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“Waimate” (Captain Rose).
(Left Gravesend, London—28/10/1874 arriving at Lyttleton, N.Z.—25/01/1875)

 

Levy Emanuel 40, Sarah, Rachel, Abraham

 

“Ship Waimate.— The following is a list of the trades and occupations of the immigrants by the above ship, now nearly due: — General labourers 36, farm labourers 29, ploughmen 9, gardeners 3, carpenters 11, coopers 2, wheelwright 1, stonemason 1, stone cutter 1, platelayer 1, blacksmith 1, shepherds 5, painter 1, bricklayer 1, tailors 3, miner 1, farrier 1, brickmaker 1, groom 1, shoemakers 3, pastrycook I, carter 1, butcher 1 , miller 1; single women — Servants 26, cooks 6, dairymaids 3, nursemaids 5, dressmaker 1, matron 1, housemaids 4, housekeeper 1, tailoress 2, Summary-—Male adults, 127; female do, 126; male children, 59; female do, 40; infants, 15; total, 367 souls, equal to 302½ statute adults. The detailed list may be inspected at the Immigration Office, Christchurch.” Star, 19 January 1875, p 2

“SHIPPING. Port of Lyttleton. ARRIVAL OF THE WAIMATE. This fine ship arrived the day after her sister vessel, the Waitangi. She was signalled before 6 a.m. yesterday morning, and the Mullough s.s. was ready to go off to her by 9 30 a.m., but all hands had to wait for the arrival of the Immigration Commissioner by the 11 a m. train. The Mullough then went alongside the ship, which was lying off Rhodes’ Bay. (We forgot to mention that the Mullough proceeded to the ship with a party before the Health Commissioner and others went off, but of course was not allowed to send anyone on board.) On arrival at the vessel, many greetings were interchanged with Captain Rose, so well known here, and also with several of his officers and crew. There was no Infectious disease on board, and the health officers at once passed the ship, and we were permitted to go on board. As before remarked, the Waimate is sister ship to the Waitangi, and was built at Sunderland by Messrs Blumer and Sons, and launched last August. She is an improvement on her sister ship, being better finished. This is of course her maiden trip, and Captain Rose tells us she sails remarkably well, as indeed is proved by the good passage she has made. Her saloon is very nicely fitted, and she was quite full of saloon passengers. Captain Rose’s name being of course sufficient to account for that. It is only seven months since that gentleman left us to take back the Rakaia, and he only had ten days at home. The quartermasters and crew are dressed in jumpers and caps, bearing the name Waimate on both, and their uniform appearance is a great improvement on the usual style. The vessel Is 1123 tons register, and 89 days out from Gravesend. She brought out 388 passengers in all, 363 of which are immigrants. Dr Cleghorn, who is well known here, was surgeon-superintendent of the ship, and states that as a whole the conduct and health of the immigrants was very good. There was no Infectious disease on board during the whole passage. There were 4 births, 1 marriage, and 8 deaths —6 of the deaths were those of Infants, one was that of a single man, named James Knight, who died of pneumonia, and the other that of an ordinary seaman, a boy of fifteen, named Green, who was drowned. The accident happened on the morning of Sunday, December 27th, in latitude 45.57 south, longitude 29 53 E. The poop was being washed and the boy was hauling the cross-jack sheet aft, when the ship lurched and he fell overboard. There was a heavy sea running at the time, and the vessel was going about 13 knots. A lifebuoy was flung to him and the ship rounded to. The boy disappeared; a man was sent up aloft, but no sign of him was seen again, and it was thought dangerous to lower a boat in such a heavy sea. There is a good condenser on board, capable of making about 400 gallons in twelve hours, and it worked well throughout the passage. On going below into the single girls’ compartment, we found that it was hardly lighted enough and it appeared rather crowded after the Lady Jocelyn, but it was in fair order, and clean. The matron’s name is Miss Wright, and that of the sub-matron Miss Knight; and the constables’ names are Askey and Beach. There were seventy-three girls in the compartment. As usual, some sewing had been done on the voyage from materials given by the Government, and we were informed it was very creditable. It had been distributed to the workers before our arrival. All spoke well of the captain. Mrs Howard gave the passengers a sack of nuts before their departure, and they were distributed on Christmas Day. At Christmas time this compartment was nicely decorated with flags and mottoes, worked by the girls, which we were shown. The inscriptions were Welcome, Captain Rose,” “Success to the Waimate,” &c. All the cabin passengers, and the captain and officers, visited the compartment to see the decorations. The New Year passed happily, and there was plenty of music on board. The girls are for the most part domestic