Ash Mowat is a volunteer with the Civic Engagement team and in this blog explores the journals of James Mitchell from the 1820 convict ship voyage to New South Wales.

In this blog we shall delve into the journal of ship’s surgeon James Mitchell aboard the 1820 convict ship voyage from London to New South Wales, held in the University of Edinburgh Centre for Research Heritage Collections.

Biography of James Mitchell

Mitchell was born in Fife Scotland in 1792 and died in 1869.[1] He trained for and was appointed as a surgeon in 1813 and had a military career as a medic including service during the Battle of Waterloo. He travelled as the ship’s medic on two voyages to Australia before settling to live there in 1823. He later became a politician.

I viewed his journal,[2] which dates from March 1820 on board the Neptune[3] situated on the Thames before embarking on its journey to Australia and dating up until August 1820 when the ship made its return voyage back to London. Further information of the crew and organisation on board, including some details of the convicts can be found here.[4] The journal is only very rarely dated, unlike as in a diary, making it difficult to assess time lapses between entries.

The journal itself is slightly bigger than A5 in size and numbers in 151 pages. The handwriting is not always clear of legible, until to my eyes, so I was unable to read the notes in their entirety, although hope nevertheless that excerpts provided here provide a flavour of the author and of the voyage itself. In addition to Mitchell’s medical expertise and military background, he expresses throughout his profound Christian faith and a religious teaching is practiced and encouraged on board for all crew and indeed the convicts.

In an early entry he begins: “The Neptune sailed for Woolich on a sandbar, but from the stupidity of the pilot, who seems to be in his dotage.”  It is interesting to here witness an early criticism of the navigation of the ship which we say echoed at the end of the journal on the return journey.  He then records: “Next day we received the convicts in number 156 of them, 20 were boys! Amongst them was one Wharton, a lieutenant in the 48^th regiment, the very regiment that is stationed in New South Wales. His crime was embezzlement, using a fictitious name in order to procure clothes, all arising from extravagance. This is a young fine-looking man, very tall about six foot two. He is of that family of Wharton’s….he is a nephew of Dr Wharton the poet laureate.[5] It is revealing here to learn how informed Mitchell is with regard to the crimes of those on board and their families, suggesting a good share of trust and rapport with them in his role as physician.

He goes on to detail a medical intervention on a convict, an old man of 70 years of age with various complications involving his hip. “The operation was performed and for some time even this promised very fair, but at last the discharge of matter was so great that he became hectic and he is now at death’s door.” No convicts reportedly perished on the voyage so it must be assumed that Mitchell’s surgery on this individual was ultimately successful.

Once the voyage is underway Mitchell cannot resist another opportunity to critique that navigation of the Neptune: “We have now sailed to Gravesend, but the stupid pilot being with us, we get aground again in the river, but providentially as the sand was soft, we sustained no injury”.

There follows another description of a convict and Mitchell’s account of them. “One of them, a very much fine-looking lad, and from his appearance you would be ready to suppose that being sent along with such wretches must have arisen from false evidence being given against him on some such cause. He has been for some time very much under my care. After he got better, he came up to me one day on deck and thanked me for all the trouble that I had taken with him. But alas, so much for his gratitude, smoot hypocritical countenance, he was discovered one night to have robbed his master of the whole of his tea which was found upon him….he begged forgiveness, yet with the crime being so flagrant…that I found it necessary for the use of discipline to make an example of him. Of course, I place no confidence in him afterwards.”

There a few striking issues arising from his comments above. The use of the word wretches to describe the convicts on general can be viewed as pejorative and one might hope that a professional physician would be less inclined to judgmental views, although we must take account of historic attitudes and of the fact that the Neptune was under hierarchical military jurisdiction. It is interesting also that in his initial appraisal of the convict he makes the dubious conflation between someone’s physical appearance and their moral character, a practice that was erroneously given valid medical consideration and later included into the pseudoscience of Eugenics. Perhaps Mitchell might have better benefited from the pitfalls of such assumptions as written by Shakespeare in Macbeth over 200 years previously, when early in the play King Duncan remarks that “there is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.”

In a later note Mitchell relates another example of his medical interventions on board: “Shepherd was carried to the hospital on board the ship under my care, dangerously ill. However, by the mercy of God he survived under my care. I took him out of his irons as he had behaved since his arrival on board in a most exemplary manner. However afterwards I put them on again thinking this was a favorable opportunity when he had had the prospect of death so near his eyes.”

We learn, perhaps surprisingly, from Mitchell that there were women aboard, presumably wives of the crew: “What a wonderful providence that there should have been another woman on board giving birth. The first woman said to me as I had done everything so well that were I able to baptize the child. This I declined as it was out of my province, particularly as the child was healthy…..the Captain acquiesced when I asked him to do it.” Here Mitchell’s role as a physician on board extended to overseeing childbirth and displays his professionalism and modest in electing not to exceed his role in baptizing the child, but leaving this duty to the Captain.

