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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
6.B. Cooper Busch, Whaling Will Never Do for Me: The American Whalemen in the Nineteenth Century,University of Kentucky Press,, 1994.
7.Nicola Jones, The Plimsoll Sensation: The Great Campaign to Save Lives at Sea,Little Brown,, 2006.
8.Leon Fink, Sweatshops at Sea: Governing Labor in a Globalised Industry, 1800-2010,University of North Carolina Press,, 2011.
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.
10.Brian Fitzpatrick andRohan Cahill, The Seamen’s Union of Australia 1872-1972: A History,Seamen’s Union of Australia,, 1981.
11. Argus(Melbourne), 3September1872, pp.4-5;25February1873, p.5; and9October1873, p.1.
12. Sydney Morning Herald, 16March1874, p.5.
13. Argus, 16May1873, pp.4-5;28May1873, pp.4-5;29May1873, p.6;10December1874, pp.4-5; and14December1874, p.9.
14. Argus, 26October1877, pp.4-5.
15. Argus, 1November1876, pp.4-5.
16. Argus, 23June1874, pp.4-5.
17. Argus, 27October1873, p.6;28October1873, p.1.
18. Argus, 16February1898, p.7.
19.Such as theGothenburgRelief Fund, Argus, 29April1875, pp.4-5.
20. Argus, 7January1878, p.4.
21.See, for example, Sydney Morning Herald, 4October1892, p.5;7November1894, p.5; and20November1894, p.6;Argus, 23December1892, p.5.
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.
23.Jane Humphreys, Through the Mill: Child Labour in the British Industrial Revolution,Cambridge University Press,, 2010.
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.
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.
26.Cooper Busch, Whaling Will Never Do for Me.
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.
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.
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.
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.
31.David Morgan, Labour and Industrial Authority: Social and Industrial Authority in the Australian Stevedoring Industry 1800-1935, PhD thesis,University of Queensland, 1997.
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.
33.Quinlan,Gardner andAkers, ‘Reconsidering the Collective Impulse’.
34.Ibid.
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.
36. Sydney Morning Herald, 21March1851, p.2.
37.Busch, Whaling Will Never Do for Me, pp.53-54.
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.
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.
41. Sydney Morning Herald, 12September1851, p.3.
42. Sydney Morning Herald, 15December1852, p.2.
43. South Australian Advertiser, 26August1880. pp.6-7.
44.Michael Quinlan, ‘Australia 1788-1902: A “Working Man’s Paradise”?’, inHay andCraven(eds), Masters, Servants, and Magistrates, pp.219-50.
45. Argus, 15May1869, p.6.
46.For instances of industrial action over these issues, see:Maitland Mercury, 20July1853, p.2; andArgus, 17December1866, pp.6;5April1881, p.6.
47. Sydney Morning Herald, 23February1872, p.4.
48.In the latter case the magistrate agreed to have the ship surveyed.Perth Gazette, 25March1853, p.3; andArgus26July1865, p.5.
49. Sydney Gazette, 20September1838, p.2.
50. Ibid.
51. Sydney Morning Herald, 14March1854, pp.4-5.
52. Argus, 10May1889, p.10.
53. Argus, 16February1853, p.4.
54. Argus, 4October1859, p.6;3July1866, p.5; and21September1866, p.7.
55. Argus, 3May1876, p.7.
56. Brisbane Courier, 13August1877, p.3
57. South Australian Advertiser, 2June1880, p.9.
58.See, for instance, Sydney Morning Herald, 26March1867, p.2; andSouth Australian Advertiser, 29March1873, p.2.
