Bigelow History
from Ancestry.com
The 'George Henderson'
Departed Nova Scotia 4 Dec. 1859Arrived Cape Town 6 Feb. 1860Arrived Sydney, AUS 4 April 1860Arrived Auckland, NZ 27 April 1860Wrecked off New Plymouth Aug. 1860The brig "George Henderson", 171 tons, was built in Pugwash by Levi Woodworth Eaton who was a shipbuilder and merchant in the town. It was the last ship he built in Nova Scotia as he felt the best days of shipbuilding there were ended and he decided to go to New Zealand with his family.
The ship set sail from Pugwash on 4 December 1859. For the next nine days they suffered storms as they headed south and then the weather became warmer and more settled. The ship crossed the Equator on 30 December and the customary ceremony of Neptune "coming on board" and blackening the faces of some of the passengers and crew was observed. As they approached Cape Town the winds became very light and only 200 miles were achieved in over a week. Land, (South Africa) was sighted on the 6 February and the vessel came to anchor in Simmonds Bay, Cape Town, late that same evening. The following day most of those on board went ashore and some washed their clothes in a stream that entered the Bay close to the town. Apparently some of the younger men enjoyed a "happy" time with some of the local washer women. The town, (Cape Town) was described as a mile long with with many buildings of stone and covered with a type of plaster and there was a lot of activity. In the harbour, at that time, were ten large merchant ships and five Men 'o War. The ships main cargo was coal to be unloaded in the harbour. Food was considered expensive with beef at 8d (240d = 1 pound) and potatoes 10/-s (120d) a bushel. Wine was cheap and so was fruit.
An additional 28 passengers boarded and 3 from Pugwash stayed. They were reported to have stayed for 15 days but the "Henderson" set sail for Sydney on 26 February (20 days). They arrived in Sydney on 4 April 1860. It is reported that virtually the whole complement of passengers stayed in Australia, many going to the goldfields and some took to farming, but the Eaton family went on to New Zealand and in 1888 Levi Eaton was reported to have 20 grandchildren.
The "Henderson" was wrecked at Henui Beach, New Plymouth during a gale on August 16 1860. No lives were lost and the crew returned to Sydney, with the exception of the Eatons. It is unfortunate that there does not appear to be a record of those leaving Pugwash only those that arrived in Sydney. Dan McLennan later went to New Zealand.
The following list include everyone on board the ship when she arrived in Sydney:CREW
PASSENGERS
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