Griffin Journeys

  South Australian Government Gazette 1855. barque Coromandel  Left Southampton on the 20th September 1854 and arrived in Port Adelaide on the 8th of January 1855 with 289 immigrants, having made the voyage in 111 days. Four deaths and six births took place at sea. There were 105 single women in this ship, almost all Irish, a class of persons for whom there is no demand. The cook’s gallery was most injudiciously placed immediately in front of the poop, which was partly occupied by emigrants. The heat and the smoke were a constant cause of annoyance during the voyage. The people were brought out in most excellent order, and all expressed themselves satisfied. They were under the care of Dr. James Barlas, the surgeon-superintendent, it being the fifth time he has had the charge of emigrants. http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/coromandel1855.shtml "God bless you, my children." Father Murphy's final words to the group of Irish hopefuls in front of him had barely been

  Catherine and Edward carried their bags off the horse-drawn omnibus and stepped on to the Royal Pier at Southampton at last. They made their ragglety-tagglety way through the well dressed couples enjoying their afternoon strolls by the seaside, with their lively parasols and hoity-toity ways, and hawkers selling everything from postcards to "genuine" Henry VIII daggers. The hawkers soon lost interest once they determined they were Irish emigrants - good riddance to the lot o' ya, no money to be made here. Catherine could tell by the way they were looked at that they weren't welcome . But it didn't matter - tomorrow they will step aboard the Coromandel, docked ahead of them, and being fussed over like a new bride. As new brides go, she had been around. Built in 1820, she had transported convicts to Van Diemen's Land, and cargo to New South Wales and New Zealand. Now, sailors swept decks, while haulers offloaded boxes of all shapes and sizes and the sailors ho