Martha Ridgeway
Ship: 621 tons
Captain: James Forbes Bisset
Surgeon Superintendent: John Frederick Knox
Sailed London 5th July 1840 - arrived Wellington 14th November 1840
Sailed Downs on morning of 9th July 1840
Sailed Isle of Wight 6pm on 11th July 1840
This splendid Liverpool-built ship had been constructed expressley for the passenger trade. She had a very spacious poop, with a height of 6ft 9in in the 'twixt decks, and was replete with every arrangement for the comfort and health of the passengers. The end of the Martha Ridgeway was that, while bound from New Zealand to Bombay, she was wrecked on a reef at Nimrod's Entrance, Torres Strait, and was abandoned by the crew.
Shortly after the Martha
Ridgeway........left England, smallpox broke out, and during the passage to New Zealand
the ship was never wholly free from cases. She sailed from Gravesend on July 5th, 1840,
with 225 emigrants, and arrived at Port Nicholson on November 14th. The first to contract
the disease was a steward, who developed it soon after leaving England. It must have been
a mild type, for we do not read of any deaths. Several of the passengers were down when
Port Nicholson was reached, so a quarantine ground was established on the eastern shores
of the harbour [Lambton Harbour]. The ship was taken across, and everybody aboard was
placed in strict quarantine for three weeks. Like everything else it did, the Company had
seen carefully to it that the new settlement was supplied with first-class medical men,
and these soon had the disease stamped out.
White Wings - Sir Henry Brett
Our sincere thanks to Lesley Lomas, Kathy McCombs, Kevin Violich & Diane Taylor for helping with this list. |
Name | Age | Occupation | Comments | |
Anderson | Thomas | 21 | Baker & Labourer | |
Ashby | Mary | 17 | Servant | Under protection of G Saywell |
Bolton | James | 23 | Agricultural Labourer | |
Bottomley | William Henry | 28 | Millwright | |
Charlotte | 30 | |||
Son | 5 | |||
Brittain | William | 20 | ||
Brooks | Stephen | 39 | Labourer | |
Sarah | 37 | |||
Caroline | 16 | Sempstress | ||
Maryanne | 10 | |||
Daughter | 7 | |||
Daughter/Son (?) | 1 | James (?) | ||
Brosnahan | Patrick | 20 | Labourer | |
Brown | Charles | 29 | Stonemason | |
Anne | 25 | |||
Daughter | Infant | Born on board | ||
Browne | Thomas | 20 | Agricultural Labourer & Carpenter | |
Annie | 21 | |||
Daughter | 3 months | |||
Campbell | Jane | 24 | Sempstress | |
Canning | Joseph | 28 | Carpenter | |
Mary | 21 | |||
Cannon | William | 27 | Labourer | |
Dallison | Joseph Bond | 19 | Miller & Baker | |
Day | John | 48 | Blacksmith | |
Jane | 38 | |||
Son | 13 | |||
Daughter | 10 | |||
Son | 9 | |||
Son | 6 | |||
Son | 3 | |||
Son | 7 months | |||
Duncan | Arthur William | 17 | Seaman | |
Goldie | John | 21 | Square Wright | |
Barbara | 21 | |||
Goodens | Leonard | 40 | Labourer | |
Mary | 38 | |||
Anna | 19 | Sempstress | ||
Philip | 17 | Labourer | ||
Ellice | 15 | Sempstress | ||
Daughter | 13 | |||
Son | 5 | |||
Son | 1 | |||
Harfield | Daniel | 15 | Butcher & Farm Labourer | |
Harvey | Richard | 23 | Carpenter & Joiner | |
Mary | 23 | |||
Son | 2 months | |||
Harvey | John | 19 | Carpenter & Joiner | |
Elizabeth | 20 | |||
Daughter | 2 | |||
Daughter | 3 weeks | |||
Head | Edward | 26 | Agricultural Labourer | |
Sarah | 23 | |||
Daughter | 2 | |||
Daughter | 3 weeks | |||
Hobman | James | 40 | Blacksmith | Came on board off Deal |
Jane | 35 | |||
Son | 6 | |||
House | Ann | 35 | Housemaid | Living in the Cabin. No em- barkation letter. Not included in embarkation list T.G.R. |
