''Mimosa'' was a

clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "Cl ...

ship best known for carrying the first Welsh emigrants to South America in 1865.

Voyage to Patagonia

Catherine Davies and her children, who emigrated to Patagonia on the 'Mimosa'

By the time ''Mimosa'' made the voyage she was already past her prime, having been built in 1853 at Hall's shipyard in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

. She had not been designed to carry passengers, but had been converted for the purpose. The cost of fitting provisioning and chartering the ship was £2,500 and the passengers paid £12 per adult or £6 per child for the journey. Before the voyage the emigrants assembled at various points, not always their places of origin, to prepare for the journey, including

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tyd ...

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liv ...

and

Mountain Ash Mountain ash may refer to: * '' Eucalyptus regnans'', the tallest of all flowering plants, native to Australia * Mountain-ashes or rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosa ...

. ''Mimosa'' sailed from

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, England on 28 May 1865 to

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

with a group of about 153 passengers with Captain George Pepperell and a crew of 18. Thomas Greene, an Irishman from

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional ce ...

, had been appointed as ship's surgeon. They landed on 28 July 1865 and named their landing site Porth Madryn. They were met by Edwyn Cynrig Roberts and Lewis Jones who had already arrived in Patagonia in June 1865 to prepare for the arrival of the main body of settlers. Their aim was to establish a Welsh colony which would preserve the Welsh language and culture. The proposed site for the colony was in the Chubut River valley. On 15 September 1865 the first town in the Chubut colony was named Rawson, and the settlers went on to build the settlements at Gaiman and Trelew.

Welsh emigrants aboard ''Mimosa''

The exact number of emigrants who sailed out to Patagonia on ''Mimosa'' remains uncertain. Although one of the original settlers, Richard Jones (''Berwyn''), maintained a register of births, marriages and deaths for many years, most of these original records were lost in the great flood in the Chubut Valley in 1899. In 1875, the Argentine government granted the Welsh settlers ownership of the land which encouraged hundreds of others from Wales to join the colony. In the early 21st century, approximately 50,000 Patagonians are of Welsh descent, of whom around 5,000 are Welsh speakers. The Welsh-Argentine colony, which became known as ''

Y Wladfa Y Wladfa (, "The Colony"), also occasionally Y Wladychfa Gymreig (, "The Welsh Settlement"), refers to the establishment of settlements by Welsh immigrants in Patagonia, beginning in 1865, mainly along the coast of the lower Chubut Valley. I ...

'', remains centered on Gaiman, Trelew and Trevelin.

1865 settlers

References

Bibliography

*Susan Wilkinson - ''Mimosa: the life & times of the ship that sailed to Patagonia'' (Y Lolfa, 2007) *Susan Wilkinson - ''Mimosa's Voyages: Official Logs, Crew List and Masters'' (Y Lolfa, 2007) *Clare Dudman - ''A Place of Meadows and Tall Trees'' (Seren, 2010) - Novel based on the voyage and settlement.

External links