# Sailing ship routes



## double acting (Sep 14, 2008)

I'm looking for information on the route taken by the JOHN BARRY. She sailed from Dundee 13th March !837 and arrived in Port Jackson on 13th July 1837. She called at St. Jago - which I think is in Jamaica - and went via the Cape of Good Hope.

Is she likely to have called anywhere else? Would four months be considered as normal for such a passage?


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## richardwakeley (Jan 4, 2010)

St Jago (Santiago) is in the Cape Verde Islands. They would have called there for stores and water.


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## gdynia (Nov 3, 2005)

Heres some info

The John Barry was a 520 ton merchant, convict and immigrant sailing ship built in 1814 at Whitby, England by John Barry for his own interests.

Under the command of Stephenson Ellerby, she sailed from Portsmouth, England on 30 April 1819, with 142 male convicts. She arrived at Port Jackson, Australia on 26 September 1819. No convicts died on the voyage. On her second convict voyage to Australia under the command of Roger Dobson, she sailed from Cork, Ireland on 16 June 1821, with 180 male convicts. She arrived at Port Jackson on 7 November 1821. No convicts died on the voyage.

She made an emigrant voyage to Canada under the command of Peter Roche, she sailed from Cork, Ireland on 22 April 1825 and arrived at Quebec on 22 July 1825. She underwent repairs in 1828 and had new top-sides installed and part new whales.[1]

She made a convict transportation voyage to Hobart, Australia arriving on 11 August 1834. She had a new deck and large repairs in 1834.[1] Leaving Torbay, England on 21 September 1835 under the command of John Dobson, with 320 male convicts. She arrived at Port Jackson on 17 January 1836. No convicts died on the voyage. The lanthorn (lantern) for the Newcastle Heads (Nobbys) lighthouse was brought out by John Barry on this voyage.

In 1836, she had some repairs undertaken, and was doubled, felted, and coppered.[1] Under the command of John Robson, she sailed from Sheerness, England on 17 November 1838, with 320 male convicts. She arrived at Port Jackson, Australia on 22 March 1839. One male convict died on the voyage.

The John Barry was reported to be a wreck in the Lombok Straits, and deserted by all her crew in 1840, however she was able to be got off after seven hours. She sufferred the loss of her false keel and minor damage done to her copper sheathing. She put into Sourabaya (now Surabaya) where she was repaired. She arrived at Port Jackson on 31 January 1841 with produce, 165 horses and a tiger from Java.


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## Cisco (Jan 29, 2007)

I don't think the time on passage would have been unusual in the 1830s. The First Fleet took from the 13th May to the 18th of January the next year. 

In 1881 Lubbock lists a dozen ships making the passage in under 80 days with the fastest passage being 69 days. These times have to be qualified as that was direct from the Lizard to Melbourne. By the 1880s not only had ship design advanced considerably but ships tended to go a lot further south into the roaring forties and fun filled fifties. In the 1830s I think they would have stayed far further north , longer distance, more variable winds.
If she stopped in the Cape Verde Islands I imagine she would have also called at CapeTown.


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## double acting (Sep 14, 2008)

Thanks Gdynia for your reply but it doesn't really answer my question which was about the course sailed

Richardwateley,you say St Jago was/is on the Cape Verde islands, but according to Google it is in Jamaica. Cape Verde would make more sense, but there is no St Jago shewn on these islands?


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## Cisco (Jan 29, 2007)

St Jago is from James/Jago/ Diego etc and is found in 'Jagos Mansions' in Plymouth, San Diego, Santiago etc.

I would expect her to have called not at Jamaica or Cape Verde Islands but somewhere on the Brazilian coast.... maybe its an old usage for a modern port like Recife or somewhere on that bit of coast.


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## joebuckham (Apr 1, 2005)

double acting said:


> Thanks Gdynia for your reply but it doesn't really answer my question which was about the course sailed
> 
> Richardwateley,you say St Jago was/is on the Cape Verde islands, but according to Google it is in Jamaica. Cape Verde would make more sense, but there is no St Jago shewn on these islands?


sant(iago) is an island in the cape verde islands


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## Binnacle (Jul 22, 2005)

double acting said:


> I'm looking for information on the route taken by the JOHN BARRY. She sailed from Dundee 13th March !837 and arrived in Port Jackson on 13th July 1837. She called at St. Jago - which I think is in Jamaica - and went via the Cape of Good Hope.
> 
> Is she likely to have called anywhere else? Would four months be considered as normal for such a passage?


According to my copy of the Admiralty publication "Ocean Passages for the World" the average number of days, in normal weather, taken in making a sailing passage between the Channel to Sydney would be 85-100 days.


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## joebuckham (Apr 1, 2005)

this may help, also find a chart showing the prevailing winds around the world, as all masters made full use of mother natures bounty



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_route


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## Cisco (Jan 29, 2007)

I think Jamaica can be deleted from the passage plan....


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## richardwakeley (Jan 4, 2010)

St Jago is just another spelling of Santiago. As Cisco said, Jamaica would not be in the passage plan.


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## Cisco (Jan 29, 2007)

Binnacle said:


> According to my copy of the Admiralty publication "Ocean Passages for the World" the average number of days, in normal weather, taken in making a sailing passage between the Channel to Sydney would be 85-100 days.





> this may help, also find a chart showing the prevailing winds around the world, as all masters made full use of mother natures bounty
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_route


The voyage under discussion pre-dates the work of Maury and 'the clipper route'. Prior to his works being published ships running from the Cape to Australia stayed further north and as a result made slower passages. Also, at that time , the 'clipper ship' didn't exist and I imagine that 'John Barry' was a bit of a clunker.
I think the time for the voyage is not unreasonable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Fontaine_Maury


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