In a later note Mitchell recounts a perilous episode of the coast of South Africa: In the shape of a sugar loaf and the crocodile rock, which from its name you may suppose is a very deceitful place being hardly visible above water. A most dangerous navigation which has hardly ever formerly been attempted. We are sailing at a great rate in the night, and have been hugging the coast too closely in endeavoring to round the cape. As a consequence, the ship experienced a close encounter, we would have been dashed on the rocks in the night, were it not for the actions of the Captain and crew.” The expertise of the Captain noted here, in contrast to the role of ship’s pilot who was previously criticized.

On arrival at Port Jackson Australia after 114 days travel Mitchell records: “One of the greatest views in my life, it has left an impression which will never be effaced. I could not help exclaim when I saw it from the beautiful countryside to be the place devoted as the abode of convicted felons”. Shortly after he makes the following troublesome observation:

“It is by far too noble, precious a country to be inhabited by such villains. No wonder that so many crimes are committed in England when they have it as the place of their banishment.” Again, the language here to describe the convicts seems jarring and unprofessional, and ignores the fact that they are being brought to Australia against their will to work.

After several months in Australia and situated at Batavia Mitchell records: “During the two months we have been here, I attended several ships in which almost the whole crew were suffering from this dreadful fever….providence favoured me to such that I neither lost an officer or man. But very different was the state of my own ship in spite of every exertion I could make both night and day. Large quantities of ardent spirits from which many were in a continual state of intoxication, such they might be much more liable to the deadly attack of the fever. Very few escaped from it (the fever), in the course of weeks we lost the 2^nd Officer, who by the by was a drunkard and a notorious villain. We also lost 7 men by death. Some ships after this were more fortunate….14 Captains of different ships died in the space of 3 months.

Mitchell then goes on to make some observations on the policy of treatment of the convicts which are quite startling. “The only fault that I have to find with the Government, is that they are far too well treated, both in the way of accommodation, provisions, each convict being allowed two gallons of port wine on the voyage..more provisions than they could consume….many men give their surplus of porridge and soup to the pigs.” It is surprising to learn of alcohol being made readily available to the prisoners on board as one can imagine how that might make discipline aboard the voyage problematic, and it is easy to understand Mitchell’s concerns in this instance.

But then he continues “Is not this singular treatment to men who have been found unworthy to live in their native country and have been banished, some of them from their flagrant crimes had been justly sentenced to death by the laws of their country, but whose sentence has been commuted.” And he observes of an intervention he made saying “I got the Governor to put him to hard labour during his serving years, as a carrier of stones.”

The Neptune began its return voyage to England on 14^th August, and on the 14^th of November the ship docked at the Island of St Helena where Mitchell observed “I had an opportunity of seeing the cage that had contained one of the greatest men the world ever saw. It gave me more pleasure to see this island than it would have given me to see the coronation of George the 4^th”. Given that Mitchell himself had served in the battle of Waterloo to defeat the enemy lead by Napoleon, is quite shocking to read these sentiments of his favour and respect for Napoleon seemingly taking ascendance over loyalty to the King, presumably sentiments that he reserved for this private journal.

In his final entry Mitchell recounts bad weather and a further concern with the ship’s pilot’s competence, placing his faith in God instead for their safe passage “having experienced a gale of wind in a dark night through a danger of navigation and with the bad pilot, we had to trust to the good pilot who alone can conduct us safely through the numerous dangers of this world.”

By today’s standards Mitchell’s use of disparaging and judgmental language comes across as jarring and contrary to the required skills of empathy and understanding that we’d expect from a doctor. However, such attitudes are representative of the time and given that this mission was under military jurisdiction with consequent hierarchies and levels of command. Furthermore, we have to recall that this is his private journal and he wasn’t therefore necessarily expressing these views to others or letting his opinions influence his professional duties as a doctor. Obviously, we only have Mitchell’s testimony of events to go by, but he appears to have been very committed to his work in as ships doctor to the prisoners and to have been respected by them for his expertise, efficacy and fair treatment of them. All of the prisoners survived the journey to Australia, unlike with the confusingly also named Neptune voyage of 1789, where almost one third of prisoners died on the voyage and the regime on board was far more brutal and cruel towards the prisoners.[6]

I should like to thank my supervisor Laura Beattie (Community Engagement Officer) at University of Edinburgh, and to all the staff at the Centre for Research Collections for their kindness and professionalism in enabling to view this historic notebook.

[1] James Mitchell (New South Wales politician) – Wikipedia

[2] Collection: Account of a voyage to New South Wales on the ‘Neptune’ by James Mitchell (1792- ), ship’s surgeon | University of Edinburgh Archive and Manuscript Collections

[3] Neptune (1780 ship) – Wikipedia

[4] Convict Ship Neptune 1820 (freesettlerorfelon.com)

[5] Thomas Warton – Wikipedia

[6] Neptune (1780 ship) – Wikipedia