Parmelia (barque)
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''Parmelia'' was a
barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts having the fore- and mainmasts Square rig, rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) Fore-and-aft rig, rigged fore and aft. Som ...
built in
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, Canada, in 1825. Originally registered on 31 May in Quebec, she sailed to Great Britain and assumed British registry. She made one voyage for the British
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
(EIC), in 1827–1828. In 1829 she transported the first civilian officials and settlers of the
Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...
to
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. She then made two voyages transporting
convicts A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...
to
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
, Australia. A fire damaged her irreparably in May 1839.


Career

''Parmelia'' "was more of a plain working girl than the great and beautiful lady of the sea". ''Parmelia'' sailed to London and on 17 November she was transferred from the Quebec to the London register. In 1826 she was used as a troop carrier.


EIC voyage

Some time in the first half of 1827, ''Parmelia'' was sold to
Joseph Somes Joseph Somes (9 December 1787 – 25 June 1845) was a British shipowner and Conservative politician. Family Born in Stepney, London, Somes was the youngest son of Samuel Somes (1758–1816) and Sarah née Green. In 1811, he married Mary Ann Dap ...
, who was also a director of the EIC. For the next year, she operated under charter to the British East India Company, carrying goods and passengers between London and
Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
. Captain John Wimble sailed from the Downs on 19 June 1827, bound for Bengal and
Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
. ''Parmelia'' arrived at
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
on 3 December. Homeward bound, she was at Fultahm, on the
Hooghly River The Bhagirathi Hooghly River (Anglicized alternatively spelled ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli'') or the 'Bhāgirathi-Hooghly', called the Ganga or the Kati-Ganga in mythological texts, is the eastern distributary of the Ganges River in West Bengal, Indi ...
, on 18 January 1828. She was at
Vizagapatam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura submarine museum, ...
on 30 January, and Madras on 9 February. She reached
Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...
on 30 April and arrived at the Downs on 3 July.British Library: ''Parmelia''.
/ref>


Settlers to Western Australia

In 1828 the British government, at the urging of Captain James Stirling, decided to establish a
colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...
at the Swan River in
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. was despatched under
Charles Fremantle Admiral Sir Charles Howe Fremantle GCB RN (1 June 1800 – 25 May 1869) was a renowned British Royal Navy officer. The city of Fremantle, Western Australia, is named after him. Early life Fremantle was the second son of Thomas Fremantle, an ...
to annex the colony, and it was arranged that a contingent of soldiers, officials and settlers would follow on . Stirling, whom the government had appointed the civil superintendent of the colony, however argued that the passengers and goods to be carried exceeded the capacity of ''Sulphur'', and asked that an additional ship to be chartered. The government reluctantly agreed to the extra cost, chartering ''Parmelia'' in December 1828. It was then arranged that ''Sulphur'' would carry a detachment of the 63rd Regiment, with ''Parmelia'' carrying the civilian officials and settlers. ''Sulphur'' and ''Parmelia'' sailed from
Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...
off
Portsmouth, England Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dense ...
on 3 or 6 February 1829, sighting their destination on 1 June. Contrary to popular belief, Stirling did not captain ''Parmelia'' (J. H. Luscombe did); on arrival, however, he assumed the duties of
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
. He initially tried to enter
Cockburn Sound Cockburn Sound (Nyungar Aboriginal Australian name: Derbal Nara) is an inlet of the Indian Ocean on the coast of Western Australia. It extends from the south of the mouth of the Swan River at Fremantle for about 25 km to Point Peron ne ...
through a passage that he had discovered in 1827, but was prevented by strong winds and a heavy swell. Instead he chose to remain off
Rottnest Island Rottnest Island ( nys, Wadjemup), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, Rottnest is an A-class ...
for the night. The following day, he tried to bring ''Parmelia'' into the Sound from the north, against the advice of Fremantle, and ran aground on a sand bank, later to be named
Parmelia Bank Parmelia Bank is a sandbank to the north of Cockburn Sound, off Fremantle, Western Australia within the limits of the Fremantle Outer Harbour. The Parmelia Bank is named after the barque ''Parmelia'', which grounded on the sandbank in 1829. Pa ...
. Despite the best efforts of the crews to dislodge her, ''Parmelia'' remained on the bank for over 18 hours, finally coming off the bank by herself early the following morning. By that time, she had lost her foreyard,
rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...
,
windlass The windlass is an apparatus for moving heavy weights. Typically, a windlass consists of a horizontal cylinder (barrel), which is rotated by the turn of a crank or belt. A winch is affixed to one or both ends, and a cable or rope is wound arou ...
, spare
spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...
s,
longboat A longboat is a type of ship's boat that was in use from ''circa'' 1500 or before. Though the Royal Navy replaced longboats with launches from 1780, examples can be found in merchant ships after that date. The longboat was usually the largest boa ...
and
skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-person or small crew. Sailing skiffs have devel ...
, and was leaking at a rate of per hour. ''Parmelia'' then rode out a storm at anchor for three days before finally being brought to a safe anchorage. The passengers were able to disembark on 8 June. ''Challenger'' was due to depart once ''Sulphur'' and ''Parmelia'' had arrived, but ''Parmelia'' needed repairs that it could not get without access to the skilled labour amongst ''Challenger'' crew. Fremantle therefore took the decision to remain and assist with the repairs, which were completed many weeks later. Later that year, Stirling chartered ''Parmelia'' to bring food supplies from
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
. In 1830, she returned to England via Singapore. She carried to Singapore members of the crew of , which had wrecked on 4 March.


