In 1854, a little over a year after their sister Susannah Dando nee Hapgood had emigrated to Victoria Australia (see this post ), Thomas and Hester Hapgood and their family, plus George and Hannah Hapgood boarded the “Lady Ann” to emigrate to New South Wales as “assisted immigrants” [1].

There is an ad for emigration to Australia from Plymoth the Lady Ann in the Exeter newspaper in June 1854. There is a note that the “Lady Ann” only takes Chief Cabin passengers – I am not sure what that means… (maybe the spaces for assisted immigrants was already full, given its departure date was only 8 days away from the date of this ad in the newspaper?

On the ships passenger list, Thomas’ age was given as 35 and Hester as 45 (which seems to be an error). They they had their 4 surviving children with them: William (12), Richard (10), Thomas (8) and Sarah (5).  George Hapgood and his wife Hannah (nee Sims) also were on the same ship. Thomas, Hesther and George are listed as coming from Marksbury, Somerset, while William is listed as being from Bath and Richard and Sarah as being from Burnett, with Hannah Sims from Tinsbury, Somerset. All the Hapgoods are listed as follower of the Church of England faith. All of them are listed as being able to read but not being able to write, apart from young Sarah who at 5 years old was just learning to read.

The “Lady Ann” left England on 25 June 1854 and arrived in New South Wales on 29 Sept 1854, which seems to be a fairly fast travel time of just over 2 months. The NSW Assisted Immigration passenger list records the Hapgood family as departing from either Bideborough, Somerset or from Redruth, Cornwall, and arriving in Australia on 3^rd October 1854. The Lady Ann was carrying 288 passengers: 183 men, 49 women, 32 boys, 24 girls, and there were no deaths aboard the journey [2]. Sadly, no pictures of photos of the Lady Ann seem be able to be located….

The Hapgood brothers emigration to Australia clearly was painful for the remaining family members in Marksbury at the time. A few days before Thomas and George Hapgood and their families left the UK for Australia in June 1854, their middle brother Richard and Elizabeth (nee Derry) had a son born in Marksbury on 19 June 1854. He was named “George Thomas” Hapgood after his two uncles [4].

When they arrived in Sydney, it would have been remarkably well developed with streets and trains, as shown in Woolcott & Clarke’s Map of the City of Sydney 1854 [5]. I was expecting a map of tents and shanty towns, but Sydney in 1854 is clearly recognisable even today. Presumably the Lady Ann arrived at Sydney Cover (?) which is now known as Circular Quay. They were assisted immigrants or “bounty” immigrants which means that their fare was either pad for or subsidised by the government in order to settle more of NSW. At some point they made their way south from Sydney to Ulladulla and settled and made a new life there. Thomas and George’s sister, Susannah Hapgood had already emigrated to Victoria the year before in 1853, and I will write more on her in another post.

Sources:

[1] Hapgood family on the “Lady Ann” in 1865, from England to NSW Australia. NRS5316/4_4791/Lady Ann_29 Sep 1854/ http://indexes.records.nsw.gov.au/ebook/list.aspx?Page=NRS5316/4_4791/Lady Ann_29 Sep 1854/4_479100281.jpg&No=2

[2] http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/aust1850s.shtml  

[3] NSW Assisted Immigrants list 3 Oct 1854. Source: NSW Assisted Immigrants Passenger Lists. Persons on bounty ships to Sydney, Newcastle, and Moreton Bay (Board’s Immigrant Lists); Series: 5317; Reel: 2466; Item: [4/4941] via ancestry.

[4] GT Hapgood’s great grandson at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hapgood-235

[5] Sydney – Woolcott & Clarke’s Map of the City of Sydney 1854. Dated: 06/01/1855 Digital ID: NRS13886[X767]_a110_000010 Out of Copyright. Available online at https://www.flickr.com/photos/state-records-nsw/17875127298