Voyages

The South Australian Trade

The ship spent 23 years making annual runs to and from South Australia, playing an important role in the development of the colony. Researchers have estimated that a quarter of a million South Australians can trace their origins to passengers on the City of Adelaide.

At least six diaries, kept by passengers and describing respective voyages, have survived from the 23 return voyages between London and Adelaide.

By at least 1876, the City of Adelaide was also calling at Port Augusta, South Australia, on the return voyages. At Port Augusta, copper from Henry Martin's Blinman and Yudnamutana copper mines in the Flinders Ranges, and wool from outback sheep stations would be loaded before racing to the wool sales in London.

Voyage	Departure Date	Arrival Date	Duration
London to Adelaide	6 August 1864	7 November 1864	93 days
Adelaide to London	20 January 1865	3 May 1865	105 days
London to Adelaide	26 July 1865	12 October 1865	78 days
Adelaide to London	5 January 1866	13 April 1866	100 days
London to Adelaide	27 July 1866	11 October 1866	76 days
Adelaide to London	27 December 1866	10 April 1867	106 days
London to Adelaide	25 July 1867	12 October 1867	79 days
Adelaide to London	17 December 1867	7 April 1868	113 days
London to Adelaide	29 June 1868	23 September 1868	86 days
Adelaide to London	9 November 1868	26 February 1869	109 days
London to Adelaide	13 May 1869	31 July 1869	79 days
Adelaide to London	3 November 1869	16 March 1870	133 days
London to Adelaide	24 May 1870	18 August 1870	86 days
Adelaide to London	18 November 1870	3 March 1871	105 days
London to Adelaide	2 June 1871	20 August 1871	79 days
Adelaide to London	30 October 1871	25 January 1872	87 days
London to Adelaide	25 June 1872	28 September 1872	95 days
Adelaide to London	14 November 1872	24 February 1873	102 days
London to Adelaide	11 April 1873	3 July 1873	83 days
Adelaide to London	3 November 1873	15 February 1874	104 days
London to Adelaide	29 May 1874	24 August 1874	86 days
Adelaide to London	16 November 1874	21 March 1875	135 days
London to Adelaide	28 June 1875	26 September 1875	90 days
Adelaide to London	11 November 1875	24 February 1876	105 days
London to Adelaide	26 May 1876	18 August 1876	84 days
Adelaide to Port Augusta, South Australia	on/after 1 September 1876	on/before 13 October 1876
Port Augusta, South Australia, to London	31 October 1876	9 February 1877	101 days
London to Adelaide	19 April 1877	25 July 1877	97 days
Adelaide to Port Augusta, South Australia	on/after 16 August 1877	on/before 10 October 1877
Port Augusta, South Australia, to London	31 October 1877	7 March 1878	127 days
London to Adelaide	21 April 1878	22 July 1878	92 days
Adelaide to London	25 October 1878	8 February 1879	106 days
London to Adelaide	15 May 1879	16 August 1879	93 days
Adelaide to London	30 October 1879	5 February 1880	98 days
London to Adelaide	1 April 1880	27 June 1880	87 days
Adelaide to Port Augusta, South Australia	on/after 16 August 1880	on/before 20 October 1880
Port Augusta, South Australia, to London	31 October 1880	7 February 1881	99 days
London to Adelaide	5 May 1881	26 July 1881	82 days
Adelaide to Port Augusta, South Australia	on/after 15 August 1881	on/before 11 September 1881
Port Augusta, South Australia, to London	29 October 1881	16 February 1882	110 days
London to Adelaide	9 May 1882	6 August 1882	89 days
Adelaide to Port Augusta, South Australia	on/after 30 August 1882	on/before 15 September 1882
Port Augusta, South Australia, to London	30 October 1882	14 February 1883	107 days
London to Adelaide	20 April 1883	27 July 1883	98 days
Adelaide to London	21 October 1883	31 January 1884	101 days
London to Adelaide	28 April 1884	10 August 1884	104 days
Adelaide to Port Augusta, South Australia	on/after 25 August 1884	on/before 6 September 1884
Port Augusta, South Australia, to London	4 October 1884	27 January 1885	115 days
London to Adelaide	16 March 1885	20 June 1885	96 days
Adelaide to London	10 October 1885	18 January 1886	101 days
London to Adelaide	16 March 1886	18 June 1886	94 days
Adelaide to London	26 November 1886	23 February 1887	90 days

Route of 1867 Voyage to London

The following map traces the route of the 1867 voyage from the Latitudes and Longitudes provided in the diary of Frederick Bullock.

