THE RATTLER 1846
CONSIGNEES AND CARGO
Edward Goldsmith's signature 26 December 1850
Crew and passengers arriving Hobart per Rattler 550 tons
Archives Office Tasmania: CUS36/1/442 Image 203
Before taking command of the Rattler in July 1846, Captain Edward Goldsmith was in command of the barque Angelina on the return voyage to London from the round trip to Sydney NSW when he had a narrow escape. The Angelina, 434 tons, laden with produce and 36 passengers, had cleared the Heads at Sydney on February 22nd 1846, but two weeks later, on 7th March as the barque entered the Southern Ocean nearing Cape Horn, the Angelina was struck by an iceberg, sustaining damage to the foredeck and losing the bowsprit. Delayed a week at Rio de Janeiro for repairs, Captain Goldsmith sailed the Angelina safely back past Portsmouth on the 4th July 1846. Barely twenty days back on shore in London, he was ready - and so was his wife Elizabeth Goldsmith - to set sail again. He took command of the Rattler, new off the stocks, on 24th July 1846, his sights set once more for Van Diemen's Land.
The Rattler
The A1 barque Rattler was designed specifically for the merchant trade between London and Hobart, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). Weighing 522 tons and measuring 114.5 x 28.7 x 19.5 feet, the vessel was built at Sunderland in 1846 for Robert Brooks of London.
The Rattler cost £5750 plus another £390.17.6 for yellow metal bottom sheathing
Source: Robert Brooks and Co & Robert Towns and Co. (1822). Records of Robert Brooks and Co.,
NLA http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-230942481
Photo © KLW NFC 2016 ARR
Captain Edward Goldsmith (1804-1869) of Rotherhithe, Surrey and Higham, Kent, commanded this fine vessel from its launch in July 1846 on her maiden voyage to Hobart, until his last voyage as Master in 1850 before handing over to Captain Waddell in 1852.
Rattler, 1846: E. Goldsmith, master and R. Brooks owner
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping
Gregg Press Limited, 1846
VOYAGES on the RATTLER, Captain Edward Goldsmith, Master:
1846: arrived Hobart from London, 14th November 1846, departed 21st January 1847.
1847: arrived Hobart from London, 11th November 1847, departed 29th January 1848.
1848: arrived Hobart from London, 4th December 1848, departed 25th February 1849.
1849: arrived Hobart from London, 27th November 1849, departed 26th February 1850.
1850: arrived Hobart from London, 13th December 1850, departed 19th March 1851.
Captain Alexander Stewart Waddell, a neighbour of Captain Edward Goldsmith in Davey Street Hobart, Tasmania, took command of the Rattler on Captain Goldsmith’s return to London in July 1851, departing Plymouth on 14th September 1851, arriving at Hobart on 13th January, 1852. Within a month the Rattler under Commander Waddell was preparing departure for London, per this advertisement of 31st January, 1852:
Per Rattler, Captain Waddell , arrival with newspapers
17 January 1852, Hobart Guardian
Source: Hobarton Guardian, or, True Friend of Tasmania (Hobart, Tas. : 1847 - 1854) Sat 31 Jan 1852 Page 2 Advertising
Maiden Voyage: arrival at Hobart
Elizabeth Goldsmith (nee Day, 1802-1875) sailed on the Rattler's maiden voyage with her husband Captain Edward Goldsmith in command, departing London on 24th July 1846, arriving at Hobart, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) on 11th November 1846. General cargo included a consignment of equipment and uniforms for the 65th Regiment for government Ordnance Stores, fine clothing and furnishings for sale by local merchants, two pianos, alcohol and foodstuffs, stationery, personal effects etc etc (see consignees lists below). The Goldsmiths stayed two months during a glorious summer in Hobart, departing on the Rattler, 21st January 1847, with nineteen passengers and a cargo of whale products and wool destined for London.
