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Hell ship : the true story of the plague ship Ticonderoga, one of the most calamitous voyages in Australian history

Hell ship : the true story of the plague ship Ticonderoga, one of the most calamitous voyages in Australian history

For more than a century and a half, a grim tale has passed down through Michael Veitch's family: the story of the Ticonderoga, a clipper ship that sailed from Liverpool in August 1852, crammed with poor but hopeful emigrants, mostly Scottish victims of the Clearances and the potato famine. A better life, they believed, awaited them in Australia. Three months later, a ghost ship crept into Port Phillip Bay flying the dreaded yellow flag of contagion. On her horrific three-month voyage, deadly typhus had erupted, killing a quarter of Ticonderoga's passengers and leaving many more desperately ill. Sharks, it was said, had followed her passage as the victims were buried at sea. Panic struck Melbourne. Forbidden to dock at the gold-boom town, the ship was directed to a lonely beach on the far tip of the Mornington Peninsula, a place now called Ticonderoga Bay. James William Henry Veitch was the ship's assistant surgeon, on his first appointment at sea. Among the volunteers who helped him tend to the sick and dying was a young woman from the island of Mull, Annie Morrison. What happened between them on that terrible voyage is a testament to human resilience, and to love. Michael Veitch is their great-great-grandson, and Hell Ship is his brilliantly researched narrative of one of the biggest stories of its day, now all but forgotten. Broader than his own family's story, it brings to life the hardships and horrors endured by those who came by sea to seek a new life in Australia.

Item Information
Barcode Shelf Location Collection Volume Ref. Status Due Date
920423713 TBC 994.03 VEI
Talking Books - CD   . Available .  
. Catalogue Record 63179 ItemInfo Beginning of record . Catalogue Record 63179 ItemInfo Top of page .
Catalogue Information
Field name Details
RSN 000063961355
ISBN 9781489461469
Call Number 994.03
Dates Veitch, Michael 1962-
Edition Unabridged.
Attachments digital, stereo ; 12 cm ; in container.
Summary For more than a century and a half, a grim tale has passed down through Michael Veitch's family: the story of the Ticonderoga, a clipper ship that sailed from Liverpool in August 1852, crammed with poor but hopeful emigrants, mostly Scottish victims of the Clearances and the potato famine. A better life, they believed, awaited them in Australia. Three months later, a ghost ship crept into Port Phillip Bay flying the dreaded yellow flag of contagion. On her horrific three-month voyage, deadly typhus had erupted, killing a quarter of Ticonderoga's passengers and leaving many more desperately ill. Sharks, it was said, had followed her passage as the victims were buried at sea. Panic struck Melbourne. Forbidden to dock at the gold-boom town, the ship was directed to a lonely beach on the far tip of the Mornington Peninsula, a place now called Ticonderoga Bay. James William Henry Veitch was the ship's assistant surgeon, on his first appointment at sea. Among the volunteers who helped him tend to the sick and dying was a young woman from the island of Mull, Annie Morrison. What happened between them on that terrible voyage is a testament to human resilience, and to love. Michael Veitch is their great-great-grandson, and Hell Ship is his brilliantly researched narrative of one of the biggest stories of its day, now all but forgotten. Broader than his own family's story, it brings to life the hardships and horrors endured by those who came by sea to seek a new life in Australia.
Subject Typhus fever
Ships Health regulations.
Immigrants Health and hygiene Australia History.
Premiers' Reading Challenge : 9+
Ocean travel -- 19th century History
Australia Emigration and immigration History 19th century.
Catalogue Information 63179 Beginning of record . Catalogue Information 63179 Top of page .