Ships/tranby.html
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Tranby
The brig Tranby left Hull 9 September 1829, and arrived at Swan River 3 February 1830 (Hitchcock has 30 January)
Wikipedia:
The Tranby was a 26 metre long, 8 metre wide ship which left from the city of Hull in Yorkshire, England on 9 September 1829 and was captained by a John Story, with 37 passengers and 14 crew on board as well as various livestock, farm equipment and building materials.
VOYAGE OF THE TRANBY
The following account of the ship Tranby's departure from Hull for the Swan River Settlement is from the Hull Advertiser and Exchange Gazette, of Friday, September 11, 1829. The extract has been forwarded to The West Australian by Mr. H. J. Green, of Wandle-road, London, a grandson of Mr. George Green, who was a passenger in the Tranby and a cousin of Mrs. John Hardey.
On Wednesday, noon, the Tranby, Captain Story, sailed from this port, with passengers, stores, live stock, agricultural implements, etc., for the Swan River, Australasia. The settlers on board were Messrs. M. and J. S. Clarkson, late of Holme House, near Market Weighton; Messrs. John and William Hardey, of Ulceby Grange, near Barton; Mr. Joseph Hardey, of Barrow; Mrs. John and Mrs. Joseph Hardey; Mr. G. Johnson, jun.; Mr. T. C. Brownell Surgeon, and Mrs. Brownell, of Nottingham, with a number of artisans, agricultural labourers, etc., in all upwards of forty persons. Mr. J. Leach, a respectable local preacher in the Wesleyan connexion, goes with them, with the laudable intention of preaching the Gospel to the degraded and long-neglected natives of the country. A steamer had been engaged to bring back a number of friends who wished to accompany the emigrants as far as Spurn Point; and as the wind happened to fail immediately the Tranby got under way, the tug was attached to and towed that vessel to the mouth of the Humber—being, we believe, the first ever taken down by that method. The final parting took place opposite Spurn, about seven o'clock in the evening, and was extremely affecting - parents and children, brothers and sisters, friends and relatives separating, in all probability, to meet no more in this world. The Tranby proceeded on her voyage, and is to touch at the Cape, where a number of Merino sheep, and other stock, will be taken in. The passengers on board will be entitled, according to the terms offered by Government and the means with which they are furnished, to a grant, in the aggregate, of between fifty and sixty thousand acres of land. It is their intention to cultivate tobacco, cotton, and the vine, for which the soil and the climate are said to be favourable, as well as for the production of silk; indeed, the late accounts in these respects are particularly favourable.
The Bible, Tract, and Sunday School Societies have made considerable grants of books for the use of the settlement,—and the Society of Friends have also contributed a liberal supply of publications, to be applied to the instruction of the rising generation in the new colony. We understand it is in contemplation to lay on another vessel for the Swan River Settlement, and we are also informed that a number of respectable farmers of the East-Riding of Yorkshire, and Lincoln shire, are preparing to take their departure for the same quarter next spring, should the accounts transmitted by settlers prove sufficiently favourable to confirm them in their intentions.
On Sunday afternoon the Rev. T. H. Squance, late missionary at Ceylon, preached to a large concourse of people on board the ship and on the quay. Nearly four thousand persons were assembled on this occasion, so great was the interest excited. The Rev. Gentleman took his text from Proverbs iii., 6. He dwelt with great force on the propriety of maintaining the Christian character in a distant land, expressing his deep regret that a carelessness had too frequently been manifested in connection with his most important duty, and quoting with much feeling, in the progress of his discourse, some beautiful and appropriate lines from Cowper's Translation of Madame Guyon.
(The Tranby left Hull on September 9, 1829, and arrived at Swan River February 3, 1830.) The West Australian, 1 February 1930: 5.
(Said to be) from the Mate of the Tranby:
Swan River Settlement. - A letter was received at Hull, on Thursday the 1st July instant, from Mr Harley, mate of the brig, Tranby, dated off the mouth of the Swan River, Feb. 14th last, which communicates the following particulars: - “ We arrived at this anchorage on the 3rd of this month. I’m sorry to say, that Mr. William Hardy [sic], one of the youngest cabin passengers, was found dead in bed, about half–past five on the morning of the 21st January. We had a very rough passage and beating wind, all the way from the Dudgeon Light House to the Lizard. We were twice in Dungeness Roads; nothing but hard gales of wind, and always foul. Passengers all in good health.” Mr Harley, after detailing some facts, which have been stated in former accounts, and mentioning the arrival of the vessel at the Cape, on the 8th Dec. last, proceeded, “We, the mate and steward, another man, and a boy, went ashore, and proceeded up the country, armed with large sticks. Two of the boat’s crew choosing to remain about the tents and wooden house, which are patched up by the newly arrived emigrants. We went in a S.E. direction. The ground was very strong; this was more towards Cockburn Sound, not in the direction of Swan River. We saw no game, or any animals, until on going up a hill, we discovered smoke issuing from a valley below us, and the natives were setting fire to many trees. This they do to start the kangaroos out of their hiding places, to kill them; they are very firm and eat like rabbit. We gathered a few curiosities and curious plants, and returned. The entrance to Swan River is bad; two small rocky capes, scarcely worth the name, between which there is a passage at low water, of about three feet, and about ten fathoms wide. The rest of the bar is pieces of rock, with sand, light soft stones &c. but the sand extends up the river, from its mouth, about two miles: still the water is so clear, that the pebbles may almost be counted at the bottom – and where we are lying also in nine fathoms’ water.
10 July 1830 - York Herald - York, Yorkshire, England
Transcribed by Sue Baddeley
SWAN RIVER SETTLEMENT. – Letters dated the 22nd February last, from the town of Freemantle, [sic] Swan River, have been received from Mesrs. Clarkson, Hardy, [sic] and Johnson, who sailed from Hull, in the ship Tranby, on the 10th [sic] September last, but as they had only arrived on the 3d February, they had not had an opportunity of seeing much of the country. They were most kindly received by Capt. Sterling, [sic] the Governor of the Colony, who made them a grant of land not far from Perth, the seat of Government. The land is of a warpy soil, and there are from 20 to 30 trees upon an acre, the grass is between 3 and 4 feet high. – Mahogany tree grow to a very large size, the natives are described as small in stature, and harmless, there is an abundance of game, and the kangaroo tastes much like a rabbit; the river is about ¾ of a mile broad; twenty eight ships had arrived and many more were expected; there is every reason to believe that this will prove a most flourishing settlement.
10 July 1830 - Yorkshire Gazette - York, Yorkshire, England
References and Links
The West Australian, 1 February 1930: 5.
Brownell, Thomas Coke 2010, Reference to index of Journal of a voyage from Hull to Swan River on the brig "Tranby" , 9 September 1829 - 2 February 1830 : Journal and letter register 1829 - 1858 of Thomas Coke Brownell, University of Tasmania Library Special and Rare Materials Collection, Australia. John Kelly's transcription of the journal is available on this website.
Burton, Canon Alfred 1929, 'The diary of Joseph Hardey', Early Days, vol. 1, part 6: 17-28.
Johnson, George, Diary and log of voyage from Hull to Fremantle, passenger list, life on board, log entries, Battye MN 1888 Acc. 313A.
Journal of the voyage online.
Many thanks to Sue Baddeley for the transcriptions above, and also for the one on the Hardey family page.
See also the page for the school named after the ship: Tranby College.
Wikipedia page for Tranby House.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 16 January, 2015 and hosted at freotopia.org/ships/tranby.html (it was last updated on 3 May, 2024). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.