- Scindian
"Scindian" is widely considered the first
convict ship to transport convicts toWestern Australia .A
barque of 650 tons, "Scindian" was constructed atSunderland ,England in 1844 and named after theIndia nScindia dynasty. It leftPortsmouth on4 March 1850 under the command of Captain James Cammell andsurgeon-superintendent John Gibson, and docked at Fremantle on1 June 1850 after a voyage of 89 days. The vessel carried 275 people toWestern Australia including 75 male convicts and 163pensioner guards . Among the passengers were a number of convict officials including Comptroller General of ConvictsEdmund Henderson and Superintendent of ConvictsThomas Hill Dixon . Also on board was 10-year oldGeorge Throssell , who would later become the secondPremier of Western Australia .The arrival of the convicts was a surprise to many of the
Swan River Colony settlers, as Western Australia had petitioned for convicts but had not yet received a reply when "Scindian" arrived. As no preparations had been made for their arrival, the colony had no jail capable of housing so many convicts. This had been anticipated, and only convicts with a record of good behaviour had been sent. The convicts were initially housed in the warehouse premises of theharbourmaster , which is now the Esplanade Hotel. Shortly after the arrival, work began on the building of a Convict Establishment prison, nowFremantle Prison ."Scindian" sank off the cost of
Rio Marina ,Elba ,Italy on3 November 1880 ."Scindian" is widely considered the first convict ship to arrive in Western Australia, because it was the first to arrive after Western Australia became a
penal colony . A number of ships did bringParkhurst apprentices to Western Australia between 1842 and 1849, and while these were not considered convict ships by the Western Australian authorities, they were classified as such in English records.List of "Scindian" passengers
Passengers on "Scindian" included
Thomas Hill Dixon ,Edmund Henderson andGeorge Throssell . A full list is provided below.Convicts
References
*cite book|author=Bateson, Charles|year=1959|title=The Convict Ships 1787–1868|publisher=Brown Son & Ferguson|location=Glascow
*cite web|title=Western Australian Convicts - Scindian 1850|url=http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/con-wa0.html|accessdate=February 18|accessyear=2006
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