Medical journal of the Waverley , convict ship, from 4 August to 21 December 1842...

ADM 101/73/8

1842

Medical journal of the Waverley, convict ship, from 4 August to 21 December 1842 by Samuel Mackey, Surgeon Superintendent, during which time the said ship was employed in transporting convicts to Hobart Town.

Folios 1-2: Copy of daily sick book, (names and details follow):

Folio 2: Margaret Smith, aged 24, convict; sick or hurt, constipation; put on sick list 10 September 1842, put off sick list 28 September 1842. Folio 2: Jane Peadon, aged 25, convict; sick or hurt, amenorrhoea; put on sick list 21 September 1842, put off sick list 30 September 1842. Folio 2: Honora Newman, aged 30, convict; sick or hurt, constipation; put on sick list 1 October 1842, put off sick list 6 November 1842. Folio 2: Jane Patterson, aged 20, convict; sick or hurt, constipation; put on sick list 2 October 1842, put off sick list 22 October 1842. Folio 2: Esther Fynar, aged 36, convict; sick or hurt, labour; put on sick list 6 October 1842, put off sick list 27 October 1842. Folio 2: Margaret Briggs, aged 30, convict; sick or hurt, contusion; put on sick list 17 October 1842, put off sick list 21 October 1842. Folio 2: Catherine Murphy, aged 26, convict; sick or hurt, labour; put on sick list 26 October 1842, put off sick list 12 November 1842. Folio 2: Mary [Knife?], aged 41, convict; sick or hurt, dysentery; put on sick list 8 November 1842, put off sick list 16 December 1842. Folio 2: Mary Ludlow, aged 20, convict; sick or hurt, scald; put on sick list 9 November 1842, put off sick list 17 November 1842. Folio 2: Margaret McKinney, aged 41, convict; sick or hurt, scald; put on sick list 28 November 1842, put off sick list 20 December 1842. Folio 2: John Reilly, aged 3 years 4 months, convict's child; sick or hurt, dysentery; put on sick list 7 December 1842, put off sick list 17 December 1842.

Folios 2-3: case no 1, Margaret Smith, aged 24, convict, taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, constipation, complained of headache accompanied with slight vascular excitement and constipated bowels; put on sick list 10 September 1842, discharged 28 September 1842 cured.

Folios 3-4: case no 2, Jane Peadon, aged 25, convict, taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, amenorrhoea, complained of severe pain in the loins and lower part of her belly, accompanied with small portions of lymph discharged from the vagina with the menes which were scanty; put on sick list 21 September 1842, discharged 30 September 1842 cured.

Folios 5-6: case no 3, Honora Newman, aged 30, woman [convict], taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, constipation, complained of headache, sickness at stomach, constipated bowels, accompanied with slight vascular excitement; put on sick list 1 October 1842, discharged 6 November 1842 cured.

Folio 6: case no 4, Jane Patterson, aged 20, convict, taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, constipation, complained of acute pain in the abdomen, accompanied with nausea, vomiting and constipated bowels; put on sick list 2 October 1842, discharged 22 October 1842 cured.

Folio 7: case no 5, Esther Fyner, aged 36, convict, taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, labour, admitted into hospital and at 1:30 pm was safely delivered of female infant; put on sick list 6 October 1842, discharged 27 October 1842 cured.

Folio 7: case no 6, Margaret Briggs, aged 30, convict, taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, contusion, received a severe contusion on the back and loins by falling down the ladder which leads up from the prison to the water closet, complained of considerable difficulty of breathing accompanied with acute pain in the left side increased by making a full inspiration ; put on sick list 17 October 1842, discharged 21 October 1842 cured.

Folio 8: case no 7, Catherine Murphy, aged 26, convict, taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, labour, admitted into hospital and at 3 pm. gave birth to a fine healthy boy; put on sick list 18 October 1842, discharged 12 November 1842 cured.

Folios 8-9: case no 8, Mary [Knife?], aged 41, convict, taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, dysentery, complained of griping pains in her bowels, the evacuations watery mixed with mucous and without any admixture of natural faces; put on sick list 8 November 1842, discharged 16 December 1842 cured.

Folio 9: case no 9, Mary Ludlow, aged 20, convict, taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, scald, received a severe scald on the right thigh from a kettle of boiling tea; put on sick list 9 November 1842, discharged 17 November 1842 cured.

Folio 9: case no 10, Margaret McKinney, aged 41, convict, taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, scald, received a severe scald on the breast from a bucket of boiling gruel, being upset by accident into her bosom; put on sick list 28 November 1842, discharged 20 December 1842 cured.

Folio 9: case no 11, John Reilly, aged 3 years three month, son of Sally Raferty a convict, taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, scald, dysentery, he was so obstinate, which the surgeon stated that he could not get him to take medicine and therefore fell vectim to the disease; put on sick list 7 December 1842, died 17 December 1842 on the ship arrival at Hobart Town.

Folio 10: Nosological return of cases mentioned in the journal.

Folios 11-12: Surgeon's general remarks. On the 25th August and 1st September 1842, one hundred and forty nine convicts with forty of their children were embarked in a clean and healthy states on board the Waverley from Grangegorman Lane, Dublin, and with the exception of eleven cases detailed in this journal they continued in a healthy state during the voyage. The surgeon attributed the healthy state of the convicts to the strictest attention to cleanliness and ventilation.

Public Record(s)

Open Document, Open Description

Topics

Shipping

Children

Disease

Food and drink

Navy

Medicine

Armed Forces (General Administration)

Prisons