Labour History

Endnotes

1.See, for example,Robin Walker, ‘The Maritime Strike in South Australia, 1887 and 1890’, Labour History, no.14, 1968, pp.3-12;G. Henning, ‘Steamships and the 1890 Maritime Strike’, Historical Studies, vol.15, no.60, 1973, pp.562-93;Frank Broeze, ‘The Seamen of Australia’, Push from the Bush, no.10, 1981, pp.78-105;Rosemary Broomham, Steady Revolutions: The Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers, 1881-1990,University of New South Wales Press,, 1991;Donald Fraser, Articles of Agreement: The Seamen’s Union of Australia, 1904-1943: A Study of Antagonised Labour, PhD thesis,University of Wollongong, 1998.Richard Morris, ‘Job Control and Commonwealth Industrial Relations Policy: The 1920-21 Strike and Lockout of the Federated Marine Stewards and Pantrymen’s Association’, Labour History, no.78, 2000, pp.163-78. Google Scholar

2.See, for example,Bede Nairn, ‘The 1890 Maritime Strike in New South Wales’, Historical Studies, vol.10, no.37, 1961, pp.1-18;Anne Curthoys, ‘Conflict and Consensus: The Seamen’s Strike of 1878’, Labour History, no.35, 1978, pp.48-65;Ray Markey, ‘Race and Organised Labor in Australia, 1850-1901’, The Historian, vol.58, no.2, 1996, pp.343-60. Google Scholar

3.Crimping refers to an often highly organised network of persons in ports (including hotel and boarding house operators, brothel keepers and boatmen) who both encouraged and facilitated desertion by seamen in ports and then supplied them to another ship for a fee. The head of the crimping network were referred to as crimps. For a discussion of crimping in the port of Newcastle seeG. Henning, ‘Fourpenny Dark and Sixpenny Red’, Labour History, no.46, 1984, pp.52-71. Google Scholar

4.See, for example,Chris Fisher, ‘Technological Changes and the Unions: The Case of the Marine Engineers Before 1890’, Labour History, no.41, 1981, pp.29-40; andRobin Walker, ‘Media and Money: The London Dock Strike of 1889 and the Australian Maritime Strike of 1890’, Labour History, no.41, 1981, pp.41-56. Google Scholar

5.Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Merchant Seamen, Pirates, and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750,Cambridge University Press,, 1995;Judith Fingard, Jack in Port: Sailortowns in Eastern Canada,University of Toronto Press,, 1982;Eric Sager, Seafaring Labour: The Merchant Marine of Atlantic Canada, 1820-1914,McGill-Queen’s University Press,, 1989. Google Scholar

6.B. Cooper Busch, Whaling Will Never Do for Me: The American Whalemen in the Nineteenth Century,University of Kentucky Press,, 1994. Google Scholar

7.Nicola Jones, The Plimsoll Sensation: The Great Campaign to Save Lives at Sea,Little Brown,, 2006. Google Scholar

8.Leon Fink, Sweatshops at Sea: Governing Labor in a Globalised Industry, 1800-2010,University of North Carolina Press,, 2011. Google Scholar

9.Diane Kirkby, Voices from the Ships: Australia’s Seafarers and their Union,University of New South Wales Press,, 2008. For a more detailed and global treatment of this issue seeJohn Mansell, An Analysis of Flag State Responsibility from an Historical Perspective, PhD thesis,University of Wollongong, 2007. Google Scholar

10.Brian Fitzpatrick andRohan Cahill, The Seamen’s Union of Australia 1872-1972: A History,Seamen’s Union of Australia,, 1981. Google Scholar

11. Argus(Melbourne), 3September1872, pp.4-5;25February1873, p.5; and9October1873, p.1. Google Scholar

12. Sydney Morning Herald, 16March1874, p.5. Google Scholar

13. Argus, 16May1873, pp.4-5;28May1873, pp.4-5;29May1873, p.6;10December1874, pp.4-5; and14December1874, p.9. Google Scholar