59. Argus, 10February1899, p.7.
60. South Australian Advertiser, 19June1878, p.1.
61. Argus, 30April1875, pp.4-5;14May1875, pp.4-5;22May1875, pp.6-7;26May1875, p.6;27May1875, p.7.
62. Argus, 29May1875, pp.6-7;3June1875, pp.4-5;4June1875, pp.4-5;7June1875, pp.4-5;24June1875, p.7.
63. Argus, 18June1875, pp.4-6;30June1875, pp.6-7.
64. Argus, 27June1875, p.7.
65. Argus, 25June1875, pp.4-7;28June1875, pp.4-5.
66. Argus, 23July1875, pp.6-7;20August1875, pp.4-5.
67. Argus, 1November1873, p.2, Letter from‘A Passenger’.
68. West Australian, 2November1891, p.4.
69. Argus, 9January1889, p.9.
70.See, for example, Sydney Morning Herald, 29May1848, p.2;30June1851, p.3;5April1859, p.5; andArgus, 12September1851, p.2.
71. Sydney Morning Herald, 6March1871, p.2.
72. Sydney Morning Herald, 5April1859, p.5;14April1859, p.4;30April1859, p.5.
73. Sydney Gazette, 19November1836, p.3.
74.See, for example, the case of Captain Bird, master of the barqueWilliam Clowes, reported in Age, 16March1869, p.6.
75. Argus, 6September1873, pp.4-6.
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.
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.
78. Sydney Morning Herald, 9July1847, p.2; and14January1848, p.2;Argus, 31January1888, p.5.
79. Sydney Morning Herald, 31December1847, p.2;Argus, 6May1853, p.4;8August1865, pp.4-5; and31January1873, p.7.
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.
81. South Australian Advertiser, 18June1860, p.2.
82. Argus, 12February1868, p.7;Sydney Morning Herald, 1June1877, p.3.
83. Argus, 29September1874, pp.4-5.
84. Argus, 3July1850, p.2;28June1864, p.5;3January1884, p.5;30December1893, p.10;South Australian, 31October1878, p.6;Brisbane Courier, 28April1893, p.3.
85. Argus, 22August1860, p.6.
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.
87. Argus, 12January1867, p.5;12July1881, p.4.
88. Argus, 14May1873, p.7;16May1873, pp.4-5.
89.See, for example, the claims of the crew of theSouthesk against their shipmaster, Sydney Morning Herald, 15May1900, p.5;17May1900, p.7.
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.
91. Argus, 6May1853, p.4.
92. Sydney Gazette, 17October1828, p.2;Hobart Town Courier, 3June1842, p.4.
93. Sydney Morning Herald, 7April1854, p.5;30June1857, p.4.
94.See, for example, the cases of theEastward Hoin1867and theElizabeth Baufieldin1868, Sydney Morning Herald, 2April1867, p.2; andArgus, 23September1868, p.2.
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.
96.See, for example, Sydney Morning Herald, 31March1858, p.3; andArgus, 19February1897, p.3.
97. Argus, 20February1868, pp.6-7.
98.Maenpaa, ‘From Pea Soup to Hors d’Oeuvres’, p.42; andArgus, 20February1868, pp.6-7.
99.See, for example, a complaint by the crew of theFanny Fothergill, reported inArgus, 25September1875, pp.6-7.
100. Argus, 28November1890, p.6.
101. Sydney Morning Herald, 7February1862, p.4.
102. Sydney Morning Herald, 17August1877, p.5.
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.
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.
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.
106. Sydney Morning Herald, 19January1852, p.2.
107. Sydney Morning Herald, 22December1858, p.4.
108. Sydney Morning Herald, 11February1859, p.3.
109. Argus, 1October1862, p.6
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.
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.
112. Argus, 27April1867, p.4;29April1867, p.6.
113. Rockhampton Bulletin, 10May1876, reproduced in theArgus, 20May1876, p.5.
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.
115.Miles was fined £20 for falsifying the logbook entry;Argus, 12February1864, pp.4-5.
116. Argus, 21December1864, p.5.
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.
118. Mercury, 4March1858, p.3.
119. Sydney Morning Herald, 19May1855, p.5.
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.
121. Argus, 3October1882, p.10.
122. Argus, 13October1882, pp.4-7.
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.
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.
125. Sydney Morning Herald, 19January1861, p.4;4February1861, p.4.
126. Moreton Bay Courier, 5March1861, p.4.
127.Quinlan,Gardner andAkers, ‘Reconsidering the Collective Impulse’.