Marine Board Report and Port Officer's Log, Rattler Nov. 11th, 1846
Archives Office Tasmania
https://stors.tas.gov.au/CSO92-1-17 page 96
DETAILS: Report of the Arrival of the Barque Rattler Nov. 11, 1846
From London, sailed July 24th, State of health good, Master E. Goldsmith, Owner R. Brooks Esq., Tons 522, Port of registration London, Build British, Crew 21, Convicts [m,f, blank], Cargo general, Time when boarded 8.30a.m, Bearing and distance at Iron Pot Lighthouse NW. 6 Miles, Wind NNW, Weather Fine, Pilots name Lawrence. Agent T. D. Chapman For Van Diemen's Land Cabin Passengers Mr Spode, Mrs Goldsmith. Steerage [blank] For New South Wales [blank].
"Our old friend Captain Goldsmith, late of the Wave" was the affectionate report by the Hobart Courier as the Rattler waited to berth while the Sea Queen was taken off.
Source: The Courier (Hobart, Tas. : 1840 - 1859) Wed 28 Oct 1846 Page 3 LOCAL.
Just one other cabin passenger arrived at Hobart on the Rattler's maiden voyage with Elizabeth Goldsmith; Josiah Spode, eldest son of farmer, chief police magistrate and colonial civil servant Josiah Spode of New Norfolk and Stoke Cottage. New Town, Tasmania and great grandson of Josiah Spode of Stoke Lodge, Stoke-on-Trent, England, founder of the famous Staffordshire pottery. This Josiah, the eldest of many Spode children living in Hobart, studied medicine in England and returned to medical practice in Melbourne.
Source: The Courier (Hobart, Tas. : 1840 - 1859) Sat 14 Nov 1846 Page 2 LOCAL.
TRANSCRIPT
The ” RATTLER” – This fine barque, new off the stocks, Captain Goldsmith, (formerly of the Wave,) arrived on Wednesday, having made her maiden passage from the Downs in 110 days. She has brought despatches for the Lieutenant-Governor, and a considerable mail with papers to the 24th July. These, however, have lost much of their interest from the later intelligence we are enabled to lay before our readers via India. The Rattler has a general cargo, and brought out as passenger Mr Spode, son of Josiah Spode, Esq …
Cargo and Consignees at Hobart
For Captain Goldsmith's agent at Hobart, importer and exporter Thomas D. Chapman, the most significant consignee of cargo was the Lieutenant-Governor William Denison. The Rattler was carrying equipment and uniforms for the 65th Regiment who were soon to depart for NSW and New Zealand. For Captain Goldsmith on this voyage, his interest rested on the delivery of spirits and beer to brewer and publican John Mezger, some sourced probably from his own hop fields in Kent. And for Elizabeth Goldsmith a tidy profit turned from distributing to Hobart's shopkeepers such as R. Lewis and Sons, and Messrs Robertson and Guthrie the merchandise she had bought in London of fine linens, hats, ginghams, dresses and stays, gloves, rugs and home furnishings. Among the rest of the cargo were two pianos for W. Boys, etc etc : -
Imports per Rattler from London
Source: The Courier (Hobart, Tas. : 1840 - 1859) Wed 25 Nov 1846 Page 2 SHIPPING NEWS.
"Rattler" Goldsmith master from London Reported 13th November 1846
Item Number: CUS36/1/442 View this record online image 3
The Mr. Pocock of "To Mr Pocock Landing Waiter" inscribed on the cover was Zachary Pearce Pocock (1816-1895) who was employed as a Customs Officer, Hobart, between 1843 and 1847. His occupation was listed as "Customs Dept." when he registered the birth of his child, Zachary Pearce Thurlow Pocock, born to Charlotte Pocock formerly Thurlow in Hobart on 19th July 1845, baptised by Dr. Bedford on 8th August 1845 (AOT Names Index RGD33/1/2/ no 1120.), Qualified as a physician and member of the Royal College of Surgeons and Apothecaries' Hall of London, Zachary Pearce Pocock and Charlotte Thurlow were married in London in 1843, and arrived in Hobart the same year. Within weeks of Captain Goldsmith's departure for London on the Rattler in January 1847, Zachary Pearce Pocock, wife and two daughters departed Hobart for London on the Tropic in March, having sold their furniture from their residence in New Town Road. While in London, he published his letter addressed to the Right Honourable Earl Grey on the system of transportation and convict discipline … showing the evils attendant upon the system pursued in Van Diemen’s Land, and the remedy for those evils; with suggestions for the profitable employment of convict labour (1847).