Convict voyage #1 (1832)

Captain James Gilbert sailed from Sheerness on 28 July 1832. ''Parmelia'' arrived at Sydney on 16 November. She had embarked 200 male convicts and she landed 196, four having died en route. ''Parmelia'' sailed from Sydney late in December 1832 and arrived in
Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
on 29 January 1833. She left Batavia on 5 March, reached
Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...
on 17 May, and arrived back at Portsmouth on 8 August.


Convict voyage #2 (1833–1834)

Captain James Gilbert sailed from Cork on 27 October 1833. ''Parmelia'' arrived at Sydney on 2 March 1834. She embarked 220 male convicts and she landed 218, two convicts having died en route. On 12 April ''Parmelia'' sailed for Manila.


Troop transport

In 1837 ''Parmelia'' and transported troops for the British government. On 19 January they carried the 82 Regiment of Foot from Dublin to Gibraltar. They then carried the 59th regiment of Foot from Gibraltar to Malta. On 14 March they carried the 5th Regiment of Foot from Malta to the Ionian Islands. Once they had completed the task, the British government hired the two vessels for £1,281 7 s 9 d to carry the remnants of the
British Auxiliary Legion The British Auxiliary Legion, also called the British Legion (''La Legión Británica'') or Westminster Legion, existed from 1835 to 1837. It was a British military force sent to Spain to support the Liberals and Queen Isabella II of Spain against ...
back from Spain to England.


Fate

''Parmelia'' then continued to sail as a London-based transport. She was last listed in 1838 with J. Spence, master, J. Somes, owner, and trade London-transport. In 1839 ''Parmelia'' was refitted to carry migrants to the
Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...
. She was intended to run between Britain and Quebec, but on 1 May 1839, as her refit was almost complete, a fire in Bank's Yard, at Frank's Queery,
Cremyll Cremyll (pronounced ) is a small coastal village in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Cremyll is on the Rame Peninsula facing Plymouth Sound. The village is about 9 miles by road or 0.5 miles by boat from Plymouth. It is in the civ ...
, destroyed her. Eight days later she was surveyed and declared a constructive total loss. She was then sold for breaking up. The Kwinana suburb of
Parmelia Parmelia may refer to: * Parmelia (barque), the vessel that in 1829 transported the first settlers of the British colony of Western Australia * ''Parmelia'' (fungus), a genus of lichens with global distribution * Parmelia, Western Australia Pa ...
is named in honour of ''Parmelia'', as is
Parmelia Bank Parmelia Bank is a sandbank to the north of Cockburn Sound, off Fremantle, Western Australia within the limits of the Fremantle Outer Harbour. The Parmelia Bank is named after the barque ''Parmelia'', which grounded on the sandbank in 1829. Pa ...
.


Passengers on ''Parmelia'', 1829

The following people embarked ''Parmelia'' when she left Portsmouth in February 1829.


Notes


Citations


References

* * * * * * * {{1839 shipwrecks 1825 ships Ships built in Quebec Age of Sail merchant ships Convict ships to New South Wales Immigrant ships to Western Australia Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in May 1839