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Auction: 19001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 2

(x) An important Naval General Service Medal awarded to Surgeon-Superintendent A. Osborne, Royal Navy, who served with compassion aboard no fewer than eight convict voyages between 1825-1838.

A pioneering member of Australian society, he created history by becoming the first Surgeon to complete two voyages from the United Kingdom to Australia within a calendar year, and later became self-styled 'Emigration Agent for Australia'

Naval General Service 1793-1840, 1 clasp, Guadaloupe (Alick Osborne, Asst. Surgn.), edge nicks and bruising, very fine

Alick Osborne was born in 1793, one of the ten children of Archibald Osborne, a farmer from Dirnaseer, County Tyrone, Ireland. He joined the Royal Navy at a young age and was appointed Surgeon aboard H.M.S. Alfred in 1809, being present for the invasion of the French colony of Guadeloupe in 1810. Appointed surgeon aboard the Algerine in 1815 and Leven in 1822, Osborne's career with the Royal Navy was temporarily suspended in 1823 when he was invalided aboard the Isis. Replaced by Dr Campbell, he took work using his medical skills aboard the early convict ships travelling from Great Britain to the Australian Colonies. As there was no ship specifically built as a convict vessel, it was a role which would see him embark upon a vast array of square-rigged ships, barques and brigs, each voyage requiring considerable medical expertise and compassion.

Life aboard a Convict Ship

The first convict ships began to arrive in Australia from January 1788. Over the 80 years of transportation from 1788-1868, 608 convict ships transported more than 162,000 persons to Australia, many of whom had been convicted of little more than petty crimes and suffered the indignity of extreme poverty. For some, their entry into the world was aboard a ship, born to a mother separated from those she held dear. Cruel masters, harsh discipline and scurvy, dysentery and typhoid resulted in huge demand for medical assistance and Osborne would no doubt have been at the forefront of attempts to alleviate physical ailments.

Fellow medical personnel were scathing of the women on the voyages. Lieutenant Ralph Clark, First Fleet Surgeon, complained that they were all 'damned whores', whilst Governors Darling and Macquarie, whilst in sympathy to their plight of being 'thoroughly abandoned', considered them of a 'depraved disposition' and 'the source of all evil and disgrace to their sex'. To Thomas Potter MacQueen, a former member of the House of Commons and an Australian Magistrate, the women were 'the most disgusting objects that ever disgraced the female form.' Osborne clearly took a different view.

Housed below decks and sometimes further confined behind bars, convicts were often restrained by chains and were only allowed on deck for fresh air and exercise. Conditions were cramped and the men and women slept on hammocks. Very little information seems to be available about the layout of convict ships, but artists' impressions and the records taken by Osborne offer an insight into the hardships:

'In one of my voyages from Cork, there happened to be among the rest a father and two sons for sheep stealing. Old Murtagh was advanced in life, the sons fine athletic young men. Two days after embarkation, I observed Rory, the eldest (son), eyeing me very wistfully, but apparently unwilling to trespass: I beckoned him aft, and desired to know what was the matter, hoped the old man kept up his spirits, & so on: emboldened by my manner, he simply begged, "if your honour would be pleased to divide the bolts between me and Dennis, for the ould man's getting tender, God help him! And I'm afear'd he won't get to the end of the journey any way." I felt ashamed at having overlooked the poor old man so long, (he was fourscore, but I did not know he was so old,) and instantly removed the old man's irons, amidst the prayers and benedictions of the whole party.'

According to the Illawarra Historical Society, Osborne's care for the convicts aboard his ships was exceptional; of his 8 voyages aboard Lonach (1825), Speke (1826), Sophia (1829), Sarah (1829), Planter (1832), Fairlie (1834) - which held 200 male convicts - Marquis of Huntley (1835) and Elphinstone (1838), of the 2,034 convicts embarked in his care, less than half of 1% perished. In comparison, his elder brother John Osborne, Surgeon aboard the Frances Charlotte, recorded a 7% mortality rate on a single voyage as a result of cholera. Aside from disease, punishment aboard ship also continued to take its toll on the health of the convicts:

'Sometimes the culprit is caught in the act (stealing), then we punish him with twelve or sixteen hours of solitary confinement on bread and water, and for a second offence, one dozen lashes, which always procures us a respite from all offences for a week or ten days afterwards.'

