Transcribed and submitted to TheShipsList by Robert Janmaat, Adelaide, from a variety of sources, cited below.
Return to SA Passenger Lists,1847-1886

ship James Fernie, 1,037 tons, Captain Bartholomew Daly, from Liverpool 18th August 1854, arrived at Port Adelaide, South Australia 16th November 1854

South Australian Register Friday 17th November 1854
Thursday, November 16th :- the ship James Fernie, 1,037 tons, Bartholomew Daly, Master, from Liverpool August 18th 1854, with 350 Government Emigrants
— 25th ship from England to S.A. with government passengers for 1854 ; 3 births (& 4 stillbirths) and 30 deaths on the passage ; Charles Hutchison Graham, surgeon-superintendent.

The James Fernie . . .
. . was built in 1854 at St. John, New Brunswick, Canada by John Fisher and was sold to London the same year, to Edward Oliver, for £14.2s.6d. per ton. She was a three masted fully-rigged ship of 1,037 tons. She departed Liverpool 18th August 1854 with 88 adult males, 190 adult females (106 single women), 37 boys and 61 girls, for a total of 376 emigrants. After nineteen days of quarantine, on the 5th December, 1854, the surviving 350 emigrants were landed at Adelaide. The James Fernie sailed under the Red Cross Line, which was quickly organised to take emigrants to Australia. She was lost in March 1862.
The James Fernie, Government emigrant ship, from Liverpool, August 18th, whose arrival is elsewhere reported, has had more than one hundred cases of sickness, among which no fewer than 28 deaths occuured, twenty three of that number being recorded as cholera cases. No deaths have occurred since the 19th September, and there are only two cases of sickness now on board. We are assured that neither of the two persons now under medical treatment is a cholera patient. The James Fernie put into St. Jago (Cape Verde) for ballast, and touched at the Cape, for the purpose of replenishing water and provisions, on the 10th October. The names of the immigrants and all other particulars will appear in our publication of tomorrow.— S.A. Register November 17th 1854. [Saturday November 18th, a very detailed list of names of the migrants on the James Fernie.]
South Australian Government Gazette 1855.
The James Fernie Arrived from Liverpool on the 16th of November, having been 91 days at sea. Thirty deaths and three births were the casualties. Three hundred and forty nine emigrants where landed in the Colony. This Ship left Liverpool while cholera was prevailing in England, and a few days after sailing the disease broke out and 22 emigrants died in consequence. In some cases the disease assumed its most malignant form; fatal collapse without premonitory symptoms. The last death from cholera took place on the 19th September, when the ship was in latitude North. I think the Surgeon –Superintendent used every means which professional knowledge could suggest, not only for the treatment of the disease while it existed, but to prevent it spreading on board.
Rations provided per week per adult passenger over 14 years were as follows:—   56 ounces of biscuit     6 ounces of beef, 18 ounces of pork   24 ounces of preserved meat   42 ounces of flour   21 ounces of oatmeal     8 ounces of raisins     6 ounces of suet    ¾ of an ounce of peas     8 ounces of rice     8 ounces of preserved potatoes Children between ten and fourteen years received two thirds of this allowance and children between two and ten years received half. Children between four months and two years of age were allowed weekly:—     3 pints of water    ¼ of a pint of milk daily     3 ounces of preserved soup and one egg every alternate day   12 ounces of biscuit     4 ounces of oatmeal     8 ounces of flour     4 ounces of rice   10 ounces of sugar
The South Australian Government Gazette 1866 p. 86-87 & extracts from Surgeon Superintendent Report
Name	Age	Date of Death	Cause of Death	Where buried
McRae, Janet	55	August 22	Malignant Cholera	at sea
McKaskill, Kenneth (McAskill)	1	August 23	Convulsions (the ultimate result of teething)	at sea
McRae, Flora	44	August 26	Malignant cholera	at sea
McNaughton, Duncan	29	August 28	Malignant cholera	at sea
Lynch, Ann	10	August 30	Malignant cholera	at sea
McDill, Mary	20	September 01	Malignant cholera	at sea
Morrison, John	inf	September 01	Malignant cholera	at sea
Kennedy, Christina	7 mo	September 02	Acute hydocephalus	at sea
McLeod, Marion	28	September 02	Malignant cholera	at sea
Melville, Mrs.	35	September 02	Malignant cholera	at sea
James, Richard	21	September 02	Malignant cholera	at sea
McDill, Ann	3	September 02	Malignant cholera	at sea
Morrison, Roderick (Rory)	5	September 02	Malignant cholera	at sea
Ferguson, Mary	11	September 04	Malignant cholera	at sea
Melville, Susan	7	September 04	Malignant cholera	at sea
Lewis, Catherine (Kate)	4	September 04	Malignant cholera	at sea
Pert, Elizabeth W.	1	September 05	Tabes mesenterica	at sea
Mrs. Melville's male infant	inf	September 05	Mal assimilation of food
McNair, Mary	24	September 05	Malignant cholera	at sea
Bogner, Sarah (Bognis)	20	September 05	Malignant cholera	at sea
Sneddon, Mary	1	September 05	Exhaustion, the result of Diarrhoea	at sea
Hemming, Jane / James (Haning, James)	1	September 05	Exhaustion, the result of Diarrhoea	at sea
Yates, Thomas	11	September 05	Malignant cholera	at sea
Johnston, Helen	28	September 06	Malignant cholera	at sea
Darrock, Mary	36	September 09	Malignant cholera	at sea
Sommerville, William seaman, 3rd Mate	19	September 09	Malignant cholera	at sea
McDonald, Malcolm	3	September 11	Malignant cholera	at sea
McNair, Marion	7	September 19	Malignant cholera	at sea
Broadwood, Mary (Braidwood)	inf	October 03	Exhaustion, the result of Diarrhoea	at sea
Mrs. Greig's, male infant	inf	September 22	Congestion of the brain	at sea
NB. altho the demise of Mr. Sommerville is entered in the above list, he does not necessarily belong to it.