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29 Dec

31 Dec

2 Jan

4 Jan

6 Jan

8 Jan

10 Jan

12 Jan

14 Jan

16 Jan

18 Jan

20 Jan

22 Jan

24 Jan

26 Jan

28 Jan

30 Jan

1 Feb

3 Feb

5 Feb

7 Feb

9 Feb

11 Feb

11 Feb

17 Feb

19 Feb

21 Feb

23 Feb

25 Feb

27 Feb

1 Mar

3 Mar

5 Mar

7 Mar

9 Mar

11 Mar

15 Mar

17 Mar

19 Mar

21 Mar

23 Mar

25 Mar

27 Mar

29 Mar

31 Mar

2 Apr

6 Apr

Voyage of the 'City of Adelaide' from London to Adelaide in 1867 from the Diary of Frederick Bullock.

Route of 1867 Voyage to Adelaide

The following map traces the route of the 1867 voyage from the Latitudes and Longitudes provided in the diary of F.A. Edelston.

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24 Jul

1 Aug

5 Aug

8 Aug

11 Aug

17 Aug

02 Sep

Mrs Obdahl

11 Sep

15 Sep

19 Sep

24 Sep

12 Oct

Voyage of the 'City of Adelaide' from London to Adelaide in 1867 from the Diary of Frederick A. Edelsten. Position of death (red) is approximate.

Route of 1871 Voyage to Adelaide

The following map traces the route of the 1871 voyage from the Latitudes and Longitudes provided in the diary of Melville Miller.

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2 June

8 June

26 June

30 June

8 July

14 July

16 July

19 July

24 July

27 July

31 July

8 Aug

14 Aug

20 Aug

Voyage of the 'City of Adelaide' from London to Adelaide in 1871 from the Diary of Melville Miller.

Route of 1874 Voyage to Adelaide

The following map traces the route of the 1874 voyage from the Latitudes and Longitudes provided in the diary of James McLauchlan.

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30 May

6 June

18 June

M.Morgan,9m

21 June

A.Phillips,5y

B.Myers,24y

M.Thomson2y

E.Flannery,26y

6 July

15 July

16 July

21 July

26 July

29 July

A.Dunk,9m

M.Fitzpatrick,23y

24 August

Voyage of the 'City of Adelaide' from London to Adelaide in 1874 from the Diary of James McLauchlan. Positions of deaths (red) are approximate.

Coal Trade

In 1887, the City of Adelaide was sold to Dover coal merchant, Charles Havelock Mowll, for use in the collier trade carrying coal from Tyne to Dover.

Voyage	Departure Date	Arrival Date	Duration
London to South Shields, England	14 June 1887
South Shields to Dobay	9 July 1887
South Shields to Dobay	11 November 1887

Timber Trade

In 1888, the City of Adelaide was sold to Belfast based timber merchants, Daniel and Thomas Stewart Dixon, and used to carry timber in the North Atlantic trade.

By the start of the eighteenth century, Britain had basically exhausted its supplies of the great oaks that had built the Royal Navy. The lack of large trees was especially problematic as they were a necessity for masts for both its war and merchant shipping. A thriving timber import business developed between Britain and the Baltic region but was unpopular for economic and strategic reasons The Napoleonic Wars and a Continental blockade had a large impact on the Baltic trade and so Britain looked to the North American colonies that were still loyal.

The North Atlantic timber trade became a massive business and timber was British North America's most important commodity. In one summer, 1,200 ships were loaded with timber at Quebec City alone.

