Schah Jehan
Henry Collett and his wife Elizabeth, emigrated to Australia on the ship SCHAH JEHAN, departed Plymouth 23rd August 1860 and arrived Adelaide South Australia on 2nd December 1860.
SCHAH JEHAN
(Original photo in State Library of South Australia)
The Schah Jehan was a 756 ton three masted wooden sailing ship built in Dumbarton Scotland in 1848 and its' dimensions were 148.0 x 30.2 x 22.0 feet (length x beam x depth of hold).
On its 1860 voyage to Australia, the captain was Captain J Cox, who owned the vessel.
The voyage took 102 days with no calls at ports along the way. The route was from Portsmouth England generally southwards to the South Atlantic, then east when it reached the roaring forties.
The purpose of the voyage was to bring migrants from the British Isles to Australia and the several available passenger lists indicate in the order of 260 to 280 passengers.
Of particular interest is "The Diary of Ketura Davies", written by one of the passengers and now available on a number of sites on the internet. It does not cover the complete trip, but gives a great insight into conditions on board and their daily progress. Some days they made little headway because of lack of wind or wind from an unfavourable direction, while other times were rough and wet, making life very uncomfortable.
Ketura notes the sighting of a surprising number of other ships, which seems to indicate that they travelled a popular route, but long periods at sea must have been hazardous as indicated by the following entry:
"October 1st
We were agreeably surprised this morning by a French vessel homeward bound, they were short of provisions. They had been 5 months at sea; they had not but had half a biscuit since the 16th of last month. Our Captain was very kind to them, he gave them biscuits, Beef Oatmeal and Coffee and many things besides, enough to last them a month."
In her diary Ketura mentions the deaths of two children and the births of five babies, including a daughter to Elizabeth and Henry Collett. Relevant entries are as follows:
"October 2nd
There was another little girl born this afternoon. The name of the Mother is Mrs Collet a Welsh woman. This is the fifth new baby."
"November 6th
Mrs Collet the last that was confined is very ill and she is perfectly deaf and very weak."
"November 11th
Mrs Collet is very ill, she is quite delirious."
"November 16th
Mrs Collet is a little better, she is in the hospital."
"November 17th
Mrs Collet is still alive, she seems very feverish."
"November 18th
Mrs Collet is much the same."
"November 19th
Mrs Collet is very poorly. I do not think she will recover."
"November 21st
Mrs Collet is a little better."
Other records show that Elizabeth Collett did survive, but her baby died.
The Schah Jehan reached Port Adelaide on 2nd December 1860, but records state it was stranded in Port River, surveyed, and abandoned to the underwriters.
An inglorious end to such along and difficult voyage, but it appears that all aboard managed to get ashore safely.
Return to Collett Australia
Return to Main Page