 September 1847. Boarded the Cadet at Woolwich on 28 August and complained the next morning of sickness, vomiting, headache and pains in the limbs. She had received treatment in the infirmary at Millbank. There was no post mortem examination.

Folios 7-7A: Bridget Chance, aged 20; disease or hurt, syphilis. Put on sick list, 11 September 1847. Discharged, 3 October 1847. She had been under treatment for some time for sores, 'her mode of living previous to conviction had been anything but regular'.

Folios 7A-8: Jane Eyres, aged [22]; disease or hurt, syphilis. Put on sick list, 11 September 1847. Discharged, 4 October 1847. She had been under treatment at Millbank but not cured, 'she was of a cachectic habit and had evidently led a very profligate life'. The surgeon applied a solution of chloride of lime to the sores as a disinfecting agent.

Folio 8: Mary Brown, aged 31; disease or hurt, haematemisis. Put on sick list, 3 November 1847. Discharged to the Colonial Hospital, Van Diemen's Land, 4 January 1848. She came on board 'a poor emaciated individual' and remained in bed for the first month in a very apathetic state, suffering sea sickness. She was given the best diet available but remained bed ridden most of the voyage.

Folio 8A: A nosological synopsis of the sick book kept during the period of this journal, in conformity with the 30th article of the Surgeon's Instructions.

Folios 9-10: Surgeon's general remarks. The Cadet of 376 tons was chartered to carry female prisoners and received some on board on 25 August at Woolwich. Due to the miscarriage of a letter from the Medical Inspector of Millbank Penitentiary, the surgeon did not get the chance to inspect them before they embarked but did so as they came on board. Out of 170, 5 were rejected for bodily infirmities. With the prisoners there were a matron and a religious instructor from Millbank, the clothes were marked and the messes formed before embarkation. The women were chiefly young and healthy looking. One death occurred in the channel, in the surgeon's opinion it was the result of 'mental anxiety and depression of spirits'. Sea sickness was very prevalent at first but the women were encouraged with wine to come on deck for the fresh air. They were delayed in the channel for 10 days by contrary winds, great efforts were made to keep the prison dry. Tea and sugar were given to the cleanest mess each day and the surgeon rarely had occasion to find fault at the daily inspection, though he wishes he 'could say the same as regards their tempers'. There were no endemic diseases. The opthalmia cases are attributed to the keenness of the sea air in comparison to that of a prison. Two cases of longstanding syphilis received treatment, one using the chloride of lime, which the surgeon recommended to the surgeon at Hobart. In the tropics the women were kept on deck all day, sewing or knitting, and it was then that the surgeon discovered the benefits of chloride of lime as a disinfecting agent. The ship did not touch anywhere during the voyage and they landed on 2 January 1848 in a very healthy state. 164 prisoners and 29 children were embarked, there was one death and one birth during the voyage. Signed C R Kinnear MD, Surgeon Superintendent.

Public Record(s)

Open Document, Open Description