Free Settler or Felon
Convict and Colonial History




Convict Ship Asia (III) - 1825


Embarked 200 men
Voyage 113 days
Deaths 2
Surgeon's Journal - Yes
Previous vessel: Royal Charlotte arrived 29 April 1825
Next vessel: Hercules arrived 7 May 1825
Captain William L. Pope
Surgeon Thomas Davies
Convicts and passengers of the Asia identified in the Hunter Valley

The Asia was built in Calcutta in 1805.[4]

It was reported on 18th December 1824 at Portsmouth of the detention of many outward bound vessels by contrary winds. Some of the ships had been two months out of the Downs during which they had made repeated ineffectual struggles to clear the Channel but could not get to the westward of Plymouth. The convict ships Hercules, Royal Charlotte and the Asia were among these vessels detained at Portsmouth.

Departure from Portsmouth

The Asia departed Portsmouth on 5th January 1825. She called at Santa Cruz on 24th January.

Military Guard

The Guard consisted of Lieut-Governor Colonel Stewart of the 3rd regiment, Lieut. Thomas Bainbridge* of the 57th and 54 men of the 57th and 3rd (Buffs) regiments in including Sergeant Pike and Private John Finn.

Arrival in Port Jackson

The Asia arrived in Port Jackson on Friday 29 April 1825.

Convict Muster

A muster was held on board by Colonial Secretary Frederick Goulburn on 2nd May 1825. Of the two hundred prisoners who were embarked in England, one was re-landed prior to sailing, two men died on the voyage Thomas Howey and James Lovett - and one was sent to the hospital on arrival in Sydney Cove.

The three youngest convicts were George Hames (16), William Miles (16) and James Quinnell (15). Hames and Quinnell were both sent to Carter's Barracks on arrival. Convict Robert Johnson, surgeon and apothecary was sent to the Valley of the Swells, Wellington Valley.

Surgeon Thomas Davies

There were no cases of scurvy on this voyage and the surgeon was pleased to report that there were no cases of illness when the vessel entered Port Jackson........

It may not excite surprise that my anxiety to prolong the existence of men so circumstanced has been great and continued and I beg to remark that in every individual requiring even a purgative and the facility with which the greater number were restored to their former condition, may be conclusive as to the slight tendency of their indisposition to danger. In conclusion I had the satisfaction of discharging my charges in the Colony perfectly healthy. [5]

The following convicts and soldiers were mentioned in the surgeon's journal -

John Finn, aged 28, private 57th Regiment
Thomas Briggs, aged 37, convict
James Holmes, H. S. Piers, Samuel Lemon, Henry Farley, Henry Bolton, John Dyer, John Scott, convicts
Sergeant Pike, 57th Regiment
James Minote
William Hunter, aged 22, convict
Charles Mullins, aged 46, convict
James Lovell, aged 21, convict;
James Hawson, aged 24, convict
Thomas Howes, aged 36, convict
John Nelson, aged 18, convict
James Jones, aged 23, convict
James Mitchel, aged 21, convict
Henry Spurhley, aged 54
Joseph Hare, aged 19
James Stenning, aged 29
John Mathews, aged 22, convict
John Broughton, aged 16, convict
William Parsons, aged 19, convict
George Thrush, aged 16, convict [6]

Convicts of the Asia identified in the Hunter Valley region :

Apted, James

Bavin, James

Becks, Stephen

Bonnell, Charles

Broadway, James

Broughton, John

Cheeseman, James

Chester, Thomas

Clifton, Thomas

Compton, James

Dangerfield, James

Dean, Isaac

Dorkins, John

Duggan, William

Gover, William

Harding, Stephen

Hight, Thomas

Horstead, Edward

Hoult, Henry

Hunt, Thomas

Jones, James

King, George

Lamb, James

Langley, William

Lemon, Samuel

Lerway, William

Lewis, John

Lloyd, Thomas

Marshall, William

Mullins, Charles

Nicholls, William

Rawson, James

Rendle, James

Sears, Henry

Sergeant, Samuel

Smart, William

Smith, Joseph

Stapleton, Samuel

Tandy, Caleb

Tattershaw, John

Thomas, George

Wade, Samuel

Wakelin, James

Wakelin, John

Wilkins, James

Notes and Links

1). Convict Henry Sears was assigned to service at Paterson Plains in 1825. After many transgressions of the law he was executed in 1842 for piracy and murder at Norfolk Island.