14. Argus, 26October1877, pp.4-5. Google Scholar

15. Argus, 1November1876, pp.4-5. Google Scholar

16. Argus, 23June1874, pp.4-5. Google Scholar

17. Argus, 27October1873, p.6;28October1873, p.1. Google Scholar

18. Argus, 16February1898, p.7. Google Scholar

19.Such as theGothenburgRelief Fund, Argus, 29April1875, pp.4-5. Google Scholar

20. Argus, 7January1878, p.4. Google Scholar

21.See, for example, Sydney Morning Herald, 4October1892, p.5;7November1894, p.5; and20November1894, p.6;Argus, 23December1892, p.5. Google Scholar

22.See, for example, the evidenceSamuel Smith, a fireman, andThomas Davis, Secretary of the NSW Seamen’s Union. Some companies such as AUSN Co. were seen as worse offenders with regard to deliberate undermanning. Parliament of New South Wales, Report of the Royal Commission on Strikes, 1891, Precis of Evidence, p.205at paragraph 8312; and p.201at paragraph 8177. Google Scholar

23.Jane Humphreys, Through the Mill: Child Labour in the British Industrial Revolution,Cambridge University Press,, 2010. Google Scholar

24.Edward Thompson(ed.), Albion’s Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth Century England,Allen Lane,, 1975;Douglas Hay andPaul Craven(eds), Masters, Servants, and Magistrates in Britain and the Empire, 1562-1955,University of North Carolina Press,, 2004. Google Scholar

25.Adrianne Merritt, The Development and Application of Masters and Servants Legislation in New South Wales, 1845-1930, PhD thesis,Australian National University, 1981, p.iv. Google Scholar

26.Cooper Busch, Whaling Will Never Do for Me. Google Scholar

27.Legislative Council of NSW, Report of Select Committee on the Water Police Act Amendment Bill with Minutes of Evidence,Government Printer,, 1843, p.17. Google Scholar

28.For a description of this database, its construction and application, seeMichael Quinlan andMargaret Gardner, ‘Strikes, Worker Protest and Union Growth in Canada and Australia 1801-1900, Labour/Le Travail, no.36, 1995, pp.175-208. Google Scholar

29.Emma Christopher, ‘“Ten Thousand Times Worse than the Convicts”: Rebellious Sailors, Convict Transportation and the Struggle for Freedom’, Journal of Australian Colonial History, no.5, 2004, pp.30-46. Google Scholar

30.Michael Quinlan,Margaret Gardner andPeter Akers, ‘Reconsidering the Collective Impulse: Formal Organisation and Informal Associations amongst Workers in the Australian Colonies1795-1850’, Labour/Le Travail, no.52, 2003, pp.137-80. Google Scholar

31.David Morgan, Labour and Industrial Authority: Social and Industrial Authority in the Australian Stevedoring Industry 1800-1935, PhD thesis,University of Queensland, 1997. Google Scholar

32.Michael Quinlan, ‘Industrial Relations before Unions: Seamen in NSW 1810-1850’, Journal of Industrial Relations, vol.38, no.2, 1996, pp.269-93;Michael Quinlan, ‘Balancing Trade and Labour Control: Imperial/Colonial Tensions in Relation to the Regulation of Seamen in the Australian Colonies 1788-1865’, International Journal of Maritime History, vol.9, no.1, 1997, pp.19-56;Michael Quinlan, ‘Regulating Labour in a Colonial Context: Maritime Labour Legislation in the Australian Colonies 1788-1850’, Australian Historical Studies, no.111, 1998, pp.303-24. Google Scholar

33.Quinlan,Gardner andAkers, ‘Reconsidering the Collective Impulse’. Google Scholar

34.Ibid. Google Scholar

35.Merchant Ships (Crews Committed to Prison): Return of the Crews of Merchant Ships Which have been Committed to Prison in the Years 1870, 1871, 1872, and 1873, for Refusing to Proceed to Sea; Showing the Number of Men in Each Case, the Name of the Ship, Where from, and Where Bound to, the Date of Conviction and Term of Imprisonment, together with the Reason Alleged by the Seamen for Refusing to Proceed to Sea; Showing also in Each Instance the Result of the Voyage (362 in Continuation of Parliamentary Paper, no. 83, of Session 1873), inBritish Parliamentary Papers,House of Commons, HMSO,, 1874, pp.64-65. Google Scholar

