''Charlotte Jane'' was one of the

First Four Ships The First Four Ships refers to the four sailing vessels chartered by the Canterbury Association which left Plymouth, England, in September 1850 to transport the first English settlers to new homes in Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury, New Zea ...

in 1850 to carry

emigrant Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

s from England to the new

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Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in New Zealand.

Maiden voyage

The ''Charlotte Jane'' departed from England in 1848, bound for Sydney. Captain Alexander Lawrence set sail with his wife, Miriam Lawrence, their baby daughter, a teenage nursemaid, a surgeon and 264 emigrants. After Australia, they sailed to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bombay, Whampoa (Canton), before returning via Cape Town to London.

Second voyage: Passage from England to New Zealand

Under the command of Captain Alexander Lawrence, the ''Charlotte Jane'' left Plymouth Sound at midnight, Saturday, 7 September 1850. She sighted Stewart Island on Wednesday, 11 December 1850, and dropped her anchor in Port Victoria (Lyttelton Harbour) on Monday, 16 December 1850, at 10 o'clock in the morning. Her passage was 99 days from port to port or 93 days from land to land. She carried 26 chief cabin, 24 intermediate, and 104 steerage passengers including a chaplain and a surgeon. There were one birth, one marriage and three deaths during the voyage. All the deaths were very young children, with one even dying before the ship departed Plymouth and was buried on shore there.

Arrival in Lyttelton

The

First Four ships The First Four Ships refers to the four sailing vessels chartered by the Canterbury Association which left Plymouth, England, in September 1850 to transport the first English settlers to new homes in Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury, New Zea ...

together carried an estimated 790 passengers. In addition, about another 60 worked their passage on the ships or deserted and disembarked. The first of the vessels to arrive was ''Charlotte Jane'' in Lyttelton on 16 December 1850 in the morning. ''Charlotte Jane'' carried the equipment for the production of the region's first newspaper, the ''

Lyttelton Times The ''Lyttelton Times'' was the first newspaper in Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury, New Zealand, publishing the first edition in January 1851. It was established by the Canterbury Association as part of its planned community, planned settlem ...

'', which was first published less than one month after the ship's arrival. ''Charlotte Jane'' departed Port Victoria (Lyttelton) on 7 January 1851 bound for Sydney with two passengers. The ship is remembered in the name of a road, Charlotte Jane Quay, in the port town of Lyttelton.

Passengers

''Charlotte Jane'' carried approximately 154 passengers. Exact numbers are not known because the surgeons' lists and the shipping lists do not match, and some young children were not counted. The passengers aboard these four ships were referred to as "the Pilgrims". Their names are inscribed on

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

plaques in Cathedral Square in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, where 157 passengers are listed.

Notable passengers

The first passenger who leapt onto the shore was James FitzGerald, who became an important politician in New Zealand. One of ''Charlotte Janes most notable passengers was the architect

Benjamin Mountfort Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort (13 March 1825 – 15 March 1898) was an English emigrant to New Zealand, where he became one of the country's most prominent 19th-century architects. He was instrumental in shaping the city of Christchurch's uniqu ...

. Charles Bowen was later Speaker of the

New Zealand Legislative Council The New Zealand Legislative Council () was the upper house of the General Assembly of New Zealand between 1853 and 1951. An earlier arrangement of New Zealand Legislative Council (1841–1853), legislative councils for the colony and provinces ...

. James Stuart-Wortley was a member of the

1st New Zealand Parliament The 1st New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 24 May 1854, following New Zealand's first general election (held the previous year). It was dissolved on 15 September 1855 in preparation for that year's ...

before he returned to England in 1855. James Temple Fisher was elected to Parliament in 1876. Edward Bishop was the 6th

Mayor of Christchurch The mayor of Christchurch is the elected head of local government in Christchurch, New Zealand; one of 67 Mayors in New Zealand, mayors in the country. The mayor presides over the Christchurch City Council and is directly elected using the First ...

Harriet Ritchie Harriet Maria Simpson (née Overton, and later Ritchie, 1821 or 1822 – 30 September 1907) was a New Zealand hospital matron, servants’ home matron and dressmaker. Biography Simpson was born to Thomas Overton and his wife (name unknown) in ...

became the first nurse at Lyttelton Hospital. Alfred Barker was the surgeon on the voyage. He was Canterbury's first doctor and is remembered for his photography.

Elizabeth Horrell Elizabeth Horrell (21 April 1826 – 18 January 1913) was a New Zealand teacher and homemaker. Biography She was born in Topsham, Devonshire, England on 21 April 1826. Horrell and her husband emigrated to New Zealand on the ''Charlotte Ja ...

taught on the ship on the voyage out and was appointed schoolteacher in Lyttelton on her arrival there, becoming Canterbury's first female schoolteacher.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlotte Jane 1848 ships Victorian-era passenger ships of the United Kingdom History of Christchurch Canterbury Association 1850s in Christchurch Migrant ships to New Zealand