A mysterious seafaring family of early Australia

 

Port Jackson 1823

CURRIE, Mrs. John:

The first record of Captain Currie is as master of the London whaleship Elizabeth, 437 tons. He was reported at Cable Bay, South Africa, on 12 April 1833, bound home to London after having left Sydney on 19 August 1832.  Evidently he made a quick turnaround, as on November 30, 1833, the ship Indiana arrived at Hobart from Sydney with Captain Currie, Mrs. Currie, and three children among the passengers, while the Elizabeth was in port, fitting out for whaling. (Tasmanian Colonist 3 December 1833). Within days, the family was settled on board. The Sydney Gazette for 2 January 1834, in a column headed ‘Van Dieman’s Land news’, noted the departure of the Elizabeth on the tenth ‘for the sperm fishery, passengers Mrs. Currie and three children.’

The ship was next reported at the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, 7 January 1834, returning there on March 17, 1834.  Did John Currie leave his family there? It seems likely. The Aaron Price diary (kept on Norfolk Island) notes the brief call of the Elizabeth  at Norfolk Island 30 September 1834 — ‘… the whaler “Elizabeth” touched here’.  According to the Sydney Herald, 16 October 1834, ‘Captain Currie called there for the purpose of ascertaining whether the report of the depredations committed by the New Zealanders, was true, Captain Currie having left his wife there. Having ascertained that such was the case, the Elizabeth started for New Zealand; she had 800 barrels of oil on board.’  

The ’depredations’ were the seizure of the Harriett, Captain Guard, and according to a later report, Currie rescued the stranded crew.  Evidently he picked up his wife and children at the same time — 21 March 1835, the Sydney Monitor noted ‘Ship Elizabeth, Captain Currie, arrived from the South Seas, passengers Mrs. Currie & 3 children and Miss Currie.’  Then on 14 April 1835 the Sydney Gazette reported ‘DEPARTURES, for London on Saturday last, the ship Elizabeth, Captain Currie, with oil &c., passengers, Mrs. Pinkerton, Mrs. Currie and family, and Mrs. Ford.’

The ship arrived at Gravesend 29 September 1835 ‘after a quick passage of three months and twelve days’ (Sydney Herald 8 February 1836). The Elizabeth with Currie in command departed again on February 4, 1836, arriving in Sydney in May 1836, after another speedy passage. This time, Mrs Currie was not reported on board, the only passenger being William Mattinson (who, incidentally, was a past master of the Elizabeth). The ship was reported back in London on June 10, 1839. (Sydney Herald 6 May 1840)

On November 10, 1843, John Currie sailed from London in command of the Luisa (308 tons register), and dropped anchor in Sydney March 4, 1845 to report a bad-luck voyage, having taken only 460 barrels of oil since leaving London, though ‘Captain Curry speaks in the highest terms of his officers and crew’ (SMH 5 March 1845). The ship was then reported cruising about the Kingsmills on 25 July 1845, and at Samoa in October 1846. Again, it is not apparent that his wife and family were with him.

And that, as far as newspaper records go, seems to be the end of the story…

Who was she?  And what happened to the family after that? It's an intriguing mystery.