Fritz Reuter.
The earliest arrival of my ancestors was in 1877. The ship “Fritz Reuter” set sail from Hamburg, Germany. It arrived off-shore from Rockhampton before passengers disembarked and were taken up the Fitzroy River into the town.
Of these passengers, was my second maternal great-grandmother who arrived with her husband and their son. The mystery begins!
Research.
The following information has been gathered from a variety of sources. In particular: Newspapers accessed via the TROVE website and an amazing source compiled by Eric and Rosemary Kopittke, titled: Emigrants from Hamburg to Australia: 1877 on behalf of the Queensland Family History Society Inc.(1)
The “Fritz Reuter” was originally a British Steamship which was built in 1857 at Glasgow. It was purchased by the current owners, “Sloman & Co” in 1874. (1)
The vessel was 1475 tons and was under the command of Captain Kopper. It departed Hamburg with 407 passengers on board. Dr. EA Koch was the surgeon-superintendent and Mrs. Trodel was the Matron. The agents were Berens, Renniger & Co.(1)
Voyage.
From records located, the voyage of the “Fritz Reuter” to Rockhampton took roughly the following path:(2)
The emigrants would have assembled prior to the departure from Hamburg on Friday 15 June 1877. The vessel travelled down the Elbe River. It passed by Cuxhaven prior to entering the North Sea a couple of days later.
Then, was in the English Channel being off Dover, England on Wednesday 20 June. A little further along the Kent coast at Dungeness, the vessel lay anchor for two days due to thick fog. By Friday 29 June, the ship was able to see the “Light of Bishop”. This may have been a reference to the Bishop Rock Lighthouse off the Cornish coast. Reports indicate that the vessel was becalmed just outside the English Channel for 10 days.
Little is known about the voyage until Tuesday 31 July when the vessel “crossed the line”. It would have been celebration time on board. (3) It is unknown if the vessel sailed down the African Coast or headed toward South America to catch the easterly trade winds.
By Wednesday 22 August, the vessel was off the Cape of Good Hope where the ship had good easterly winds for four days.
The vessel travelled across the Indian Ocean and the southern parts of Australia and rounded Tasmania around Friday 14 September.
Rockhampton.
Travelling up the east coast of Australia, land would have most likely been encountered on the port side. The northeast winds lasted until the vessel passed Moreton Bay and arrived at Kepple Bay. She is anchored at Sea Hill on Friday morning. On Thursday 4 October, Dr Salmond, Health Officer, proceeded to the Bay in the Bunyip to inspect the ship. Pratique was granted.
This allowed the emigrants to disembark and be taken up the river into Rockhampton onboard “The Lady Bowen”. It arrived at about 22:30 on Sunday 7 October. The emigrants were treated to a hot supper that had been prepared for them at the Depot.
The emigrants expressed their discoveries by joyfully singing their national melodies. After supper, they retired to their quarters and were soon at rest for the next day for their new adventure would begin.
Summary.
The voyage took 110 days. During the crossing of the seas, those onboard encountered some rough weather with thunderstorms, snow, rain, hail and squalls. At one point the Captain was nearly washed overboard. The emigrants consisted of 9 full paying passengers, 24 assisted, 19 free nominated, 354 free and one remittance, totalling 407 on board on departure. There were eight births and 13 deaths recorded, mostly children from whooping cough. Therefore, 402 passengers landed in Rockhampton. The passengers had two complaints relating to the tinned meat and the quality of the milk during the voyage. The authorities advised that these complaints would be dealt with later.
There are further interesting tales that were located after the voyage was completed. These were located in various newspapers. Should you be interested in reading more, follow this link: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1367291
Additional Information.
The information above has been compiled via the following:
- Emigrants from Hamburg to Australia: 1877 Compiled by Eric and Rosemary Kopittke.
- The Capricornian (Rockhampton, Qld 1875-1929) Saturday, 13 October 1877 (pgs. 14 & 15).
- “Crossed the line” https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/blog/curatorial/crossing-line
Acknowledgements:
Map: pixabay.com
Ship photo: Queensland State Library
Ancestor Family 