On arrival in Australia, female convicts were sent directly to the female factory. The first factory had been built at Parramatta in 1804 and initially consisted of a single long room with a fireplace at one end for the women to cook on. Women and girls made rope and span and carded wool, later followed by needlework and laundry duties. It became a place for the more hardened prisoners, many of the younger and healthier women having been placed into domestic service. Sometimes their children were taken from them and placed into orphanages. The men found themselves working for the free settlers or Government, typically in lumberyards or the Sydney Docks; the unskilled worked as labourers or in road gangs. Osborne would have witnessed extensive suffering, which must have hardened his resolve to care for those on his voyages.

An Early insight into Sydney and Exploration of Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula

It was whilst aboard the Planter on the return voyage from Sydney that Osborne began to compile a diary, later published in 1833, which described his travels in the Colony and elsewhere. Notes on the Present State and Prospects of Society in New South Wales, with a Historical, Statistical, and Topographical Account of Manilla and Singapore offers a unique and fascinating insight into the growth of Sydney:

'In forty-five years has a magnificent city sprung up in the wilderness; good roads branching off in all directions; the sails of commerce from all parts of the world furled in the harbour; woods and forests give way to golden harvests; sheep and oxen browsing where the kangaroo formerly could scarcely find space for his salient perambulations.'

It also displays details and insights comparable to any explorer of the era. Rather than return home on a journey devoid of port entry, as experienced on the outward route, Osborne was keen to explore the Islands of the Philippines and observe the local inhabitants and customs. His account of a traditional marriage is a somewhat colourful case in point:

'The marriage ceremony consisted in the sacrifice of a pig by the priest with his own hand; at the same time bestowing the ordinary benedictions on the happy pair, afterwards presenting a portion of roast pork to the elders, who were always assembled on this important occasion; next succeed obscene gesticulations to the bride, which conclude with a customary dance, and a scene of "borrachera," debauchery, and drunkenness, of two or three days' duration.'

To counter the debauchery, he was later keen to note the nunnery of the Order of Santa Clara, the first nunnery in Manilla, founded in 1821:

'In a short time twenty young ladies took the veil, and it continues to the present time its reputation for chastity and sanctity.'

His Majesty's Emigration Agent for Australia

In 1835, Osborne sailed to New South Wales with his wife, Ann (née Clarke), and four daughters, Ann, Jane, Isabella and Mary, aboard the Marquis of Huntley. The family settled at Daisy Bank, Illawarra, and Osborne hired men to start breeding dairy cattle. However times were changing, and with the cessation of the convict free labour system in the mid-late 1830's, New South Wales and Australia in general was in need of both agricultural labourers and skilled workers - what were termed at the time 'useful immigrant families'. In February 1836, Osborne was summoned to the office of Sir Richard Bourke, Irish Governor of New South Wales. He was promptly given a despatch addressed to Lord Glenelg and then appointed Agent with responsibility for selecting emigrants from Ireland; Osborne sailed from Sydney on 7 March 1836 aboard the City of Edinburgh, accompanied by David Boyter, agent for Scotland, their tasks clear.

Arriving in Cork, via London, and under orders from the Colonial Office, Osborne set about furnishing the local press, notably the Londonderry Standard, with adverts designed to entice potential émigré's. All went well, indeed the 'disposition was in favour of immigration', likely as a result not just of the perks - free travel for skilled mechanics, lately married, who were permitted to take with them a sister or wife's sister - but also the reality that whatever the disadvantages of the colony, Irish men and women preferred the opportunity of regular paid employment in Sydney to poverty and potential starvation at home. There was also the demographic reality; in the time around the Great Famine, Ireland was being deserted by young men who had little chance of inheriting a farm or finding regular employment. For Irish women, they had just as much chance of finding an Irish husband in Sydney as they did at home. Osborne was largely successful, the ship's numbers filling with 20 carpenters, 16 stonemasons, 5 stonecutters, 14 blacksmiths, 3 bricklayers, 21 farmers, 1 cooper, 3 sawyers and 1 quarryman, all married men under 30 years of age with a year or two discretion.

