{{About|the ship|Frances (died 1878), wife of Sir William Macnaughten (murdered 1841)|Thomas Taylour, 2nd Marquess of Headfort}} {{italic title}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}
'''''Lady MacNaghten'''''<ref>This is the spelling adopted by historians, though contemporary reports overwhelmingly favoured Lady ''McNaughton'' and ''Lady McNaughten''.</ref> was an English barque of 553 tons, founded in 1825, which made numerous voyages to Australia, but remembered as the "Fever ship" for her 1837 voyage when one in six passengers died of illness either ''en route'' or shortly after arrival.
==History== Her voyages to Australia included:
===1835=== Her first voyage to Australia left Dublin on 23 June 1835 for Sydney under Captain Hustwick, with 300 male prisoners, under the superintendence of Dr. Jarman, R. N. The guard consisted of Lieutenant Trapands and Baumgartner, and 29 soldiers of the 25th Regiment. Passengers were Michael Brown, clerk of the works for Sydney, Mrs. Brown and their four children, also eight women emigrants and four children.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32150013 |title=Shipping Intelligence. |newspaper=The Sydney Monitor |volume=X |issue=841 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=28 October 1835 |accessdate=19 June 2017 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
===1837=== Billed as a "female emigrant ship",<ref name=female>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32155015 |title=The Female Emigrant Ship Lady M'Naughton. |newspaper=The Sydney Monitor |volume=XII |issue=1001 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=27 February 1837 |accessdate=19 June 2017 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> though the policy of bringing out women indiscriminately was being phased out in favour of family migration, and the ship departed Cork on 5 November 1836 with 412 emigrants.<ref>Of 412 emigrants 144 were females 15 years and over, and 72 males in the same age bracket, so single unaccompanied females would have numbered around 70.</ref>
''Lady MacNaghten'' sailed from Britain to Australia non-stop, as was customary for emigrant ships, and the first news to reach the outside world that anything was amiss was when the ship and HMS ''Rattlesnake'', with Governor Bourke on board, made contact about {{convert|200|mi|km}} south of Port Phillip around 24 February. Captain Hustwick passed the news to Captain W. Hobson that around 50 adults and children had died on board, mostly from typhus, and many more, including the ship's surgeon, Dr. J. A. Hawkins, were seriously ill. Assistant surgeon Bowler of HMS ''Rattlesnake'' was placed on board and the two ships went their separate ways.<ref name=pdf>{{cite web|url=http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2166&context=ihsbulletin|title=An Emigrant Ship – Lady MacNaghten|author=Frank Osborne|date=April 2001|publisher=Illawarra Historical Society|access-date=20 June 2017}}</ref> On 26 February the ship pulled in to Spring Cove, where she lay at anchor and those unaffected or recovering were ferried ashore and quarantined under guard. Their clothing and bedding was burnt and they were accommodated in tents, while those still suffering remained on board.<ref name=female/> Hawkins, who was on his first voyage as a ship's surgeon, died on 2 April and was buried in the Quarantine Ground. Captain Hustwick had contracted the disease but recovered as did Dr. Bowler of the ''Rattlesnake''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12860571 |title=Advertising |newspaper=The Sydney Herald |volume=VII |issue=571 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=17 April 1837 |accessdate=20 June 2017 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> These three were popularly regarded as heroes;<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65951246 |title= The Fever Ship |newspaper=The Cornwall Chronicle |volume=3 |issue=113 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=8 April 1837 |accessdate=19 June 2017 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> John Marshall, the London shipping agent whose duty it was to select prospective migrants and arrange their transportation, was the villain, dubbed "dealer in human flesh" for overcrowding the ship.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31719301 |title=The Lady MacNaughten |work=The Colonist |volume=III |issue=121 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=20 April 1837 |accessdate=20 June 2017 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Government regulations stipulated a maximum of 2 persons (including crew) for every 5 tons of Registered Burthen; Lady MacNaghten, of 550 tons should have carried no more than 334; she was carrying an equivalent of 336 adults, so certainly the ship was overcrowded, but the previous year she carried 300 convicts, a crew of 37 and 49 guards; 386 in all, but only lost two. Sixty-one ''Lady McNaghten'' passengers were lost, though probably not all to typhus.
An open letter of gratitude was published on 20 April, and signed by 13 passengers.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12861645 |title=Lady MacNaghten |newspaper=The Sydney Herald |volume=VII |issue=572 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=20 April 1837 |accessdate=20 June 2017 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Significantly, John Lazar, who lost three children to the contagion, and was under-compensated for his wardrobe (he was a tailor and actor) which had been destroyed, was not one of them.
===1838=== Carried 205 immigrants under the Bounty Scheme. Left Cromarty, Scotland on 26 Sept 1838, arriving in Sydney on 28 January 1839.<ref>Electric Scotland, https://www.electricscotland.com/history/australia/scotaus3.htm </ref>
===1840=== To Sydney with cargo, arrived December; Captain Doughty. Arrived in Sydney on 16 December, leaving from Plymouth on 30 August, with 260 Immigrants. Dr. McNamara, Esq., Surgeon. Two adults and seven children died, and four births occurred during the passage.<ref>''The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser'', Thursday 17 December 1840, page 3 </ref>
===1847=== Left London 1 July, arrived in South Australia in October with settlers; Captain James Hibbert. Dr. A. C. Kelly, later a noted vigneron, was ship's surgeon.
===1850=== Left Plymouth on 24 February, arrived in South Australia in June with settlers; Captain James Hibbert. <!-- from website on Tripod.com; no author but looks kosher A barque of 653 tons nm (new measurement) built at Howrah opposite Calcutta in India in 1825 by F. Vriginon & Son. Dimensions length - 118' beam - 28' depth of hold - 23' She made 2 voyages to Adelaide:-
1847: 13 October 1847 she arrived from London, having left here on 17 June and sailed via Plymouth (departed Plymouth 1 July) to Port Adelaide, carrying 216 emigrants who were mostly Scots. James Hibbert was her captain and Dr CA Kelly her surgeon superintendent.
1848: She left Port Adelaide on 4 February 1848 under the command of James Hibbert, carrying wool, wheat and passengers including Mrs & Master Hibbert (her captain), H.Collier, B.M. Da Costa, Reverend A.F. Lloyd.
1850: She arrived in Port Adelaide on 15 June 1850 under the command of James Hibbert, carrying 116 passengers including the Reverend J.D. Merewether, Mr T Scott, Wm. Neville, Sarah Neville, Mrs R. Neville, Miss H. Neville and a surgeon named Mr Taylor. She also carried machinery for a steam dredge and sundry other cargo. She cleared customs in Adelaide on 3 August to sail to Madras carrying copper, no passengers and a crew of 25.-->
== References == {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{cite book|author=Perry McIntyre & Elizabeth "Liz" Rushen|title=Quarantined!: The 1837 Lady Macnaghten Immigrants |publisher= Anchor Books Australia |date=2010 |ISBN=9780980335408}}
==External links== *[https://www.clanmacnaughton.net/docs_articles/LADY_MACNAGHTEN_7.pdf Lady Macnaghten] (about the eponymous Macnaghten clan)
Category:History of immigration to Australia Category:Full-rigged ships of Australia Category:Barques of Australia Category:Convict ships to New South Wales Category:Ships of South Australia Category:1825 ships