The ''Flora Kerr'' was a

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

launched at

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in 1840 built by Hedderwick & Rankin for Thomas Mitchell. In the 1850s she carried settlers to the Australian colony. She caught fire and was wrecked in 1858.

History

She was surveyed by '' Lloyds'' in 1840. She carried both cargo and passengers. She mostly sailed to

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. She carried general cargo such as grain, oats, sugar, jute, hemp, indigo, rice, horn tips, rattans, hides and herring. On at least one occasion

Guano Guano (Spanish from ) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano is a highly effective fertiliser due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a le ...

from

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. Her first master was Captain Thomas Donaldson until his death in 1841 followed by Captain Hickman and Captain James McNidder. She was coppered in 1852. By 1854 she was registered at

Dartmouth, Devon Dartmouth () is a town and civil parish in the England, English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the western bank of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. It lies w ...

, to Charles Vincent, and in 1856 to J Paul in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. In 1854 she was supplied with faulty pumps before sailing to Australia. The captain tested the pumps in dock and found them faulty otherwise they could have resulted in the loss of the ship. She sailed from London on 17 November 1854, and Dartmouth 24 November to

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

, arriving 4 March 1855. Among those arriving on the Flora Kerr under Captain Symons was Charles Burney Young.

Fate

On 28 March 1858 on the voyage from

Berbice Berbice () is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1792 a colony of the Dutch West India Company and between 1792 and 1815 a colony of the Dutch state. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom of Great Brita ...

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

, to London carrying a cargo of sugar and rum the ship caught fire off the

Western Isles The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islands form part ...

and was abandoned. Her crew were rescued by ''War Cloud''.

Name

The ''Flora Kerr'' was named by Thomas Mitchell after his first wife, Florence 'Flora' Kerr, whom he married 9 October 1826 in Glasgow.

References

{{reflist

External links

The Flora Kerr on ArtNet
Sailing ships of the United Kingdom 1840 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Victorian-era passenger ships of the United Kingdom Victorian-era merchant ships of the United Kingdom Migrant ships to Australia Shipwrecks of Scotland Maritime incidents in March 1858