Howell | Thomas | 34 | Bricklayer | |
Eliza | 30 | |||
Son | 9 | |||
Daughter | 2 | |||
Howland | Sarah | 20 | Servant | Under protection of Judd |
Hudgell | Joseph | 21 | Bricklayer | Boarded at Downs 08/07/1840 |
Hughey | William | 37 | Mason & Carpenter | |
Marianne | 31 | |||
Son | 11 | |||
Daughter | 9 | |||
Son | 7 | |||
Daughter | 4 | |||
Daughter | 1� | |||
Hunt | Thomas | 48 | Agricultural Labourer | |
Elizabeth | 47 | |||
Caroline | 19 | Sempstress | ||
Emma | 17 | Sempstress | ||
William Jnr | 16 | Labourer | ||
Naomi | 15 | Sempstress | ||
Son | 14 | This child is unknown to today's descendants. | ||
Lot | 12 | |||
Lavinia | 10 | |||
Brown | 8 | |||
Hunt | Frederick | 23 | Agricultural Labourer | |
Mary | 27 | |||
William | 1 | |||
Jones | Joseph | 21 | Gardener & Agricultural Labourer | |
Elizabeth | 19 | |||
Son | 5 months | |||
Judd | William | 38 | Labourer | |
Ann | 30 | |||
John | 7 | |||
George | 5 | |||
Stephen | 2� | |||
Mason | William | 40 | Farmer | |
Elizabeth | 38 | |||
Mary Jane | 21 | Sempstress | ||
Samuel | 18 | Labourer | ||
William Jnr | 16 | Labourer | ||
Son | 14 | |||
Daughter | 12 | |||
Son | 10 | |||
Daughter | 7 | |||
Medhurst | Charles | 31 | Agricultural Labourer | |
Mary Ann | 34 | |||
McGregor | Joseph | 26 | Agriculturalist | |
Ellen | 30 | |||
McLelland | Ann | 25 | Sempstress | |
Milner | Richard | 38 | Agricultural Labourer | Shown as Milliner on original passenger list. |
Sarah | 41 | |||
Sarah | 14 | Sempstress | ||
Richard | 11 | |||
George | 10 | |||
Rosanna | 7 | |||
Jane | 5 | |||
Jesse | 2 | |||
Ann | 3 weeks | |||
Mitchell | Francis | 17 | Farmer | |
Moloney | John | 24 | Labourer | |
Ellen | 20 | |||
Son | 2 | |||
Mount | Charles | 35 | Carpenter & Joiner | |
Mary | 32 | |||
Daughter | 11 | |||
Murphy | Mary Margaret | 20 | Sempstress | |
Murphy | Partick | 26 | Labourer | |
Catherine | 24 | |||
Parke | Samuel | 50 | Chemist | |
Pike | Janet | 19 | Servant | |
Pope | Samuel George | 30 | Carpenter | |
Elizabeth | 34 | |||
Pratt | Thomas Dennis | 31 | Farm Labourer | |
Sarah Ann | 29 | |||
Rea | Thomas | 38 | Labourer | |
Margaret | 34 | |||
Daughter | 13 | |||
Son | 3� | |||
Son | 1 | |||
Reed | James | 34 | Shepherd | |
Mary | 26 | |||
Giddens | George | 4 | Children of Mrs James Reed by her first marriage to George Giddens. | |
Giddens | William | 2 | ||
Renall | Alfred William | 26 | Carpenter & Joiner | |
Emma | 29 | |||
Daughter | 8 | |||
Son | 1� | |||
Robinson | John | 39 | Carpenter & Chair Maker | |
Mary | 38 | |||
Frederick | 20 | Carpenter & Chair Maker | ||
Amelia | 16 | Sempstress | ||
Son | 9 | |||
Saywell | George | 35 | Carpenter & Labourer | |
Susan | 30 | |||
Son | 10 | |||
Son | 9 | |||
Son | 8 | |||
Daughter | 7 | |||
Daughter | 4 | |||
Daughter | 1� | |||
Seed | John | 39 | Cabinetmaker & Carpenter | Assistant to the Surgeon to allow Small � the salary |
Anne | 37 | |||
Son | 13 | |||
Daughter | 8 | |||
Sharpe | Margaret | 26 | Housemaid | Under the protection of Mr Judd |
Small | Charles | 36 | Saw Miller | Was appointed assistant to the Surgeon but resigned and succeeded by John Seed. |
Margaret | 33 | |||
Daughter | 12 | |||
Son | 10 | |||
Son | 8 | |||
Daughter | 6 | |||
Son | 4 | |||
Daughter | 2 | |||
Smith | Thomas | 15 | Blacksmith | |
Stent | Edmund | 26 | Ag. Labourer | |
Ann | 22 | |||
Taylor | William | 44 | Agricultural Labourer | |
Ann | 39 | |||
James | 16 | Agricultural Labourer | ||
George | 14 | |||
William | 12 | |||
Henry | 11 | |||
Richard | 5 | |||
Frederick | 3 | |||
Walter | Richard | 24 | Farm Labourer & Gardener | |
