Folio 2: Blank. Folios 3-5: case no 1, James Magee, aged 18, convict; taken ill at...

ADM 101/61/5/2

1841-1842

Folio 2: Blank.

Folios 3-5: case no 1, James Magee, aged 18, convict; taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, atrophia debilium. Great debility, loss of appetite, pains in the head and chest, thirst, bowels reported free, pulse scarcely perceptible at the wrist. This patient was a weakly lad whose health suffered much from confinement in jail, he was very weak intellectually and scarcely capable of answering questions or giving any account of himself; put on sick list 15 August 1841, died 20 August 1841 at 3.30 pm.

Folios 5-6: case no 2, Thomas Cochrane, aged 68, convict; taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, atrophia inanitorum, great debility and loss of appetite, with frequent purging, evacuations watery, feculent and nearly of a natural colour, pulse 90 small and weak; put on sick list 18 August 1841, died 22 August 1841 at 10.30 am.

Folios 6-7: case no 3, Thomas Lavery, aged 19, convict; taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, ophthalmia, inflammation of both eyes from cold, conjunctiva of the right eye extremely vascular and painful - suffusion of tears, light very offensive, bowels confined; put on sick list 31 August 1841, discharged 15 September 1841 cured.

Folio 7: case no 4, Henry Pilkington, aged 55, convict; taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, diarrhoea, affected with bowels complained for which he was taking medicines, he stated that the purging much worse and he felt very weak, no appetite, tongue whitish and moist; put on sick list 3 September 1841, discharged 16 September 1841 cured.

Folio 8: case no 5, William Curtin, aged 43, convict; taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, dyspepsia, great debility and loss of appetite, which he stated got worse since he came on board, no pain whatever, bowels regular, tongue moist and white, pulse small and slow, no thirst or irritability of stomach. This patient is affected with an unusual depression of spirits and apprehension of death, a peculiarity very frequent amongst the Irish prisoners, they seem on very slight causes to give themselves up to despair and sink under the depressing affection of the mind; put on sick list 5 September 1841, discharged 19 September 1841 cured.

Folio 8: case no 6, Dennis McCarthy, aged 40, convict; taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, dislocation of the shoulder, whilst going down the ladder in the main hatchway, in consequence of a sudden roll of the ship slipped his foot and fell upon the top of his right shoulder, he is removed to the hospital and placed in the recumbent posture, the reduction was easily effected by placing my [the surgeon] in the axilla and making an extension at the wrist. The arm was afterwards bandaged close to the side and supported in a sling; put on sick list 22 September 1841, discharged 28 September 1841 cured.

Folio 9: case no 7, John Newman, aged 18, convict; taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, ophthalmia, inflammation of the left eye from a blow received several days since, great vascularity and pain of the conjunctiva with incipient chemosis; put on sick list 24 September 1841, discharged 9 October 1841 cured.

Folios 9-11: case no 8, Thomas Murphy, aged 21, convict; taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, ulcus, deep ulcer about the size of a shilling, irregular shape and inch and a quarter deep, situated below the external maleolus of the right leg; put on sick list 6 October 1841, discharged 7 November 1841 cured.

Folio 11: case no 9, Jeremiah Kelland, aged 38, guard; taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, epilepsia, called suddenly to attend on the quarter deck, found him stretched on his back labouring under general spasms, especially the muscles of the extremities, his eyes fixed and staring, countenance flushed, frothing at the mouth; put on sick list 16 October 1841, discharged 18 October 1841 to duty.

Folios 11-13: case no 10, John Kane, aged 9, convict's child; taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, hydrocephalus, slight delicate has complained for a week past of debility and other symptoms which precede an attack of scurvy, for which he was under treatment without any improvement; put on sick list 18 October 1841, died 25 October 1841 at 1.30 am.

Folios 13-14: case no 11, Thomas Quiry, aged 25, convict; taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, scorbutus, complained of debility and wandering pains, at present great weakness and severe pain in the thorax, over the region of the heart; put on sick list 18 October 1841, discharged 31 October 1841 cured.

Folio 14: case no 12, Owen Loughran, aged 18, convict; taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, scorbutus, general debility loss of appetite, and constant severe pain in the thorax over the region of the heart, accompanied with slight difficulty of breathing, gums slight swollen; put on sick list 18 October 1841, discharged 31 October 1841 cured.

Folios 14-15: case no 13, Cornelius Guinea, aged 39, convict; taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, diarrhoea, effected with a bowels complained states he has been to the water closet ten or twelve times during the night, attended with griping pains in the abdomen, evacuation scanty and mixed with little mucous; put on sick list 19 October 1841, discharged 27 October 1841 cured.

Folio 15: case no 14, Thomas Cook, aged 64, convict; taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, epilepsia, found him labouring under general spasm more particularly of the muscles of the face and upper extremities, eyes fixed and staring, mouth distorted; put on sick list 19 November 1841, died 19 November 1841. Surgeon's noted that this man was a very feeble old man and always required the assistance of one of the other prisoner to take care of him - but he became so very helpless and imbecile that the surgeon allowed him to live in the hospital with one of his mess mates to attend him.

Folios 15-16: case no 15, Thomas Coleman, aged 40, convict; taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, scorbutus, complained of debility, loss of appetite, wandering pains in his limbs, pain in the chest over the region of the heart, inflammation of the right leg over the seat of an old injury; put on sick list 6 December 1841, discharged 15 December 1841 cured.

Folios 17-24: Blank.

Folio 25: nosological return of cases mentioned in the journal.

Folios 26-27: Surgeon's general remarks. The number of convicts embarked on board the Prince Regent altogether amounted to 185. The health of the prisoners was generally good with very few exceptions. Some of them were far advanced in years and two or three in particular were so feeble from age that in the surgeon's opinion they were not fit to undertake so long voyage. On representing his opinion to the Inspector General of Prisons (Major Palmer) he said it was a particular request from the Authorities at Dublin that I would not press my objection to their going out on account of their age and as the parties alluded to had given the Magistrates much trouble and consequently it was most desirable that they should be sent out of the Country. Under those circumstances the surgeon withdrew his objection, but however he expressed his concern that two of the prisoners would die during the voyage, one of them (Thomas Cochrane) expired on the 22nd August and the other (Thomas Cook) on the 19th November, both cases are detailed in the journal (no 2 and no 14). Another prisoner (James Magee) also died in the early part of the voyage.

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