36. Sydney Morning Herald, 21March1851, p.2. Google Scholar

37.Busch, Whaling Will Never Do for Me, pp.53-54. Google Scholar

38.See, for example, Royal Commission on Unseaworthy Ships, Preliminary Report of the Commissioners, Minutes of the Evidence, and Appendix: Volume 1: The Report (C.853), inBritish Parliamentary Papers,House of Commons, HMSO,, 1873;Royal Commission on Labour, Digest of the Evidence Taken Under Group B: Docks, Wharves and Shipping, Volume 1, inBritish Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons, HMSO, London, 1894. Google Scholar

40.Michael Clark,‘“Bound Out for Callao!”: The Pacific coal trade 1876 to 1896: Selling coal or selling lives [Part 1]’, The Great Circle, vol.28, no.2, 2006, pp.26-45. Google Scholar

41. Sydney Morning Herald, 12September1851, p.3. Google Scholar

42. Sydney Morning Herald, 15December1852, p.2. Google Scholar

43. South Australian Advertiser, 26August1880. pp.6-7. Google Scholar

44.Michael Quinlan, ‘Australia 1788-1902: A “Working Man’s Paradise”?’, inHay andCraven(eds), Masters, Servants, and Magistrates, pp.219-50. Google Scholar

45. Argus, 15May1869, p.6. Google Scholar

46.For instances of industrial action over these issues, see:Maitland Mercury, 20July1853, p.2; andArgus, 17December1866, pp.6;5April1881, p.6. Google Scholar

47. Sydney Morning Herald, 23February1872, p.4. Google Scholar

48.In the latter case the magistrate agreed to have the ship surveyed.Perth Gazette, 25March1853, p.3; andArgus26July1865, p.5. Google Scholar

49. Sydney Gazette, 20September1838, p.2. Google Scholar

50. Ibid. Google Scholar

51. Sydney Morning Herald, 14March1854, pp.4-5. Google Scholar

52. Argus, 10May1889, p.10. Google Scholar

53. Argus, 16February1853, p.4. Google Scholar

54. Argus, 4October1859, p.6;3July1866, p.5; and21September1866, p.7. Google Scholar

55. Argus, 3May1876, p.7. Google Scholar

56. Brisbane Courier, 13August1877, p.3 Google Scholar

57. South Australian Advertiser, 2June1880, p.9. Google Scholar

58.See, for instance, Sydney Morning Herald, 26March1867, p.2; andSouth Australian Advertiser, 29March1873, p.2. Google Scholar

59. Argus, 10February1899, p.7. Google Scholar

60. South Australian Advertiser, 19June1878, p.1. Google Scholar

61. Argus, 30April1875, pp.4-5;14May1875, pp.4-5;22May1875, pp.6-7;26May1875, p.6;27May1875, p.7. Google Scholar

62. Argus, 29May1875, pp.6-7;3June1875, pp.4-5;4June1875, pp.4-5;7June1875, pp.4-5;24June1875, p.7. Google Scholar

63. Argus, 18June1875, pp.4-6;30June1875, pp.6-7. Google Scholar

64. Argus, 27June1875, p.7. Google Scholar

65. Argus, 25June1875, pp.4-7;28June1875, pp.4-5. Google Scholar

66. Argus, 23July1875, pp.6-7;20August1875, pp.4-5. Google Scholar

67. Argus, 1November1873, p.2, Letter from‘A Passenger’. Google Scholar

68. West Australian, 2November1891, p.4. Google Scholar

69. Argus, 9January1889, p.9. Google Scholar

70.See, for example, Sydney Morning Herald, 29May1848, p.2;30June1851, p.3;5April1859, p.5; andArgus, 12September1851, p.2. Google Scholar

71. Sydney Morning Herald, 6March1871, p.2. Google Scholar

72. Sydney Morning Herald, 5April1859, p.5;14April1859, p.4;30April1859, p.5. Google Scholar

73. Sydney Gazette, 19November1836, p.3. Google Scholar

74.See, for example, the case of Captain Bird, master of the barqueWilliam Clowes, reported in Age, 16March1869, p.6. Google Scholar