West | Daniel | 16 | Agricultural Labourer | Appeared Sunday 5th June 9 o'clock. |
Whitley | William | 30 | Shipwright | |
Mary | 29 | |||
Son | 7 | |||
Daughter | 5 | |||
Daughter | 1 | |||
Wilhelmi | Corsten Deidrich | 29 | Farmer | |
Marguerita | 28 | |||
Daughter | 6 | |||
Son | 4 | |||
Son | 4 months | |||
Woouldham | Henry William | 30 | Gardener | |
Ann | 35 | |||
Son | 8 | |||
Daughter | 6 | |||
Daughter | 3 | |||
Wright | James | 23 | Agricultural Labourer | |
Hannah | 19 | |||
Daughter | 1� | |||
MILNER family: Richard Milner, also spelt Millner (although spelt as Milliner on the passenger list) and his wife Sarah (nee Gilbert) travelled to New Zealand with their 7 children, the youngest being just 3 weeks old. This child doesn't appear on later passenger lists and no further records of him can be found. They went on to have another 3 children once in New Zealand. For more information on this family please visit my website: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~lomas/Lomas/RichardMilner.html If you have a connection with this family or would like to know more please contact Lesley Lomas. |
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BROOKS family: Stephen Brooks, 39, labourer (christened January 5th 1800 at St Leonards, Shoreditch and son of Thomas and Elizabeth Brooks) and his wife Sarah Brooks, 37 (nee Bull, christened November 30th 1802 at St Leonards, Shoreditch and daughter of Samuel Bull and Sarah Vial Horrox who were married onDecember 8th 1798 at St Luke's, Finsbury, London.) sailed as steerage passengers for Wellington on the Martha Ridgeway in 1840. The 10 year old daughter listed would have been Maryanne Brooks who at 16 married Benjamin Witt a carpenter, who also had been resident at the Pipitea Pa. I suspect the one year old may have been a boy as there is reported in the Roll of Early Settlers Auckland. pp 26 there is a James who came on the Martha Ridgeway. The other daughter I have not identified. Stephen Brooks and family were living at the Pipitea Pa in 1842. Their address from the Jury list in 1843 was Pipitea point, possibly the Pa. In the 1845 Jury list Stephen is still at Pipitea. It is probable that the children were also as fluent in Maori as the Witt children became. Caroline Brooks married William James Wright one year after they arrived in Wellington on November 7th 1841. William was a 'waterman' from Tasmania, who arrived on the Kaipara in 1837 (Roll of Early Settlers Auckland p 251). They married in the St Paul's Church, with her father, Stephen as a witness, together with fellow shipmate and seamstress Amelia Robinson of the same age. The Brooks and Wright families moved from Wellington to Auckland some time before the birth of Caroline and William's second son William Benjamin on October 4th 1845 in Auckland. It is probable that Benjamin Witt moved with them. On October 12th 1846 Benjamin Witt married sixteen year old Maryann Brooks in the Weslyan Church, Auckland. She was eighteen years his junior. Witnesses to the wedding were George Abrahams and William Wright, brother in law to Maryanne. If you have a connection with this family or would like to know more please contact Glenda Rattray. |
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JUDD family: |