Zachary Pearce Pocock was not just the Landing Waiter at New Quay, Hobart to Captain Edward Goldsmith. He was well acquainted with the Pococks through a family connection. In 1841, Captain Goldsmith was a signatory witness to the marriage of Zachary's sister Rachael Pocock to Captain James Day, brother of Captain Goldsmith's wife, Elizabeth Goldsmith nee Day, at St. David's, Hobart. Rachael Pocock (ca. 1812-1857) was mother of photographer Thomas Nevin's wife, Elizabeth Rachel Day. The elder of two daughters (the second, Maria Sophia Day was born in Hobart in 1853), Elizabeth Rachel Day was born in London and baptised 28th April 1847 at St. Mary's Rotherhithe. One reason for Zachary' and Charlotte Pocock's voyage back to London, departing in March 1847 and arriving in late June 1847 may have been the desire to visit his sister Rachael and his new-born niece Elizabeth Rachel Day. They remained in London long enough for Zachary's wife Charlotte to give to birth to his own daughter Ann Mary Pearce Gibson Pocock six months later, on 13th December 1847. She was baptised at All Souls, Marylebone, London on 25th January 1848.
Zachary Pearce Pocock returned to Hobart in 1849 with his family to set up practice as surgeon and accoucheur at Green Ponds, VDL (Tasmania). Despite extensively advertising his practice, it was not a success. By the 1860s he had become an ordained missionary, addressed as the Rev. Zachary Pearce Pocock, chaplain of the remote settlement at Emu Bay (Burnie) Tasmania but without the promised stipend, he began farming the church burial ground. He published pamphlets on the virtues of Tasmania, on emigration and transportation, and wrote many letters to newspaper editors on railway development and capital punishment. He died at Sydney in 1895. His sister Rachael Day nee Pocock died of consumption at New Town, Hobart, in 1857. Her daughter, his niece and also the much adored niece of Captain and Elizabeth Goldsmith, Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day, died at Hobart in 1914. Husband Thomas J. Nevin who was buried with the rank of "photographer" died nine years later in 1923.
GOODS LANDED 1846-47
Goods landed, consignees' names, signed Edwd Goldsmith
Archives Office Tasmania
Item Number: CUS36/1/442 Images 48,49,50
View this record online
ADVERTISEMENT: Goods ex Rattler Nov 1846
The Courier (Hobart, Tas. : 1840 - 1859) Wed 18 Nov 1846 Page 1
Thomas D. Chapman, agent
Honourable T D Chapman
Description:1 photographic print [undated, unattributed]
ADRI: NS407-1-19
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
ADB Biography
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/chapman-thomas-daniel-3195
Thomas Daniel Chapman (1815-1884), merchant and politician, was born at Bedford, England. At 14 he entered the service of the East India Co. and made several voyages to the Orient. In 1837 he settled in London and soon became a partner in the firm of John and Stephen Kennard, general merchants. In 1841 on their behalf he took emigrants and stores to Circular Head for the Van Diemen's Land Co. and then moved to Hobart Town to act as agent for the Kennards. In 1843 he married Katherine, daughter of John Swan, a Hobart shopkeeper. In 1847 he established at Hobart his own independent firm, T. D. Chapman & Co., importers and exporters; the main exports were wool, whale oil and timber, while the imports were groceries, hardware and clothing from England, sugar and corks from Mauritius and tea from Ceylon.
He began his political career as president of the Hobart branch of the militant Anti-Transportation League, and in 1851 was elected to the new part-elective Legislative Council. Read more ...
