Arrival in Melbourne

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The celebrated clipper ship KENT

Her First Class accommodations are of a very superior character and include every requirement that can be demanded by families and single gentlemen.  In second and third class the cabins are spacious, lofty and well ventilated; and the scale of diet comprises a liberal supply of the best provisions. Stewards have been engaged to wait upon second class passengers.  Carries an experienced Surgeon.
The Kent was the first of the Blackwall Frigates purpose built for the Melbourne trade.  Writing in The Age at a later date a Clarke Russel recalled her as "an Indiaman lying in the downs, her painted ports burnished like gold, her teak and brass burnished like gold flashing in the sun; the quarter and stern windows winking in the light and her great spread of rigging fix themselves in the memory of everyone who admires a ship.
"With the demise of the East India Company, those who ran the ships to India had to find an alternate trade.  It was natural that some would turn the migration of the 1850's to the Victorian gold rush.  Some East India were ships were built to simulate Her Majesty's Frigates as a subterfuge to deter attacks by pirates and privateers.  The Kent was one of these ships.
She was built in 1852 of oak by the Money Wigram's company at Blackwall, and measured 186 feet, with a beam of 33 feet and a draught of 20 feet and displaced 927 tons of water.  She had a full bow with no sheer and carried over the side two wide channels. Her main mast was 130 feet and the yards were banded at every three feet.  She carried sails over the royals with four reef points and included a flying outstretched jib boom.  She sported quarter galleries and stern windows.  Painted black on top and white under with a stumpy appearance contributed to the Navy appearance. 
The Kent had a crew of about sixty and ten midshipmen.  Everything was done in the finest manner and to proper discipline.  On hoisting the topsail passengers would join with the crew in tailing to the halyards.
Whilst she brought migrants out she carried gold home which was concealed in a caulked vault under the master's cabin, and on one voyage carried over half a million pounds worth.  She was described as "the armed clipper ship, Kent".
The Kent was armed with three guns; one long gun and two carronades.
A cabin passage cost 80 guineas. Usually the fare would vary, depending on how the ship filled up, but the Kent was so popular that the prices kept high.  Passengers provided their own bedding, linen and soap. Drinks were free, champagne on Thursday and Sunday when dinner would finish with plum duff with plenty of brandy.

The "KENT" sounds too good to be true.  Sailing in the 1800's and before was not for the light hearted.
"What were the thoughts of the 228 passengers on board the immigrant ship Argyle as it sailed up Port Phillip Bay on 12th April 1841?  After more than five months at sea, in a ship of 650 tons which had left Liverpool in wintry November, the uppermost feeling was surely relief that the voyage had come to an end, mixed with hopes and fears of the new life ahead."  (IRISH FORTUNES by Gladys Clarke)
What made these and others travel such a huge distance between England and Melbourne, Australia.  Bad weather or fine, the passengers suffered the indignity of cramped quarters in vessels approximately 120ft long by 35ft wide (Kent 186 by 33ft).
A quite distinct difference seems to exist between the Irish settlers of  the Clarke's and of the Pascoe's.  The Irish lived in the midst of poverty and sickness, whilst mining in Cornwall's west saw some security.
During the early journeys to a new home many perished.  The expectancy of a new beginning must have been severely tempered by the losses of family and friends.
The sailing ship "Southern Ocean" also played a part in transporting the Pascoe family members to Melbourne.  Sarah (Sally) Pascoe (nee Kinsman) arrived in Melbourne in 1868.  She followed her husband Martin Prist who made the journey on the "Kent" the previous year.


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