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REED family: Mary Humphries (b. 1814) married George Giddens about 1833 and they had two or maybe three children. George died in 1837 and Mary married James Reed (b.1805) in 1839 in Harpenden Hert. Mary & James Reed and her two children George (aged 4) & William (aged 2) Giddens came to New Zealand on the Martha Ridgway and lived around Petone for 4 years. Their first two children (Edward & Eliza) were born there. In 1844 they sailed to Port Cooper (Lyttleton) on the Bright Planet and farmed at Horseshoe Bay and later at Barrys Bay on the Akaroa Harbour. If you have a connection with this family or are interested in learning more please contact Kevin Violich. |
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HUNT family: Thomas Hunt his wife Elizabeth (nee Brown) and their children and their families came to NZ from Lincolnshire. Fred, their eldest child, was married to Mary and they had a child named William.. The other children were Caroline, Emma, Naomi, (a 14 year old son who is unknown to the present day descendants), Lot, Lavina & Brown. Fred Hunt settled with his family on Pitt Island in the Chathams group. His parents joined him in their latter days and died there in 1867 & 1881. Fred died in 1891and his wife Mary in 1884. All are buried on Pitt Island. If you have a connection with this family or are interested in learning more please contact Kevin Violich or Bill Carter. |
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WRIGHT family: James Wright (shown as Wraight on the New Zealand Company passenger list) b.1816 married in 1837 Hannah Austin b.1821 in Cranbrook Kent and their first child Sarah was born 18 months later. They lived for a couple of years in Petone before moving to Peraki near the Akaroa Harbour there James worked as a Whaler. In 1852 he was allocated a large block of land to farm at Island Bay which is close to where he was living. James and Hannah had 12 children. He died there in 1894 aged 78, his wife Hannah died in 1914. If you have a connection with this family or are interested in learning more please contact Kevin Violich. |
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Dr Frederick John KNOX L.R.C.S.E. arrived in New Zealand in 1840, having been demonstrater in Anatomy to his brother, the celebrated Professor Knox. Dr Knox used his scientific studies, and gave exhibits to the Colonial Museum, and wrote extensively for the Transactions of the N.Z. Institute. He arrived with his wife and five children. He lived at Johnsonville. By Gazette, 15th August 1861 he was appointed Coroner for the Porirua District. He died at the Hospital on 5th August 1873 aged 82. One daughter, Helen, married T. J. Drake in 1869. Janet Knox married H. H. Fitzherbert, of Tawa Flat in 1868 and Isabella Knox married Charles D. de Castro in 1855. From Tawa Flat and the Old Porirua Road by Arthur H. Carman |
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SMALL
family: Charles and Margaret SMALL were married on the 20th of September 1826 at Wemyss, Fifeshire, Scotland. Charles was listed as a sawmiller aged 37 and Margaret as aged 33 in the embarkation register. They brought six children to New Zealand; three boys aged 10, 8 and 4 and three girls 12, 6 and 2. At least two more were born in New Zealand. Names of these children were David, George, Charles, Westwater, Lillias, Agnes, Ann and Janet (Jessie) - dates of birth unknown at present! The family settled in Wanganui in 1842 on a farm known as 'Cresswell". Charles died 17th September 1877 and Margaret on 25th August 1860. They are both buried in Wanganui. If you have a connection with this family wish to know more please contact Judy Clark. |
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Copyright Denise & Peter 2000 - 2008
Reference:
Archives New Zealand NZC 34/1 p146