Surgeon Superintendent Report
On board the James Fernie 22nd November 1854 Dear Sir, I beg to inform you, that in Consequence of the extreme pressure of professional duty, during the Cholera epidemic, I had necessitated to depart from presented Rule, in the respect of the medical Comforts, Captain Daly and I agreed, in considering the state of matters, that I should get from him, when required, definate quantities of Wine, Brandy and porter, and tender a receipt for the same, which assignment I found greatly superior, to that of filling up a blank formula and presenting a duplicate. I am, Dear Sir Yours Respectfully Charles H. Graham Surgeon Superintendent
Port of Adelaide Nov. 24th 1854
Stephen Walcott Esq. Sir, Subjoined is a classified summary of the principal events which occurred on board the ship James Fernie, and of the observations such as I have to bring under the notice of the Commissioners.
details of deaths entered above and births entered below
Name of Mother		Date of Birth	Sex of Infant
Mrs. Melville		August 31, 1854	male
Mrs. Greig		September 20, 1854	male
Truan, Julie		September 20, 1854	male
		Cases of abortion (stillbirths)
Mrs. Thomas Welsh		September 23, 1854	sex not ascertainable
Mrs. Thomas Sheridan		September 28, 1854	twins, sex not ascertainable
Mrs. Murphy		September 28, 1854	— directly induced by cholera
Mrs. Ross		September 29 1854	sex not ascertainable

note: where maiden name of wife is indicated, it has been included in the given name column within ( ) ; the passenger list comprises three sections arranged alphabetically, i families, ii single men, iii single women & children ; transcriber notes in italics

Sources: State Library South Australia, official passenger lists, mainly of immigrants arriving in South Australia under United Kingdom assisted passage schemes, 1847-1886 GRG 35/48a (formely ACC 313); Sydney Shipping Gazette; South Australian Register; The South Australian Government Gazette; The South Australian Government Gazette February 1 1855 page 69; GRG 35/48/2 Crown lands and Immigrant ships papers; Biographical index SA 1836-1885 (the B-index column indicates individuals who may be found in that index, with corresponding reference number for further research)

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