servants, but there are many shopwomen amongst them. They are principally English, many being from London, but there are a few Irish and Scotch. Several of the immigrants on board were selected by Mr A. Duncan, who visited the ship yesterday, with Messrs Coster, Turner, and other gentlemen. There were fifty-nine married couples. The division set apart for them was cleanly, and they seemed well contented with their passage, speaking in high terms of Dr Cleghorn, Captain Rose, and the first, second, and third officers, Messrs Devitt, Gibson, and Scrooby. Messrs Gardiner and Fox were the constables. There are a few agricultural laborers, bur most of the men are general laborers and tradesmen. These again are principally English, with a few Scotch and Irish. The Rev De Berdt Hovell was chaplain and schoolmaster on board, and was assisted in the latter capacity by Mr Mclntosh. On the whole they had pleasant times, concerts being given by the immigrants. Divine service was conducted during the passage every Sunday by the Rev De Berdt Hovell and the captain. There were seventy-seven single men, the majority English and the rest Irish and Scotch.. The constables were Westerman and Rooney. About half are agricultural laborers and the other half tradesmen. The compartment was tidy and fairly clean. All speak highly of Captain Rose and the officers and Dr Cleghorn. A widow named Harriett Gubbins was paralysed. She was one of the immigrants. We must congratulate the New Zealand Shipping Company on possessing so fine and fast a vessel. We hear that she has averaged ten knots. The passage appears to have been a happy one, thanks to the efforts of those in charge lor the general good. The following is the captain’s report;—Left Gravesend at 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 28th; landed the pilot next day at noon off’ the Owers. At noon on the 30th the Lizard bore north seven miles distant; bad light N.E. winds down Channel, and as far as lat 40 deg N., long 19 deg W. On November 5th the wind died away for a few hours, and then sprang up from the S. S. W. and tacked to S.E., with rain, increasing to a heavy gale from the S.S.E. lasting till the morning of the 9th, when the wind moderated and hauled to the westward and round to the north, with fine weather. Caught the N.E. trades in 25 deg north and 22 deg 30 min west. Passed in sight of San Antonio on November 15th. Lost the trades on November 18th, in latitude 7.30 N long 25 W, and had light winds and calms to 3 deg N and 25 deg 30 min W, when the S.E trades were got far from the south. Crossed the Equator at 6 p.m. on November 25th, in long 28 deg 30 min west; lost the S.E trades on the 30th, in lat 12 deg south long 36 deg west; from thence light variable airs and calms till December 7th, lat 20 deg south long 34 deg west, when the wind sprung up again from the S.E and continued moderate till December 13th, in lat 35 deg south long 34 deg west, when the wind increased to a gale, lasting till the 15th, when it moderated and hauled to the westward, continuing to the meridian of the Cape, which was “leached on December 35th, in lat 45 deg south; from thence to lat 48 deg long 120 deg east moderate westerly winds prevailed: passed the Crozets December 3lst, in lat 45 deg 45 min south. From long 120 deg east had unsettled weather, with very low barometer, 28 deg 85 min. Passed the Snares on Wednesday last, at 1.30 p.m., with a strong N.W wind: was off Nugget Point on Thursday becalmed; off Cape Saunders on Friday, and off Oamaru on Saturday evening; passed the East Cape, Banks’ Peninsula, at one on Monday morning, and taking Pilot Wood on board ran in and anchored on Rhodes Bay at 6.15 a.m. The passage was made in eighty-one days from the start. She ran clown her easting in 47 deg. The following vessels were spoken during the voyage:— The Adelina, on November 17th, from Plymouth for Irawaddy river; the Miami, on November 23th, bound from Glasgow to Valparaiso; the Vega (Norwegian), on December 3rd, from Cardiff to Kio; the Hilda (Norwegian), on December 3rd, from Hull to Moulmein; the City of Bombay, on December 8th, from London to Sydney. The single girls were landed yesterday, and the rest will be brought ashore to-day. Mr Pearson, well known in Canterbury, acted as purser. Captain Rose came on shore at 3 p.m., and the vessel was reported and entered in at the Customs immediately. We believe this is the first time such promptitude has been shown. As will be seen by our Imports list, she brings a very large and valuable cargo.” Globe, 26 January 1875, p 2

 

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The ship “Waimate” at Port Chalmers

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography;

Archives New Zealand || Searching passenger lists

Search Home — FamilySearch.org

Pobόg-Jaworowski J. W., History of the Polish Settlers in New Zealand, Warsaw, 1990, pages 12 & 48

 

Compiled by Paul Klemick (2022)

 

 

 

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