75. Argus, 6September1873, pp.4-6. Google Scholar

76.See, for example, the Victorian Navigation Board inquiry into rescue efforts following the loss overboard of a seamen named Bran from theMcDuffin its voyage from England, Argus, 9October1877, pp.4-5. For other cases, seeArgus, 30May1881, p.9; andSydney Morning Herald, 9August1884, p.9. Google Scholar

77.SeeJeremy Hugh Baron ‘Sailors’ Scurvy Before and After James Lind: A Reassessment’, Nutrition Reviews, vol.67, no.6, 2009, pp.315-32;C.C. Lloyd, ‘The Conquest of Scurvy’, The British Journal for the History of Science, vol.1, no.4, 1963, pp.357-63;G.C. Cook, ‘Scurvy in the British Mercantile Marine in the 19th Century and the Contribution of the Seamen’s Hospital Society’, Postgraduate Medical Journal, no.80, 2004, pp.224-29. Google Scholar

78. Sydney Morning Herald, 9July1847, p.2; and14January1848, p.2;Argus, 31January1888, p.5. Google Scholar

79. Sydney Morning Herald, 31December1847, p.2;Argus, 6May1853, p.4;8August1865, pp.4-5; and31January1873, p.7. Google Scholar

80.As knowledgeable contemporaries observed. See, for example,A. Gihon, ‘The Need for Sanitary Reform in Ship-Life’, Public Health Papers and Reports, vol.3, 1876, pp.85-97. Google Scholar

81. South Australian Advertiser, 18June1860, p.2. Google Scholar

82. Argus, 12February1868, p.7;Sydney Morning Herald, 1June1877, p.3. Google Scholar

83. Argus, 29September1874, pp.4-5. Google Scholar

84. Argus, 3July1850, p.2;28June1864, p.5;3January1884, p.5;30December1893, p.10;South Australian, 31October1878, p.6;Brisbane Courier, 28April1893, p.3. Google Scholar

85. Argus, 22August1860, p.6. Google Scholar

86.See, for example, strikes by crews onMary Parker, Orient, Sea Snake and Rhudlan Castle, reported in Hobart Town Courier, 21October1853, p.3;South Australian Advertiser, 5October1861, p.3;Argus, 21November1866, pp.3-4; and1December1868, p.5. Google Scholar

87. Argus, 12January1867, p.5;12July1881, p.4. Google Scholar

88. Argus, 14May1873, p.7;16May1873, pp.4-5. Google Scholar

89.See, for example, the claims of the crew of theSouthesk against their shipmaster, Sydney Morning Herald, 15May1900, p.5;17May1900, p.7. Google Scholar

90.Sari Maenpaa, ‘From Pea Soup to Hors d’Oeuvres: The Status of the Cook on British Merchant Ships’, The Northern Mariner, vol.11, no.2, 2001, pp.39-55. Google Scholar

91. Argus, 6May1853, p.4. Google Scholar

92. Sydney Gazette, 17October1828, p.2;Hobart Town Courier, 3June1842, p.4. Google Scholar

93. Sydney Morning Herald, 7April1854, p.5;30June1857, p.4. Google Scholar

94.See, for example, the cases of theEastward Hoin1867and theElizabeth Baufieldin1868, Sydney Morning Herald, 2April1867, p.2; andArgus, 23September1868, p.2. Google Scholar

95.Nor did quality necessarily improve over the course of the nineteenth century, with Maenpaa linking poor food to increased desertion by British seamen in the 1890s. The quality and amount of food could also be exacerbated by poor preparation and handling, although the British Seamen’s Union saw this as far less important than shipowners; seeMaenpaa, ‘From Pea Soup to Hors d’Oeuvres’, p.42. Google Scholar

96.See, for example, Sydney Morning Herald, 31March1858, p.3; andArgus, 19February1897, p.3. Google Scholar

97. Argus, 20February1868, pp.6-7. Google Scholar

98.Maenpaa, ‘From Pea Soup to Hors d’Oeuvres’, p.42; andArgus, 20February1868, pp.6-7. Google Scholar

