The "Sophia"

http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/shipping/sophia.htm

The 537 ton teak and yellow metal SOPHIA was built in Calcutta INDIA in 1819. On this voyage she is said to have sailed from London, Portsmouth and finally, on April 27, 1850, from Plymouth. She arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia on July 27, 1850 after spending thirteen weeks and three days at sea. She had a crew of 33 and her captain was John Claborn. There were 250 passengers on board and on arrival, her surgeon, Thomas Parr, was tried (and subsequently acquitted) on charges of malpractice and neglect.

One of the aims of this project was to assemble a comprehensive passenger LIST for the voyage and that has been presented further down the page in both a tabular and an expanded family biography format.

Lyn Todd has been the driving force behind this project and has uncovered much more information on many of the SOPHIA's passengers and the family historians researching them. Cyber-tourists are encouraged to e-mail Lyn and the other researchers mentioned in the various family biographies.

As the next section will show, a great deal of information has been uncovered about the ship, her crew and passengers, the voyage, the reasons behind the voyage and the effects it had on the passengers and the Swan River Colony in general.

Assisted Emigration Scheme

The arrival of the SOPHIA in Fremantle on July 27, 1850, is closely linked with the commencement of the convict era in Western Australia. It should also be realised that no female convicts were to be transported to Western Australia. Lengthy negotiations with the home Government regarding the benefits and concerns of convict transportation had ended with an agreement requiring an equal number of free immigrants to receive passage and settlement costs at the Imperial Government's expense. The 250 assisted immigrants on the 'Sophia' were the first to arrive under this new scheme.