A surgeon-superintendent was a position, held by a

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, on board convict

transport ship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

and ships transporting

indenture An indenture is a legal contract that reflects or covers a debt or purchase obligation. It specifically refers to two types of practices: in historical usage, an indentured servant status, and in modern usage, it is an instrument used for commercia ...

d labour, with overall authority in all non-

nautical Seamanship is the art, knowledge and competence of operating a ship, boat or other craft on water. The'' Oxford Dictionary'' states that seamanship is "The skill, techniques, or practice of handling a ship or boat at sea." It involves topics a ...

matters. Before 1792, authority over convicts during transportation was wielded by the ship

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. For various reasons this arrangement resulted in neglect of the convicts' health and well-being, and there were many deaths. Often the deaths during a single voyage would number in the hundreds. In 1792, the decision was made to appoint the ship's

to a position of authority in all matters not directly related to the sailing of the ship. This was an immediate success, reducing the death rate to no more than around ten per voyage. A surgeon-superintendent was a role that comprised 57 duties covering embarkation, voyage, and arrival for all assisted and bounty ships sailing under the

Colonial Land and Emigration Commission The Colonial Land and Emigration Commission (CLEC), also known as the Colonial Land and Emigration Board, was a British government authority under the supervision of the Secretary of State for the Colonies that facilitated emigration within the ...

. This was a system whereby Australian land was sold to raise money in order to assist English, Scottish and Irish emigrants who were free, without indenture, yet could not afford the full passage of the trip to Australia.S. Walcott (1847)
Instructions for Surgeons of Emigrant Ships Sailing Under the Superintendence of Her Majesty's Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners
in ''1852 Victoria IMMIGRATION Return to Address. – Mr O'Shanassy, 25th November 1851 Laid Upon the Council Table of the Colonial Secretary by the Command of His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, Melbourne: John Ferres Government Printing Office, pp. 21–26 (53–58). Officially styled "superintendent", the responsibilities of the surgeon-superintendent were largely equivalent to that of a Naval Agent. However they also continued to fulfill the role of a naval surgeon, and so were commonly referred to by the title "surgeon-superintendent".

References

*{{cite book, author=Bateson, Charles, year=1959, title=The Convict Ships 1787–1868, publisher=Brown Son & Ferguson, location=Glasgow Convictism in Australia Military medicine in the United Kingdom Nautical terminology