Uniforms of the 65th Regiment, for Ordnance
Inwards: 826 bales of clothing, 51 cases of shoes, 191 casks medicines etc
Manifest copy of items per Rattler 1846 for the 65th Regiment
Archives Office of Tasmania
https://stors.tas.gov.au/CUS36-1-442 Image 97
Cocket and entry of uniforms for the 65th Regiment
New Quay, Rattler, Goldsmith, master, Hobart VDL, 18th January 1847
Archives Office of Tasmania
https://stors.tas.gov.au/CUS36-1-442 Image 45
NATIONAL LIBRARY of NEW ZEALAND Collections
Great Britain. Army. Regiment of Foot, 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding)
Hickety Pips, The Royal Tigers
The York and Lancaster Regiment ("Royal Tigers") or better known in New Zealand as the "Hickety Pips" by Maori, was in New Zealand for just over 18 years, between 1846-1865, as the 65th (2nd Yorkshire North Riding) Regiment. The regiment arrived in three detachments. The first under the command of Major Wyatt, with about 550 all ranks, landed on 19 November 1846 at Russell; the second, under the command of Capt. O'Connell, on 1 August 1846, at Wellington; the third, under the command of Lt.-Col. Gold, mainly wives and children, on 14 January 1847, at Auckland. Commanded by Lt.-Col. C. E. Gold, and later by Col. A. F. W. Wyatt, C.B. "New Zealand" worn on battle honours. The Wellington Regiment (City of Wellington's Own) is allied.
Photographer unknown :
Portrait of Colonel Withers NZ 65th Regiment.
Ramsden, Eric :Photographs relating to Ramsden and his family and Maori subjects.
Ref: PA2-2294. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22617072
Six soldiers of the Light Infantry Company, 65th Regiment. Ref: 1/2-025608-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23117771
John Mezger, brewer
John Mezger emigrated from Germany to Van Diemen's Land and is recorded as "naturalised" in 1835 (AOT: CSO1/1/760/16303). He was granted 34 acres of land in the north of Hobart, close to the Lady Franklin Museum, owned several houses including Cliefden, purchased for ₤278 in February 1839, and Lauderdale (1844) at New Town. He operated both a brewery and several hotels including the Bird-in Hand in Hobart and the Black Snake at Bridgewater. Convict Robert Tuck was assigned to John Mezger in 1835 as groom and house servant. Mezger's cargo on this voyage included dozens of hogsheads of beer, brandy, Teneriffe wine, Portugal wine, Geneva [i.e. gin], and spirits, including rum. A case of cordials consigned to Captain Goldsmith was consumed en route.
W. B. GOULD [artist]
Liverpool, England 1803 – Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 1853
Australia from 1827
Mr John Mezger c.1842
oil on canvas oil on canvas 76.3 h x 63.3 w cm
Purchased 2010 Accession No: NGA 2010.322
Map - Buckingham 116 - parish of Hobart, allotments fronting New Town, Humphry's (Humphrey), Guy Fauks (Fawkes) and Hobart Town Rivulets and Brushy Creek, landholders HULL GEORGE, BROWN W C, BYE H, CUNNINGHAM, GEE, BRINDLY J, BROWN, MEZGER J and others
Description: 1 photographic print
ADRI:AF396-1-123
Source:Archives Office of Tasmania
The Bird in Hand, Argyle-street
TAHO Ref: SD_ILS:602319
John Mezger - Licensee - Bird-In-Hand Hotel, Argyle St, Hobart, 1842 - 1848
Record Type: Hotels & Properties
Year:1842 Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:464277
Resource HTG 7/10/1842, 8/10/1843, 1/10/1844, 7/10/1845, 6/10/1846, 2/10/1847, 30/9/1848
John Mezger's Silver Snuff Box
Former convict Charles Jones manufactured the goblet given by the Hobart City Corporation to Captain Edward Goldsmith in 1849 as a testimonial to his services to the colony, especially for his importation of plants from "the finest English nurseries." The whereabouts of Cpt Goldsmith's goblet which he said he would keep to his death, and which happened at Gads Hill, Higham, Kent in 1869, is not known. It may have been lost at sea, it may have stayed in the Goldsmith family until the death of his daughter-in-law Sarah Jane Goldsmith, in 1926, or sold at Gravesend at auction from Edward Goldsmith's estate in 1870. A year earlier than Charles Jones' manufacture of the goblet given to Edward Goldsmith, he made this snuff box for William Gore Elliston to be presented to John Mezger, in thanks for a kindness several years before.
