Passengers to Natal by Nipisiquit 1862

Looking at the Natal Witness report on the arrival 2 June 1862, of the 394 ton barque Nipisiquit from London, the list of passengers appears lengthy and detailed - forenames are given, even for the children.

However, it would be a mistake to assume that this is the full story. Checking the Port Captain's (i.e. William Bell's) register, there is a list of 'steerage passengers not under contract to the government' - 22 ancestors who might easily have been missed yet who were definitely on board the Nipisiquit.

Their names:


James Angus
Elsie Angus
Thomas Bond
Eliza Bond
Richard Brown
Isaac Craggs
Richard Douglas
Arthur Ellis
Benjamin Francie
Jane Francie
Maria Francie
Anne Mary Francie
Harry Francie
Benjamin Francie
Elizabeth Francie
James T Hauxwell
Charlotte Hauxwell
Charles Larkin
Richard Mattison
George Mullaine
Edward Shackleford
James Walker

In the Natal Witness column, passengers (some well-known names) shown on other smaller coastal vessels shouldn't be ignored: the Evangeline arriving from London and the Waldensian departing for Cape Town.

Among the 'Vessels Expected' are the Shakspeare, to bring a hundred emigrants, and the Euphrates, also promising further additions to the Colony.

We tend to think of the ships that arrived at Natal being mainly British, but they were international in origin: here two American vessels are in port, the schooner Enchantress from Boston and the Star King from New York (with George Cato as agent).