''Mimosa'' was a

clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. The term was also retrospectively applied to the Baltimore clipper, which originated in the late 18th century. Clippers were generally narrow for their len ...

ship that gained fame for carrying the first Welsh emigrants to Argentina, South America in 1865''.''

Voyage to Patagonia

''Mimosa'' had already seen many years of service by the time it transported Welsh emigrants to

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

, South America. The ship was built in 1853 at Hall's shipyard in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. Although the ship wasn't designed to carry passengers, it was converted for that purpose before the voyage. The cost of fitting, provisioning and chartering the ship was £2,500 and the passengers paid £12 per adult or £6 per child for the journey. Before the voyage, the emigrants assembled at various points, not always their places of origin, to prepare for the journey, including

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; ) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and River Cynon, Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tydf ...

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

, and

Mountain Ash Mountain ash may refer to: * ''Eucalyptus regnans'', the tallest of all flowering plants, native to Australia * Mountain-ashes or rowans, varieties of trees and shrubs in the genus ''Sorbus'' See also

* Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, a town ...

. ''Mimosa'' sailed from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England on 28 May 1865 to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

with a group of about 153 passengers with Captain George Pepperell and a crew of 18. The ship's surgeon for the voyage was Thomas Greene, an Irishman from

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 10,302, making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. It is home to Kildare Cathedral, historically the site of an important abbey said to have been founded by Saint ...

. They landed on 28 July 1865 and named their landing site Porth Madryn. They were met by Edwyn Cynrig Roberts and Lewis Jones who had already arrived in Argentina in June 1865 to prepare for the arrival of the main body of settlers. Their aim was to establish a Welsh colony which would preserve the Welsh language and culture. The proposed site for the colony was in the

Chubut River The Chubut River (; ; ) is located in the Patagonia region of southern Argentina. Its name comes from the Tehuelche word , which means 'transparent'. The Argentine Chubut Province, through which the river flows, is named after it. Welsh settle ...

valley. On 15 September 1865 the first town in the Chubut colony was named Rawson after Guillermo Rawson (1821–1890), Argentine Minister of the Interior, who supported the Welsh settlement in Argentina, and the settlers went on to build the settlements at Gaiman and

Trelew Trelew (, from "town" and the name of the founder, Lewis Jones) is a city in the eastern part of the Chubut Province of Argentina, 21km away from the coast. Located in Patagonia, the city is the largest and most populous in the low valley of the ...

and several other.

Welsh emigrants aboard ''Mimosa''

The exact number of emigrants who sailed out to Patagonia on ''Mimosa'' remains uncertain. Although one of the original settlers, Richard Jones (''Berwyn''), maintained a register of births, marriages and deaths for many years, most of these original records were lost in the great flood in the Chubut Valley in 1899. In 1875, the Argentine government granted the Welsh settlers ownership of the land which encouraged hundreds of others from Wales to join the colony. In the early 21st century, approximately 50,000 Argentines are of Welsh descent, of whom around 5,000 are Welsh speakers. The Welsh-Argentine colony, which became known as ''

Y Wladfa Y Wladfa (, 'The Colony'), also occasionally Y Wladychfa Gymreig (, 'The Welsh Settlement'), refers to the establishment of settlements by Welsh colonists and immigrants in the Argentine Patagonia, beginning in 1865, mainly along the coast of ...

'', remains centered on Gaiman, Trelew and

Trevelin Trevelin (; ) is a town in the western part of the Patagonian Argentine province of Chubut. The town lies on the eastern banks of the (). It is located in the department of Futaleufú, south of Esquel, and had 6,395 inhabitants at the time ...

1865 settlers

References

Bibliography

*Susan Wilkinson - ''Mimosa: the life & times of the ship that sailed to Patagonia'' (Y Lolfa, 2007) *Susan Wilkinson - ''Mimosa's Voyages: Official Logs, Crew List and Masters'' (Y Lolfa, 2007) *Clare Dudman - ''A Place of Meadows and Tall Trees'' (Seren, 2010) - Novel based on the voyage and settlement.

External links

Project-Hiraeth – Documents the stories of the Welsh colony in Patagonia, Argentina through film, text and illustration.
* *
The Wales-Argentina Society website
{{Clipper ships Welsh emigration Tea clippers Individual sailing vessels Age of Sail merchant ships of England Victorian-era merchant ships of the United Kingdom Victorian-era passenger ships of the United Kingdom Ships built in Aberdeen Welsh settlement in Patagonia 1853 ships