''Pestonjee Bomanjee'' was a wooden

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on Mast (sailing), masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing Square rig, square-rigged or Fore-an ...

built in 1834 by James Lang of

Dumbarton, Scotland Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

. She was a three-masted wooden

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 ...

of 595 tons, 130 feet in length, 31.5 feet in breadth, first owned by John Miller Jnr and Company,

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 ...

. Her last-known registered owner in 1861 was Patrick Keith & George Ross,

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, India. ''Pestonjee Bomanjee'' was built for

East India East India is a region consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The states of Bihar and West Bengal lie on the Indo-Gangetic plain. Jharkhan ...

service, and undertook a number of journeys between the United Kingdom and the Australian colonies. In 1838 she undertook a journey from London to the

colony of South Australia A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

, carrying with her

George Gawler Colonel George Gawler (21 July 1795 – 7 May 1869) was the second Governor of South Australia, at the same time serving as Resident Commissioner, from 17 October 1838 until 15 May 1841. Biography Early life Gawler, born on 21 July 1795, was t ...

, who had been appointed as the second

Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-general of Aust ...

, in succession to Captain John Hindmarsh, who had been recalled. Gawler and his wife, children, gardener ( Joseph Whittaker), and future aide-de-camp ( James Collins Hawker) arrived on ''Pestonjee Bomanjee'' on 12 October 1838, after a four-month journey to

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

via

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

and

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. Also on the ship were the German

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

missionaries

Christian Gottlieb Teichelmann Christian Gottlieb Teichelmann (15 December 1807 – 31 May 1888), also spelt Christian Gottlob Teichelmann, was a Lutheran missionary who worked among Australian Aboriginal people in South Australia. He was a pioneer in describing the Kaurna lan ...

and

Clamor Wilhelm Schürmann Clamor Wilhelm Schürmann (7 June 1815 – 3 March 1893) was a Lutheran missionary who emigrated to Australia and did fundamental pioneering work, together with his colleague Christian Gottlieb Teichelmann, on recording some Australian languages ...

. In 1841 her master, Captain Stead, was attacked and murdered by a gang of Chinese villagers in the Chusan Islands. For the latter part of her service she was used as a

convict ship A convict ship was any ship engaged on a voyage to carry convicted felons under sentence of penal transportation from their place of conviction to their place of exile. Description A convict ship, as used to convey convicts to the British colo ...

. In 1848, ''Pestonjee Bomanjee'' was felted and her hull sheathed in yellow metal to protect it from marine growths. On Thursday March 15 , 1849 an advertisement appeared on the Sydney Morning Herald “For London the fine ship ''Pestonjee Bomanjee ,'' 595 tons , John Baker commander will sail in March Applied to the captain on board, March 7, 1849

Voyages

*1838 Sailed London to Holdfast Bay, S Australia. Captain J K Hill. *1845, 1847, 1849 & 1852 voyages to Van Dieman's Land (

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

) as a convict ship. *1845 Departed Woolwich, England 6 September 1845; Arrived 30 December 1845 Captain Jn Austin. Surgeon: J. W. Johnston. *1846/1847 Departed 8 October 1846; arrived Van Diemen's Land (Maria Island) 17 February 1847. *1848/1849 Departed 20 September 1848; arrived 2 January 1849 at Van Diemen's Land. Disembarked 298 female Irish prisoners *1849 Sailed for Hobart Town. Captain Baker *1850/1851 Departed London via Portsmouth 30 October 1850; Arrived Port Adelaide 17 February 1852 Captain Ed.Pavey *1852 Departed Plymouth 18 April 1852; Arrived Hobart 31 July 1852. Master: Captain Edward Montgomery. Surgeon: Daniel Ritchie. *1854 Emigrant voyage. Departed Southampton 18 June 1854; Arrived Port Adelaide, South Australia 7 October 1854. Captain Edward Montgomery. Surgeon: William H. Motherall.

References

{{reflist

External links

*Key, Benjamin
"Manuscript diary: ship Pestonjee Bomanjee ex London to South Australia"
''Transcript of original held in the Australian National Maritime Museum collection1938. *Schurmann, Edwin A
"I’d Rather Dig Potatoes: Clamor Schurmann and the Aborigines of South Australia 1838 – 1853"
''Lutheran Publishing House, Adelaide.'' Retrieved on 07 February 2015. *Crawford, R.B
"Murder of Captain Stead of the "Pestonjee Bomanjee," Transport."
''The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 1835–1869, p2''9 September 1841. Retrieved on 07 February 2015. Individual sailing vessels 1834 ships History of immigration to Australia Convict ships Age of Sail merchant ships of England Colony of South Australia