When 276 poor British emigrants sail away from Plymouth on the ship Emigrant in April 1850, seeking a better life in Australia, they know nothing of the ordeal that lies ahead. For four terrible months at sea, they endure cramped and squalid conditions, insufferable heat, bitter cold … and a mounting death toll from the dreaded disease that rages through the ship: typhus.
When the Emigrant arrives in Moreton Bay, the nightmare continues. For three long months in quarantine at Stradbroke Island, the immigrants’ hopes are raised and dashed, and raised and dashed again.
Impeccably researched and poignantly told, Ship of Death unfurls the true saga of the ill-fated voyage, quarantine, and aftermath. For the first time, this stunning book reveals the human stories of some key players in the drama – their backgrounds, their suffering, and their fates – and in doing so, brings to life a remarkable journey common to many of Australia’s early settlers.
Their stories are tales of hardship, resilience, courage, and despair.
Tabella dei contenuti
Foreword
Author’s note
A special note
Part 1: Our parting sorrow
Chapter 1 Arriving at the gateway to a better life
Chapter 2 The ‘remarkably fine and very fast sailing ship’
Part 2: The pathless deep
Chapter 3 Australia bound
Chapter 4 The surgeon-superintendent
Chapter 5 The long journey
Part 3: A better country
Chapter 6 Land: the prize ‘almost grasped’
Chapter 7 The tide of illness
Part 4: O’er separate paths
Chapter 8 Moving on: life, death, and change
Chapter 9 The fates of the immigrants
Chapter 10 The lasting tragedy
Epilogue
Cast of characters
Appendixes
Acknowledgements
Endnotes
Index
Circa l’autore
Jane Smith is a Queensland librarian, historical researcher and author of non-fiction and fiction for adults and children. She is the author of Captain Starlight: the strange but true story of a bushranger, impostor and murderer. Her books have been short- or long-listed for CBCA, ABIA and Speech Pathology Australia awards.
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