99.See, for example, a complaint by the crew of theFanny Fothergill, reported inArgus, 25September1875, pp.6-7. Google Scholar

100. Argus, 28November1890, p.6. Google Scholar

101. Sydney Morning Herald, 7February1862, p.4. Google Scholar

102. Sydney Morning Herald, 17August1877, p.5. Google Scholar

103.Dunn also that stated this would be corroborated by the officer in charge of the military detachment guarding convicts during the voyage;Hobart Town Courier, 1October1841, p.4. Google Scholar

104.InMay1849, at the trial of seamen from theChasely, several passengers and the Surgeon-Superintendent Hobbs gave evidence supporting the poor quality of bread supplied and stating that this in combination with exposure to wet and exhaustion meant seamen were often unwell. It was Hobbs’ first voyage and this was used to query his testimony, with the men being imprisoned for 30 days after refusing to return to the ship‘in a most determined manner’;The Moreton Bay Courier, 12May1849, pp.2-3. Google Scholar

105.Again, this is consistent with contemporary research on occupational violence including that involving predominantly third world crews in the maritime industry.Katherine Lippel andMichael Quinlan, ‘Editorial: Regulation of Psychosocial Risk Factors at Work: An International Overview’, Safety Science, vol.49, no.4, 2011, pp.543-46. Google Scholar

106. Sydney Morning Herald, 19January1852, p.2. Google Scholar

107. Sydney Morning Herald, 22December1858, p.4. Google Scholar

108. Sydney Morning Herald, 11February1859, p.3. Google Scholar

109. Argus, 1October1862, p.6 Google Scholar

110.The 13 crew members were sentenced to 30 days on the treadmill for striking after taking ‘umbrage’ at the captain’s‘necessary disciplining’of one the ship’s boys;Sydney Gazette, 15September1838, p.2. Google Scholar

111.Wright later took his charge of assault to the Central Criminal Court which imposed a fine of only one shilling, finding Wright’s sulkiness had provoked the captain;Argus, 16December1876, pp.4-5; and19February1877, pp.4-5. Google Scholar

112. Argus, 27April1867, p.4;29April1867, p.6. Google Scholar

113. Rockhampton Bulletin, 10May1876, reproduced in theArgus, 20May1876, p.5. Google Scholar

114.Even when officers and seamen on the same ship were convicted of assaulting each other, the result was usually a nominal fine for the former and an extended gaol term for the latter. See, for example, Sydney Morning Herald, 10October1868, p.4. Google Scholar

115.Miles was fined £20 for falsifying the logbook entry;Argus, 12February1864, pp.4-5. Google Scholar

116. Argus, 21December1864, p.5. Google Scholar

117.For example, even the evidence of 10 seamen was not enough to secure a conviction of the captain of theAnnie Staffordfor occasioning bodily harm on two crew-members before the Metropolitan District Court in Sydney inMarch1888. SeeSydney Morning Herald, 3March1888, p.10. Google Scholar

118. Mercury, 4March1858, p.3. Google Scholar

119. Sydney Morning Herald, 19May1855, p.5. Google Scholar

120.The bench rejected the evidence of three seamen relating to the assault, including being pulled down the hatchway while manacled and dragged along the deck, and also refused to allow a passenger to give evidence for the defence;Argus, 16June1865, p.5. Google Scholar

121. Argus, 3October1882, p.10. Google Scholar

122. Argus, 13October1882, pp.4-7. Google Scholar

123. Sydney Morning Herald, 11November1897, p.7;13November1897, p.9;17November1897, p.8;19November1897, p.5;24November1897, p.7;2December1897, p.5; and18December1897, p.9. Google Scholar

124.Including charges of assault and subsequent efforts by the seamen to obtain both their wages and a discharge;Port Philip Patriot, 16December1845;26and27December1845;7and9February1846; andMelbourne Courier, 9and16January1846. Google Scholar

125. Sydney Morning Herald, 19January1861, p.4;4February1861, p.4. Google Scholar

126. Moreton Bay Courier, 5March1861, p.4. Google Scholar

127.Quinlan,Gardner andAkers, ‘Reconsidering the Collective Impulse’. Google Scholar

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