2). James Rawson and Thomas Hunt were involved in the piratical seizure of the Gurnett in 1826. They were later acquitted on a charge of piracy because of unco-operative witnesses.

3). *Lieutenant Thomas Bainbridge accompanied Captain Patrick Logan to the penal settlement at Moreton Bay in March 1826 where he was employed as acting engineer[1]. He married Sarah, second daughter of Samuel Bates, formerly Deputy Judge Advocate of Norfolk Island in Sydney in October 1826.[2]

4). Vessels bringing detachments of the 57th Regiment........

Asia 1825 departed Cork 29 October 1824 - Captain Richard Heaviside

Asia (III) 1825 departed Portsmouth 5 January 1825 - Lieutenant Thomas Bainbridge

Royal Charlotte 1825 departed Portsmouth 5 January 1825 - Major Edmund Lockyer

Hooghley 1825 departed Cork 5 January 1825 Cork - Captain Patrick Logan

Norfolk 1825 departed Portsmouth 17 April 1825 - Captain James Brown

Minstrel 1825 departed Portsmouth 17 April 1825 - Lieutenant Henry John Tudor Shadforth

Lonach 1825 departed Cork 16 May 1825 - Lieutenant John William Donelan

Sir Godfrey Webster departed Cork 11 July 1825 - Lieutenant John Ovens

Medway 1825 departed the Downs 2 August 1825 Downs - Lieutenant William Bates

Henry Porcher 1825 departed Dublin 5 August 1825 Dublin - Captain Vance Young Donaldson

Marquis of Hastings 1826 departed Portsmouth 22 August 1825 - Ensign Stewart

Mangles 1826 departed Cork 23 October 1825 - Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Shadforth

Sesostris 1826 departed Portsmouth 30 November 1825 - Major John Campbell

Prince Regent 1827 departed London 11 June 1827 - Lieutenant Campbell

Morley 1828 departed Dublin 3 November 1827 - Captain Robert Hunt

Borodino 1828 departed Cork 11 February 1828 Cork - Captain Philip Aubyn

Mangles 1828 departed Dublin 23 February 1828 Dublin- Lieut. Hill and Adjutant Lieut. Kidd

Bussorah Merchant 1828 departed London 27 March 1828 - Captain Burton Daveney (+ 1 soldier)

Marquis of Hastings 1828 departed Portsmouth 1828 30 June 1828 - Colonel Allen

Asia 1828 departed London 23 November 1828 - Lieutenant George Edwards

5). Return of Convicts who died in 1870... William Robinson of London, convict per Asia, died 15 July 1870

6). Return of Convicts of the Asia assigned between 1st January 1832 and 31st March 1832 (Sydney Gazette 14 June 1832; 28 June 1832; 5 July 1832).....
William Clifton - Shoemaker assigned to George McKenzie at Williams River
Isaac Cannon - Groom assigned to Richard Driver in Sydney
John Nelson - Fishmonger assigned to Robert Cooper at Sydney
Thomas Phillips - Footman assigned to Mrs. Howe in Sydney


7). Sir Francis Forbes in giving evidence before the Select Committee into transportation in 1837 mentioned John Fitch, formerly a sailor in the Royal Navy. John Fitch whose real name was John Knatchbull arrived as a convict on the Asia. He received a ticket of leave in 1829 however was convicted of forgery and sent to Norfolk Island in 1832. After completing his sentence at Norfolk Island he returned to Sydney where he was executed for murder in February 1844.[3]

References

[1] Some Investigations into the Site of Brisbane's Earliest Burial Ground, p. 410 (University of Queensland)

[2] Sydney Gazette 14 October 1826

[3] South Australian 2 April 1844

[4] Bateson, Charles Library of Australian History (1983). The convict ships, 1787-1868 (Australian ed). Library of Australian History, Sydney : pp.346-347

[5] Ancestry.com. UK, Royal Navy Medical Journals, 1817-1857 Medical Journal of Thomas Davies on the voyage of the Asia in 1825. The National Archives. Kew, Richmond, Surrey.
[6]. National Archives - Reference: ADM 101/4/9 Description: Medical journal of the Asia convict ship for 3 October 1824 to 6 May 1825 by Thomas Davies, Surgeon and Superintendent, during which time the said ship was employed in conveying 200 hundred male convicts to New South Wales.