It was noted however that, 'there is some deception by those on board as to qualifications,' whilst several young men 'contracted matrimonial alliances' for the free passage.

On 29 March 1837, the Adam Lodge left Londonderry under Captain Mayne and with Osborne in charge of health and much else besides; before even weighing anchor, four policemen had to be procured by Osborne to hold back the crowds of relatives wishing the men and women off. It would not be long before the numbers aboard ship would rise and barely out of Lough Foyle, the first baby arrived. Within days, conditions aboard started to deteriorate:

'Most of the emigrants were seasick and the deck below was in a bad state, mainly depending upon the carelessness and ignorance of the women about the water closets.'

Osborne arranged for the women's deck of 84 mothers and 209 children, plus the newborn, to be swabbed, with ventilation hatches opened. The husbands were housed somewhere else bringing the total number in his care to 397, including cramped crew and baby.

According to Australia The Early Years: Reports from the Ulster Journal, which quotes from a letter by Alexander Fairlie, crewmember aboard the Adam Lodge, the separation of husbands and wives also started to become a problem. Osborne had a simple way of reducing energy levels:

'Last night inspecting the female apartments at ten o'clock found nine men in bed with their wives contrary to regulations. I stopped their ration of tea, sugar and flour for one week.'

On 8 April, the first death occurred when Charles Irvin, aged 14 months, succumbed to influenza. The next day a second baby was delivered and Osborne subsequently began vaccinating the children against smallpox. Two weeks later, whooping cough made its presence felt aboard ship, resulting in the deaths of three children. By 24 May, the embryonic school was relinquished 'as there is indifference on the part of the parents', and morale began to sink. On 3 June, 'Mrs Callaghan, who had been affected by mania for some time was found dead in her bed,' and the 'salt diet' of the mothers saw a spike in infant deaths. Osborne's treatments of 'copious bleeding' and 'strong purgative' failed to deal with the headaches and rigors associated with poor diet and there was little more that he could do to alleviate the suffering of the weak and vulnerable.

After a passage of 107 days, the Adam Lodge finally entered Sydney Harbour. In total, 4 adults and 22 children had died on the voyage and 8 babies had been born into the world. For his services aboard ship and success at transporting such a large, skilled and youthful workforce to the shores of New South Wales, Osborne received payment of £142. 12s. 0d.

Likely chastened and exhausted by the ordeal, he returned home to his farm at Illawarra and faced further hardship when he was later robbed by Richard Glanville, a former soldier and member of the 'Jewboy Gang'. A prolific horse thief, he was later captured at Doughboy Hollow and hanged on 16 March 1841.

Osborne subsequently rejoined the Royal Navy, appointed Surgeon to Formidable in 1842 and Impregnable in 1843. He made one further journey aboard the Emerald Isle, but determined to keep his feet on firm ground thereafter. He was appointed Coroner for the Woollongong District in September 1848 and was later successful in the New South Wales General Election, becoming Elected Member of the Legislative Council for the United Counties of St. Vincent and Murray. He served in this role from 1 September 1851-28 February 1855, before resigning his seat and returning to Ireland.

Osborne died at Omagh on 12 March 1856, at the residence of Doctor Love. His only son, Alick, died on his 21st birthday, but Osborne was able to leave his daughters 1500 acres in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, 15 horses, 500 cattle and 200 sheep; sold with extensive copied research, including a full account of his published work, which makes for fascinating reading.

The medical and surgical journals of the convict ships Lonach, Speke, Sarah, Planter, Fairlie, Marquis of Huntley, and Elphinstone, written by Alick Osborne, are held by the National Archives at Kew and available via Ancestry.com.

Sources:
Convict Maids: The forced Migration of Women to Australia, Deborah Oxley.
Irish immigrants from Australian records: the real keys to finding them in Ireland, National Museum, Australia.


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