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"Ticonderoga" DeathsPrint Page Print this page

01-October-2011
01-October-2011

Photographs supplied by Graeme Saunders

The monument commemorates the people who died on the immigrant ship "Ticonderoga" and those who died at the Quarantine Station who were originally buried in the Quarantine Station Cemetery. 

The Ticonderoga was infamous for its "fever ship" voyage in 1852 from Liverpool to Port Phillip carrying 795 passengers, arriving on the 22nd December 1852. It was a double-decker ship, overcrowded, and with more than its recommended load.

100 passengers died during the voyage of what was later determined to have been typhus. When the ship arrived, it was initially moored off Point Nepean and the headland was turned into a quarantine station, where many more passengers died and were buried, rather haphazardly in shallow graves. Later memorials have since been erected by the descendants of survivors.

Note: A plaque was erected by descendants in the Point Nepean Cemetery on the 8th November 1992 in memory of Ticonderoga  victims. The Point Nepean Cemetery was established in 1854 and replaced an the earlier quarantine station burial ground which became unsuitable when beach erosion unearthed the burials of 1852.

Location

Address:Coleman Road, Quarantine Station Cemetery, Portsea, 3941
State:VIC
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -38.311786
Long: 144.694239
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:Disaster
Sub-Theme:Pandemic

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Sunday 10th November, 2002
Front Inscription

Quarantine Station Cemetery
    1852 - 1854

The original burial place of those who died while in quarantine.  Sea erosion over the years caused the graves to collapse and storms uncovered the remains.  In 1952, the quarantine station staff moved all that was identifiable to Pt. Nepean cemetery.  The first burials in this cemetery were immigrants of the sailing ship Ticonderoga.

Ticonderoga.  
An American registered sailing ship of 1089 tons, 169.8 ft , chartered by the British Emigration Commissioners to transport shepherds and farm workers with their familes, to replace workers who had deserted for the goldfields.  The Ticonderoga sailed from Liverpool on 4th August, 1852 with Captain Boyle, Surgeon Dr J C Sanger, Assistant Surgeon Dr James W H Veitch, 48 crew and 795 immigrants from the Highlands of Scotland, North England, Somerset, Gloucestershire and Ireland.  Provisions were plentiful and water was of good quality.

On 3rd November, 1852, the Ticonderoga arrived at Port Phillip Heads.  During the voyage 100 immigrants died and 19 births were recorded.  In quarantine at Pt. Nepean about 400 were seriously ill mainly of typhus fever, a number of births and a further 70 deaths occurred on shore.  The official death toll is 168 passengers and 2 crew.  The ship was released from quarantine on 22 December 1852, deaths which occured after this date were not considered as having taken palce during the voyage.  The number of these deaths is not known because there were no statutory civil records at the time but at least ten further deaths can be reliably inferred from contemporary sources.

The names on this stone were obtained from the Public Records Office. WIth additional information from descendants, minor changes were made. Our thanks to the Descendants who helped us fund the memorial, and to Jack McRae for research.
Friends of the Quarantine Museum.  10 November 2002.  Nepean Historical Society Inc.

Back Inscription

Ticonderoga Deaths During Voyage And Onshore During Quarantine
[ Names ]
Deaths In Quarantine
[ Names ]

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au