Flight to Freedom
James Chard was amongst a group of 170 prisoners of the Port Arthur / Point Puer penal colony released in the early days of December 1847. In this group was another Point Puer lad - a 20 year old named John Williams from Tiverton in Devonshire. It is more than likely that he had become James’ closest friend given their closeness of age, their shared childhood background and the fact that they had both sailed from England on the HMS Stratheden [4] back in 1845. QUEST FOR EMPLOYMENT Being free from prison was one thing. Being able to secure gainful employment as an ex-convict was entirely a different matter. There was also the spectre of a speedy reunion with Point Puer as a result of any slight indiscretion or misunderstanding - rightfully or wrongfully perceived. One thing is certain, James and John were anxious to exit Tasmania as quickly as possible. Paul Buddee gives a clue of how this may have been possible when he tells us [5] in The Fate of the Artful Dodger that, “it was widely rumoured at the time that Port Phillip was in need of labour and no questions were being asked of people seeking employment.It seemed that providing they (the ex-convicts) behaved themselves the local people had no objection to their presence and no real desire to apprehend them.” So, with their conditional pardon documents carefully held close the Devonshire lads began searching for available passage to the mainland, particularly to settlements as far removed from authority as possible. The isolated west coast whaling colonies of Portland Bay and Belfast (Port Fairy) were known to the Port Arthur occupants and for the young parolees this was their preferred destination. Unfortunately no passage to either destination was available from Hobart Town at this time of year due to the unfavourable winds. Georgetown on the north coast was their next possible departure point but again no passage could be negotiated. Their last hope was the furthermost north-western and isolated settlement of Stanley. |
| THE BASS STRAIT CROSSING
From as early as 1837 fleets of small ships, each carrying up to a thousand sheep at a time traded [1] between the northern Tasmanian settlements of Georgetown (on the mouth of the Tamar River) and Stanley (Circular Head) and the mainland outposts at Port Phillip, Indented Head and Belfast (Port Fairy). Margaret Kiddle, in her book entitled Men of Yesterday: A Social History of the Western District of Victoria 1834-1890, tells us that “most of the stock was conveyed from January to the middle of May during the prevalence of the easterly winds in Bass Strait.” The crossing, taking seven or eight days, was notoriously dangerous, and disembarkation was particularly hazardous when confronted by the reefs of the western district promontories – infamously known in later years as the shipwreck coast. One of the smallest vessels to sail the trading routes of these treacherous waters was The Clarence.
Australian shipbuilding at this time was rudimentary with most new vessels reliant on rigging, fittings and fastenings obtained from shipwrecks. The Clarence was no exception. Primarily a trading vessel it was used along the coastal fringes of the Australian mainland visiting settlements at Twofold Bay (Boydtown) New South Wales and Port Albert (Gippsland) Victoria. It also traded across the Tasman Sea to the Bay of Islands in New Zealand and as far afield as the Treasury Islands in the Pacific. |
| In September 1847, the Clarence was stranded and nearly wrecked [3] off the Victorian coast near Lady Bay (Warrnambool). Newspaper reports at the time suggested that the master and part-owner Captain Alexander Ainslie had deliberately left the vessel stranded in order to collect £900 in insurance. The charge was never proven and the vessel was quickly salvaged and sold at auction. By the end of the year the new master, a chap named Campbell, had overseen a refit that provided for the carriage of a few passengers and up to 150 sheep. The Clarence was back in service as a cargo vessel by the beginning of 1848. |
| STANLEY (Circular Head, Tasmania) to BELFAST (Port Fairy, Colony of Port Phillip) After an arduous overland trek James Chard and John Williams arrived at the settlement of Stanley during the last month of 1847 and it was here that James Atkins Chard celebrated his 18th birthday. This occasion also marked by his introduction to Captain Campbell and the ill-fated Clarence. The schooner had taken on board approximately 130 sheep and the master was in need of “shepherds” [6] for the crossing to Belfast (Port Fairy). Negotiation for their passage may well have been secured due to the fact that Captain Campbell required a butcher [6] for their crossing - a trade which John Williams had learnt [4] during his confinement at Her Majesty’s pleasure.
So it was that on Thursday 13th January 1848 the Chard and Williams lads set foot on the free settlement of Belfast in the colony of Port Phillip. It is not known whether their friendship continued past this point - the forward movement of a John Williams being almost impossible to trace from records of this era. What is known with certainty is that James Chard's “new life” was about to unfold. |
| COINCIDENCE OR SERENDIPITY |
| The Reincarnation of The Clarence The wooden schooner continued to ply the trade routes across Bass Strait until the evening of September 2nd 1850. Laden with 132 sheep bound for Hobart out of Melbourne, The Clarence had anchored in the Coles Channel off the coast at St Leonards to ride out a fresh south-westerly wind. At 9 p.m. the schooner's anchor cable broke and it founded on a sand bank. Fortunately all on board, including livestock, were rescued by the people of Geelong. The ship however was never salvaged. On Tuesday 25 January 1853, Melbourne’s premier newspaper of the day, The Argus, published an advertisement [8] for the Launceston Steam Company’s fine new iron steam ship, The Clarence. Under the command of W.H. Saunders the vessel had just arrived at Queen’s Wharf, Melbourne on its maiden voyage from Hobart. On board was one, James Chard, a 21 year old pardoned convict [9] from Port Arthur. Hailing originally from Somerset, our ancestor’s namesake had been tried for burglary in 1841 and had been transported on HMS Susan arriving in Van Diemen’s Land in July 1842. |
References
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