As timber is a very bulky cargo, it required many ships to carry it from North America to Britain, but there was little demand for carrying goods on the return voyages. However, there was a market for carrying migrants, and so many of the timber ships turned to the migrant trade to fill their unused capacity for the return voyages from the British Isles to British North America. Since timber exports tended to peak at the same time as conflicts in Europe, a great mass of refugees sought this cheap passage across the Atlantic. This created an unprecedented influx of new immigrants in North America.

The timber trade not only brought immigrants to British North America, but also played a very important role in keeping them there as well. While many of those disembarking from the timber trade ships would head south to the United States, many others would stay in British North America. At the peak of the trade in the 1840s, 15,000 Irish loggers were employed in the Gatineau region alone at a time when the population of Montreal was only ten thousand.

The City of Adelaide was homeported in Belfast and from there frequented several British North American ports. Of these ports, it would most frequently visit Miramichi, New Brunswick. Of the thousands of sailing ships involved in the timber trade between North America and the United Kingdom, the City of Adelaide is now the last survivor.

Voyage	Departure Date	Arrival Date	Duration
Dover to Chatham, New Brunswick	4 June 1888	3 July 1888
Chatham, New Brunswick, to Belfast, Ireland	14 July 1888
Belfast to Dalhousie, New Brunswick	18 September 1888
Dalhousie to Liverpool	27 October 1888
Liverpool to Tybee	9 November 1888
Tybee to Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax, Nova Scotia to Bristol	16 February 1889
Bristol to Miramichi, New Brunswick	11 April 1889	17 May 1889
Miramichi to Belfast, Ireland	24 June 1889
Belfast to Miramichi, New Brunswick	29 June 1889
Miramichi to Newcastle, New Brunswick
Newcastle, New Brunswick, to Belfast, Ireland	6 August 1889
Belfast, Ireland, to Miramichi, New Brunswick	31 August 1889
Miramichi, New Brunswick, to Dublin	20 November 1889
Dublin to Algoa Bay, South Africa
Algoa Bay to Barry, South Africa	23 December 1889
Barry to Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Port Elizabeth, South Africa, to Guam	28 March 1890
Guam to Newcastle, New Brunswick
Newcastle, New Brunswick to Belfast, Ireland	14 June 1890
Belfast, Ireland, to Newcastle, New Brunswick	14 July 1890
Newcastle, New Brunswick to Belfast, Ireland	28 August 1890
Belfast, Ireland, to Miramichi, New Brunswick	9 April 1891	38 May 1891
Miramichi, New Brunswick, to Belfast, Ireland	28 May 1891	24 June 1891
Belfast, Ireland, to Miramichi, New Brunswick	3 July 1891
Miramichi, New Brunswick, to Belfast, Ireland	10 August 1891
Belfast, Ireland, to Liverpool	3 November 1891
Miramichi, New Brunswick, to Liverpool	26 November 1891
Liverpool to Garston
Garston to Belfast, Ireland	4 January 1892
Belfast, Ireland, to Miramichi, New Brunswick	9 April 1892	9 May 1892
Miramichi, New Brunswick, to Belfast, Ireland	25 May 1892
Belfast, Ireland, to Miramichi, New Brunswick	29 June 1892
Miramichi, New Brunswick, to Belfast, Ireland	5 August 1892
Belfast, Ireland, to Miramichi, New Brunswick	8 September 1892
Miramichi, New Brunswick, to Belfast, Ireland	18 October 1892
Belfast, Ireland, to Ayr, Scotland	31 January 1893
Ayr to Miramichi, New Brunswick	10 April 1893	8 May 1893
Miramichi, New Brunswick, to Belfast, Ireland	23 May 1893
Belfast, Ireland, to Miramichi, New Brunswick	19 June 1893
Miramichi to Bowling, Scotland	21 July 1893
Glasgow to Southampton	9 September 1893

Hospital Ship

The City of Adelaide ended its sailing career in 1893, when purchased by the Southampton Corporation for £1750 to serve as a floating isolation hospital in Southampton. During one year of opertaion, 23 cases of Scarlet Fever were cared for.

In recent years ... In 2009, the National Health Service (England) named a new hospital at Millbrook, Southampton, in honour of the ship - the Adelaide Health Centre.

Notes

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