Folio 21: George Love, aged 28, Private Soldier; disease or hurt, gonorrhoea. Put...

ADM 101/69/7/4

1831

Folio 21: George Love, aged 28, Private Soldier; disease or hurt, gonorrhoea. Put on sick list, 5 July 1831, at Woolwich. Discharged, 12 July 1831. By his own account he had had the infection about a month and had been trying to cure himself.

Folios 21-22: William Cadman, aged 38, Private Soldier; disease or hurt, rheumatismus. Put on sick list, 6 July 1831, Woolwich. Discharged, 20 July 1831. Had been complaining for some time of pain on the site of an old gunshot wound on his left side which frequently troubled him, also pain and stiffness in his knees, ankles and shoulders.

Folio 22: Samuel Hassel, aged 26, Private Soldier; disease or hurt, gonorrhoea. Put on sick list, 16 July 1831. Discharged, 13 July 1831. He had had the infection for a few days only.

Folio 23: Thomas Brady, aged 25, Private Soldier; disease or hurt, catarrhus. Put on sick list, 8 July 1831, on the River [Thames]. Discharged, 11 July 1831.

Folio 23-26: Edward Goodman, aged 42, Prisoner; disease or hurt, rheumatismus and fractured femoris. Put on sick list, 12 July 1831, at sea. Sent to the Colonial Hospital, Hobart Town, 18 November 1831. Severe pain and stiffness in the hip joints, general health good. On 23 July the rivet of his irons caught as he was coming out of the hatchway and tripped him. The surgeon found him unconscious and on examination he was found to have an oblique fracture of his left femur. On 12 October the surgeon was going to remove his splint and bandages when Goodman asked if he could remain in the sick berth a little longer. He said the ship had made a heavy lurch to leeward at about 3am and he had been thrown out of his bed, he feared the leg had been broken again. On examination this was found to be the case. On 15 November, on arrival at Hobart Town, the break was found to have still not healed, probably on account of the constant pitching and tossing of the ship. The surgeon is sure that the patient obeyed his instructions but admits there was ‘some shade of reason to believe that he must have tried experiments which were inimical to a favourable result’.

Folios 26-29: Thomas Fairfield, aged 17, Prisoner; disease or hurt, debilitas. Put on sick list, 15 July 1831, at sea. Discharged, feeling much better, 24 July 1831, but back on the sick list on 3 August 1831. Discharged to the Colonial Hospital, Hobart Town, [18 November 1831]. He was received from the Justitia at Woolwich and was initially objected to on grounds of his delicate appearance but was taken because of his youth. He was extremely slender and of a languid, morose temperament, described as a ‘notorious thief’ in the list of crimes. He returned to the sick list on 3 August, the day after the ship left Plymouth Sound, suffering similar symptoms but with the addition of sea sickness. The surgeon observes that his symptoms grow worse as the movement of the ship increases and he improves in fine weather. He became very ill just before arriving but improved on arrival, though he was ‘still in a frightful state of attenuation’.

Folios 29-31: Watkin Jones, aged 34, Prisoner; disease or hurt, pneumonia. Put on sick list, 21 July 1831, Plymouth Sound. Discharged, 21 August 1831. Had been on the sick list for several days with ‘a smart attack of the prevailing epidemy (influenza)’.

Folios 31-33: Peter Johnston, aged 24, Seaman; disease or hurt, phthisis. Put on sick list, 22 July 1831, Plymouth Sound. Died, 22 August 1831. A native of Germany, he had been in good health when he joined the ship at Gravesend and was thought to be the best looking and strongest of the ship’s company. Shortly afterwards he had an attack of ‘febrile catarrh (influenza)’, which was prevalent at the time. He was not below when the surgeon visited the ship’s company and the surgeon assumed he was at his duty. He became worse and was removed to the prison hospital, the sailors berth being ‘very crowded, ill ventilated and at all times sufficiently dirty’.

Folios 33-35: James Rawley, aged 22, Prisoner; disease or hurt, appoplexia. Put on sick list, 31 July 1831, Plymouth Sound. Died, 4 August 1831. He came in to the sick bay in the morning and asked for the surgeon’s assistance, saying that ‘he was gone’ and that ‘his head was on fire’ and fell to the deck seized with convulsions. He was immediately bled of about 28 ounces of blood and his feet placed in hot water. He continued to have convulsions until about an hour before he died.

Folios 35-37: James Simmonds, aged 18, Prisoner; disease or hurt, arthritis. Put on sick list, 8 August 1831, at sea. Discharged, 20 August 1831. Back on the list, 24 September 1831, for rheumatismus. Discharged, 9 October 1831. Back on the list, 30 October 1831, for phrenitis. Discharged, 7 November 1831. ‘Of ordinary stature, for his age, of slender make and delicate appearance’, he had felt unwell for some days but thought he would get better without medicine. Severe pains in his hips, knees and shoulders reduced him to tears in the hospital. He was cured but readmitted to the sick list with rheumatism and then again with phrenitis. The surgeon records the readmissions to the list because of the suddenness and strength of his symptoms and his equally rapid convalescence.

Folios 38-39: Thomas Porter, aged 17, Prisoner; disease or hurt, gastro-enteritis. Put on sick list, 9 August 1831, at sea. Discharged, 14 September 1831.

Folios 40-42: Thomas Bowlin, aged 34, Prisoner; disease or hurt, dyspnoea. Put on sick list, 9 August 1831, at sea. Discharged, 3 September 1831 but put back on the list for the same complaint, 30 September 1831. Sent to the hospital at Hobart Town, 18 November 1831. Attributed his illness to catching cold after getting wet in the rain before leaving Plymouth. His symptoms began as noisy breathing, particularly when asleep, but worsened to extreme difficulty in drawing breath. He had been on the sick list several times for difficulty in breathing while on the Captivity hulk but had concealed it because he wished to be transported. When readmitted to the sick list his symptoms were even more violent than previously. He was in a very poor condition when sent to the hospital and died after a few weeks.

Folios 42-43: George Westcot, aged 35, Prisoner; disease or hurt, appoplexia. Put on sick list, 15 August 1831, at sea. Discharged, 2 October 1831. Of ‘ordinary stature, stout make, full face and florid complexion’, he had been unwell a couple of days when he was seized ‘with a fit of appoplexy’ while cleaning out his berth. He was suffering pain from bad teeth and the left side of his face was considerably tumefied.

Public Record(s)

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