Edwin Fox - Immigration Voyages (1873, 1875, 1878, 1880)

1873 Voyage - London/Brest to Lyttleton - Near Disaster

In 1873 the Edwin Fox was fitted out to carry immigrants under the British Government Vogel scheme and put under the command of Captain John Ellis Johnson.

Records at the time show that 140 passengers were on board destined for Canterbury and Otago with a number of these passengers originally destined to travel on the vessel  'Oberon' but that ship was deemed to be unsuitable. The count of passengers is somewhat misleading as it was common practice to only count the heads of families and to date we have 211 confirmed passengers who boarded the vessel in London.

This voyage nearly led to the sinking of the Edwin Fox when she and many other ships were caught in a major storm in the Bay of Biscay. During the storm Frank Lungley, the ships surgeon and able seaman Henry Strawbridge were killed. A number of crew and passengers suffered injuries ranging from broken limbs to severed fingers. 

The coverage of this storm is truly horrific with major damage to the ship which was only saved when she was secured and towed into the port of Brest by the American ship Copernicus which was commanded by Captain Hudson. There are many tales of heroism during the storm and some stories of appalling behaviour by the crew, the latter are likely unfounded or at least highly exaggerated.  

During the repairs there was a letter submitted to the shipping company by passenger John Parslow which was signed by 4 others claiming that Captain Johnson was guilty of 'grave immoral conduct with a single woman on board and un-seamanlike behaviour' . Parslow also accused the Matron of having connived with Captain Johnsons behaviour and further allegations were laid against the Matron by a passenger Philip Moore. An enquiry was held immediately which lasted for four days and testimonies were taken from both passengers and crew.  The female passenger involved, Maggie Deane, had no complaint at all and did not support the accusations being made. 

The allegations against both the Captain and the Matron were withdrawn and the charges dropped, subsequently both parties were cleared of any blame and the inquiry declared 'there was not one tittle of evidence against either party' and stated that Philip Moore 'evinced such palpable malice in bringing the unfounded charges that we think an example should be made of him by dismissing him from the ship'

In fact Moore did continue the voyage and later married Maggie Deane's sister Rebecca, Maggie Deane and Captain Johnson later married.

After the ship was repaired 23 passengers declined to reboard and presumably returned to England, it is not known if any ventured to New Zealand on other ships at a later date.

Dr Lungley was replaced by a Dr. William Montague Hall Welby, however this appointment was very short lived as he was quickly dismissed for persistent drunkenness and absence from duty. It was reported that on more than one occasion he had to be carried across from his hotel to the ship by shipping employees to ensure the passengers medical and welfare requirements were met. He was replaced by a third doctor, Dr. Eustace James Walshe who proved to be an excellent surgeon who completed a number of voyages on other ships.

The drama on board the ship was not over ! - an argument developed between two mothers to be, one of the woman had been busy making elaborate baby clothes for her new child and in a fit of jealousy the other pregnant woman declared the clothes were hers. Betsy Morgan, the real owner of the clothes, asked Captain Johnson to intervene and in a display of great detective work the Captain inspected the garments and then asked each women if they were left handed or right handed?, the women who tried to steal the clothes declared right handed at which point the dilemma was solved as the Captain had seen that the clothes were stitched by someone who was left handed! -  Betsy Morgan's daughter, Edwina, was born 14 May 1873. On arrival Betsy, husband Samuel and family travelled to Port Chalmers on the S S Maori.

As well as deaths during the storm there were two deaths from fever, one from consumption and one infant from thrush. Of the deaths from fever one was that of George Bennett , who was party to the letter of complaint which led to the hearing and Thomas Roberts who had been badly injured during the storm.

Upon arrival at Lyttleton there were reports of persistent 'simple continuous fever' on board so fresh provisions were provided by the pilot boat and the following day the steamer S S Gazelle towed the ship up to an anchorage at the quarantine station on Ripapa Island. 

In addition to the passengers on board there was also a large quantity of mixed cargo including large quantities of wines, spirits, beer, railway iron and scientific instruments.

1875 Voyage - London to Wellington

On arrival in London the owners of the Edwin Fox sent her into the East India Dock for a major refit. This work involved major reconfiguration of her decks to improve the accommodation for both male and female passengers as well as the addition of a water condenser to provide fresh water.

She was towed out to sea on December 2nd 1874 under the command of Captain Walter Walpole. Captain Walpole soon dispensed with the services of the tug believing the ship could make its own way out but by the 5th of December she was moored back at the Downs seeking shelter, there on the 6th she parted from her anchorage in strong winds loosing both anchor and 54 metres of chain.

On the 10th of December she tried to leave again, this time she fouled a collier schooner, then grounded and was towed back to harbour. The passengers returned to the Blackwall Depot and the ship was dry docked for inspection and repair. The hapless Captain Walpole was relieved of command and replaced by Captain John Sayes Davies, at the same time the ships surgeon announced he was unwilling to sail and was replaced by Dr. J. Tighe. 