'THIS BOX IS PRESENTED TO JOHN MEZGER BY WILLIAM GORE ELLISTON IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF A MOST DISINTERESTED ACT OF KINDNESS'
Source: GOWAN'S SPECIAL ANTIQUE AUCTION JUNE 20TH 2015 - Sold $21,500.00
Departure for London January 1847
The return voyage to London on average was longer than 100 days, lasting at least three and half to four months. Although Captain Edward Goldsmith's voyage to Sydney in 1844 on the Parrock Hall was one of his fastest, 105 days, he was sometimes delayed at the Falkland Islands for repairs to the ship and supplies for the crew. Elizabeth Goldsmith nee Day would have arrived back in London too late for the birth and baptism of her niece Elizabeth Rachel Day at St Mary's Rotherhithe on 28th April 1847 (b. 26th March). This daughter of her brother Captain James Day and Rachael Pocock, named after her aunt and mother, would return to Hobart with her parents and become the fiancee of photographer Thomas J. Nevin by 1868, his wife by 1871, and mother of seven children by 1888.
The Hobart Courier 5 December 1846
TRANSCRIPT
For London To Sail in Early January
The new and remarkably fast-sailing barque RATTLER
552 Tons Register, EDWARD GOLDSMITH Commander, having a considerable portion of her cargo engaged will be despatched early in January. This ship has magnificent accommodation for cabin passengers, and the ‘tween-decks being exceedingly lofty, she offers an excellent opportunity for a limited number of steerage passengers.
A plan of the cabin may be seen, and rate of freight and passage learnt, by application to Captain Goldsmith on board, or to
THOS. D. CHAPMAN & Co. Macquarie-street, Nov. 17.
The Courier (Hobart, Tas. : 1840 - 1859) Sat 19 Dec 1846 Page 1 Classified Advertising
"... her wool engaged..."
The Great Wool Floor at the London Docks 1840s
Source: The Victorian Web
TRANSCRIPT
January 20.- Sailed the barque Rattler, Goldsmith master, for London, with a general cargo.Source: Shipping Intelligence. PORT OF HOBART TOWN.
Passengers - Miss Rowe, Mrs Goldsmith, Messrs Lafferell, McDowell, Campbell, Shackleton, Best, Crawford, J. Horne, R. Hutt, G. Chambers, Mr and Mrs Benson and five children, Mr and Mrs Poole, Mrs Elphinston, and Mrs Dexter.
Colonial Times (Hobart, Tas. : 1828 - 1857) Friday 22 January 1847 p 2 Article
Cargo Outwards on the Rattler to London January 1847
On January 18th, 1847, T. D. Chapman's inspector Thomas Hall submitted this report of goods loaded at the Port of Hobart Town ready for shipment on the Rattler for London, Edward Goldsmith, Master. The initials of the exporters of wool are listed on this summary document. The initials of the exporters of whale oil and whale bone are separately encased in a diamond shape.
Per the Rattler for London, Goldsmith master
The growth and produce of Van Diemens Land
T. Chapman, exporter 18 Jan 1847
DETAILS: cargo shipped, per Rattler for London, 18 January 1847
To London per Rattler 18 January 1847
Bales of wool value £12,816
One hundred and five bales of wool value £1260
Twenty four bundles whalebone value £74
Twenty casks Southern Oil value £270
One hundred and twelve casks
Black oil 53 tons value £795
Twenty two bundles whalebone value £75
Natural curiosities value £10
One hundred and twenty four bags of wheat to London:
Rattler, Goldsmith, 18 January 1847: Shipper T. Chapman.
etc etc
View all of the Rattler's Customs Cockets from 1846 to 1852
Item Number: CUS36/1/442 View this record online
Title:Sunnyside Hobarton The Seat of Thos. D. Chapman ca. 1849
Author: Gritten, Henry, 1818-1873
Physical description: 1 painting : watercolour on Bristol board ; 452 x 557 mm. within mount
Archives Office Tasmania
Photograph attributed to H. H. Baily ca. 1870
Sunnyside, New Town, kunanyi/Mt. Wellington in background
Home of Thomas Daniel Chapman, merchant and politician
University of Tasmania Special Collections eprints
