The Boanerges, 1857

This is one of the inscriptions cut into the rock at the Quarantine Station, North Head. It commemorates the period of quarantine undergone by passengers from the ship Boanerges, in 1857.

The Boanerges left from Liverpool on 15th July 1857 for Sydney, under Captain William Skeene. On board were 475 Government immigrants: 70 married couples, 109 married men, 121 single women, 48 boys and 58 girls. Most of the immigrants were from Cambridgeshire and the English Midlands. There was also cargo on board worth more than seven thousand pounds.

On the voyage, three children died - of 'coup de soleil' (heatstroke), diarrhoea and bronchitis. Six babies were born. One of the children born was given the distinctive name William Boanerges Muggleton; he died at Carcoar in 1941.

The passage took 99 days, and, as noted on the inscription, the Boanerges entered Sydney Harbour on 21 October 1857. Because there was scarlet fever on board, she was obliged to enter quarantine. The passengers and crew were landed at the Quarantine Station while the ship and their belongings were disinfected and washed. Their period of quarantine, only six days, was relatively short, but was filled with drama, because on 23 October, the Catherine Adamson was wrecked on North Head, with the loss of 21 lives. One body came ashore at the Quarantine Station, and was buried by the crew of the Boanerges.

At a subsequent inquiry into the wreck, it was suggested that if one of the pilot boats had come to Spring Cove and raised the alarm, the Boanerges could have put out to sea and would have been on hand to rescue the passengers from the Catherine Adamson, but alas, this was not done. When the women from the Boanerges were taken out of quarantine into Sydney, the vessel which took them down the harbour was also carrying the bodies of those who had perished in the wreck. The emotions of the women can only be guessed at. With this background, the inscription above can be read as a poignant expression of thanksgiving at having survived the perils of the long sea voyage.

The immigrants were in demand, particularly with the harvest season approaching. Married couples, it was stated, could earn 60 shillings a week. There was great need of agricultural workers and mechanics, and the single women found ready employment as domestic servants.

Boanerges left Sydney on 2 December 1857, bound for Callao. She left behind several deserters, who, when apprehended, were each sentenced to ten or twelve weeks' hard labour.