The Edwin Fox set off again December 22nd with 265 passengers but further calamity was to strike when just a few miles downstream she collided heavily with another collier schooner called the Amici which sank drowning one of her crew.

Having suffered very little damage the ship left port again on Christmas Day 1874.

There are diaries written by passengers on board this ship the most entertaining of which was written by William Manning.

With a large contingent of Scottish and Irish passengers it proved to be an eventful crossing with a number of accidents, incidents and brawls between both male and female passengers. These were met with stiff punishment by the Captain which included one passenger being imprisoned and one being hand cuffed to the ships rail as well as rough justice being handed out by improvised passenger courts where  'trial by jury' handed out some severe punishments.

After enduring weeks of unrest and foul weather the passengers arrived into Wellington Harbour on the 18th of April 1875 but they were not yet able to land as the immigration barracks were unable to receive them due to cases of fever on a ship which had arrived 6 weeks earlier. Instead they were transferred to the quarantine station on Matiu/Somes Island.

Eventually 71 of the passengers transferred to Wanganui by the P S Manawatu.

Manning concluded his diary with "our voyage had at last come to a termination, 122 days of misery, anxiety, discomfort and semi-starvation, that I hope and trust may never again fall to the lot of an unfortunate emigrant in a slow but sure emigrant ship"

Two adults and four children died on the voyage and the fate of Neil Burgess, crewman, who suffered a severe head injury after falling from the mainstay to the deck while reefing a sail is unknown as on arrival in Wellington he was described as being as well as could be expected.

Six children were born on the voyage including a baby girl to Elizabeth Wilcock who was named Edwina Fox Wilcock.

While in Wellington Captain Davies had some troublesome crew with two crew members appearing in court for failing to carry out their duties under the false pretense of illness and he had to take out an advert in the local paper stating he would not be responsible for debts incurred by his crew.

During her voyage the ships owner Edward Gellatly decided the ship was too accident prone and she was sold for the sum of 2,500 pounds to Shaw Saville and Company. 

1878 Voyage - Plymouth to Nelson

In July 1878 the Edwin Fox again sailed for New Zealand waters this time under the command of Captain John Phease and accompanied by ships Surgeon William Benjamin Archibald Scott this time carrying 249 listed passengers. The surgeons report for this voyage is still in existence and gives a remarkable insight into the lives of the passengers and crew on board.

This time the ship benefitted from favorable winds throughout the journey and arrived into Nelson 101 days later.

Unfortunately the ship remained at anchor with the passengers on board for 7 days as the heavily laden vessel was unable to enter the harbour due to the shallow and difficult channel alongside the Fifeshire Rock.

The passengers were ferried from the ship to Nelson on board the S S Wallace and then they were transported to their final destination on board the steamers McGee and Murray.

There are no records of any births or deaths during this voyage.

Once again in addition to the passengers there was a large amount of varied cargo and yet again much of this was 100's of cases of alcohol of different varieties. One item of special interest to the farming community around Nelson was the agricultural traction engine bought by the Holdaway brothers.

In January 1879 while waiting to depart the ship was lying at anchor outside the Boulder Bank when a gale sprang up which caused the ships anchored there to strain at anchor. During the gale the Edwin Fox parted her cables but thanks to the swift action of the crew the vessel was secured on the second anchor.

1880 Voyage - London to Lyttleton

On January 8 1880 under the command of Captain Phease and with Surgeon Dr. Frederick Hunt on board the ship left London for the last of her immigration voyages to New Zealand.

The ship now carried 106 passengers, 20 saloon passengers, 12 in second class and the remainder in steerage.

During the voyage the ship benefitted from light but favourable winds around the Cape of Good Hope where Captain Phease sailed as close as possible to the Twelve Apostles in search of any trace of the ship Knowsley Hall which had left England in June but had not been heard of since. 

During the voyage an Albatross landed on the deck of the ship and subsequently died, the head of the bird was given to Dr. Hunt and is now an exhibit in the Edwin Fox Maritime Museum.

The ship entered Lyttleton Harbour in the company of the ship Duntrune, the Duntrune was wrecked 10 years later with only 8 on board being saved.

Captain Phease was warmly welcomed by all in port and again received many favourable reports of respect and esteem.

Three children died on the voyage including Mary Cecilia Hunt, daughter of the ships surgeon Dr. Frederick Hunt and John and Jessie Johnson who were travelling with their parents. There are no records of births during the voyage.

In addition to the passengers the vessel again carried various cargo items including pumping gear and machinery for the Christchurch Drainage Board, 800 tons of railway ironwork as well as the 'usual' large consignment of alcohol.

On 12 June 1880 the Edwin Fox left Lyttleton laden with 1,100 tonnes of wheat and oats, very heavily laden she trudged back to London arriving there in October after a passage of 140 days.