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THE
VOYAGE OF THE CARDIGAN
CASTLE 1876-7
The
Cardigan Castle
Migration
to New Zealand was made more
attractive for United Kingdom
immigrants. From 1873 the fare of
£5 per adult was waived and
travel was free. In addition, New
Zealand residents could nominate
friends and relatives to come and
join them. The London office sent
out public speakers and recruited
local people – book sellers,
grocers, schoolteachers – to
spread the message. By 1873 there
were 53 New Zealand government
immigration agents in England, 78
in Scotland, and 46 in Ireland.
Newspaper advertisements and
posters called for married
agricultural labourers and single
female domestic servants, provided
they were ‘sober, industrious,
of good moral character, of sound
mind and in good health.
People
responded to the call. Many were
farm workers facing the end of the
golden age of British agriculture.
Cheap foreign wheat lowered
prices, wages and the demand for
labour (numbers of farm workers
fell by 16% in the decade).
Increasingly, men were hired by
the day on a casual basis. Cottage
industries, like glove- or
lace-making, disappeared, replaced
by factories. Housing was poor,
police cracked down on poaching
game for food, and humanitarian
but unpopular legislation ruled
out the option of children
earning.
Philip
and Charlotte Bint and
their family set off for
New Zealand on the 30th of
September 1876. It would
have been a very
uncomfortable time for
Charlotte. Added to the
usual inconvenience of
19th century maritime
travel, she was pregnant
and gave birth seven weeks
later on November the
20th. They named the child
Walter.
The
"Cardigan
Castle" an iron
hulled ship, was built by
R & J Evans at
Liverpool and launched in
1870. She was 228 feet in
length, and 36 feet wide.
At the time of the voyage
to New Zealand the owners
were Richards, Mills &
Co.
Included
in her cargo were 2 cows,
an unspecified number of
lambs,16 wheels,10
carriages,1 pump,1 fire
engine and hose,10
barrels, lead piping, 48
tanks, 325 drums, 2
machine cases,395 kegs, 33
camp ovens, and 18 stoves.
The
ship captained by Lewis
Davies with 324 emigrants
aboard sailed from London
on the 30th of September
1876. Of that number, 76
were children and infants.
The strenuous voyage was
to take 95 days with the
loss of 5 adults and 7
children. Two infants born
on board also died.
The
passengers departed the
Blackwall Depot and were
taken down the Thames by
the steam tug "Royal
Victor" to board the Cardigan
Castle. The ship was
divided into quarters for
single women, married
couples and single men.
"Almost
300 passengers were
assembled on the deck, To
give to us a last
farewell, Our friends
around did flock, And all
were grieved to part, And
some did in sorrow pine,
And most of us we thought
of home, And those we left
behind." (The
Cardigan Castle Poem)
"The
Emigrants were a very
orderly, respectable lot
of people. I was fortunate
in having an excellent
Matron who managed the
girls with great tact. All
worked suitably with the
Passengers and the ship's
company and there were no
disturbances or
occurrences requiring
special comment."
Jeremiah
Welsh , Ship's Surgeon on
"Cardigan
Castle"
From his end of voyage
report in February 1877.
Erskine
Bay, Lyttleton in 1886 -
by maritime artist John
Gibb (1831-1909), who had
migrated from Scotland ten
years earlier.
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