The Voyage Of The CAROLINE from England to Van Diemen's Land and Batavia in 1827-28. With Chapters On The Early History Of Northern Tasmania, Java, Mauritius And St. Helena

Editor Ida Louisa Lee (Australian, 1865 - 1943)

Author Rosalie Hancorn Ambroise Hare (English)

Date1927

Object number00051350

DCMITypeBook

NameBook

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 228 x 150 x 48 mm

ClassificationsBooks and journals

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionA book titled 'The Voyage of The CAROLINE from England to Van Diemen's Land and Batavia in 1827-28 by Rosalie Hare, With Chapters On The Early History Of Northern Tasmania, Java, Mauritius And St. Helena, by Ida Lee (Mrs Charles Bruce Marriott).' First Edition. In early 1827 an 18 year old Rosalie Hare accompanied her husband Captain Hare on a voyage to Van Diemen's Land on board the India built bark CAROLINE. Although the vessel's voyage was relatively uneventful Rosalie Hare's comments on the treatment of the Aboriginal people in Van Diemen's Land by the Van Diemen's Land Company have subsequently been used by historian's to support the view that Company workers deliberately murdered the local Aboriginal people in an attempt to clear them off the land.HistoryOn February 20 1827 Rosalie Ambrose Lind, daughter of Surgeon Robert R. Lind of the 43rd Regiment of Foot married Robert Lind Hare, Commander of the East India ship ELIZA JANE and eldest son of Captain Joseph Hare of Ipswich at St. Margaret's Church, Ipswich in Suffolk, England. A few months after their wedding Rosalie Hare accompanied her husband on a voyage on board the Indian built, wooden (teak), 330 ton, three-masted ship CAROLINE from England to Van Diemen's Land and Java. The CAROLINE's owner Mr. Chapman had chartered the vessel to the Van Diemen's Land Company to convey passengers, live stock and company stores to Van Diemen's Land. In addition to sixty passengers, who appear to be comprised of company personal and their families from Yorkshire and company dispatches for Edward Curr, the Company's agent at Circular Head, Van Diemen's Land the CAROLINE also carried Teeswater Short Horn cattle, horses and 300 Saxony sheep intended for the new agricultural settlements the company was establishing on the north coast of Van Diemen's Land. These sheep and cattle later become instrumental in establishing the company's wealth in the colony. From reading this account, the only published account of her diary, it appears Rosalie Hare took the keenest interest in what was happening around her on board ship - she records with great interest and passion the trials and tribulations of her fellow passengers, the death of a child at sea, the placing of a refractory male passenger in irons, the dismissal of a steward who was found to be stealing food from the storerooms, the stabbing of a husband by his drunken wife who proved so violent that she had to have a special cabin built for her on the quarterdeck where she could be kept under the observation of the officer of the watch and the subduing of a mutinous crewman by the boatswain assisted by his wife who was armed with a block of wood. On the voyage out the vessel also grounded on a sand bank of Sandwich, encountered, were boarded by but then left unmolested by unidentified pirates off Sierra Leone, encountered the French warship ALCIBIADES in mid Atlantic and stopped off in Table Bay for much needed water and fodder for the livestock and where Rosalie Hare stayed with the Heideman family who were ship owners and had business connections with both the Hare and Lind families. After leaving Table Bay the CAROLINE heads south into the roaring forties in order to make the fastest possible passage to Van Diemen's Land - again Hare describes the voyage with a passion - pouring scorn on a fellow female passenger who she accuses of neglecting her children. On January 19th 1828 the CAROLINE arrived off Circular Head to disembark its cargo, people and dispatches. Like many of her fellow passengers - Rosalie Hare was not impressed with what she first saw - bark huts and tents, a hostile bush and huge mountains. Her feelings were slightly modified when she stayed for a few weeks at Highfield House, the home of Mr. Curr of the Van Diemen's Land Company, where she appears to have greatly enjoyed her stay. At Highfield House Rosalie Hare also records some of her most controversial statements in relation to the treatment of the local Aboriginal people by the Van Diemen's Land Company. These statements, especially those relating to the massacre of Aboriginal people have subsequently been used by advocates and proponents of the so called 'Black Arm Band view of Australian history' such as Keith Windschuttle and Robert Manne to either deny or support the view that white European settlers deliberately went out and murdered Aboriginal people. After two months in Van Diemen's Land the Hare's onboard the CAROLINE depart Van Diemen's Land on a speculative voyage to England via Batavia. The journal ends on January 9th 1828 with the vessel's safe arrival in Portsmouth. SignificanceHare's account is unusual in that it not only provides an account of a voyage out to Van Diemen's Land in 1827 - 1828 but also documents the reaction of European settlers towards the original Aboriginal inhabitants of the island.