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them were Scottish: from Fife, Edinburgh, Ayrshire and the Borders. Some were Irish, and
there was a large contingent of servant-girls from Lancashire.
Eight passengers had died on the voyage out, and when the Banker's Daughter tied up at Point
Henry, she was put in quarantine for five days, on account of some fever on board. It could not
have been very bad, probably just the end of an outbreak, as immigration commissioners were
allowed to go on board at the end of that time to inspect the immigrants. Richard and his family,
whether affected or not, survived.
The shipping list notes that Richard was a mason, from Devon, and that he was 32, that his wife
was 30, and their children were 3, 1, and an infant. In fact, he would be 24 that month, his wife
was 31, and the children 4, 2, and seven months. The latter, George William, was born at Leith
in Scotland in February, three months before the ship left Liverpool.
The Banker's Daughter would have tied up among the small forest of masts and rigging at Point
Henry, unabie, like all the larger sailing-ships there, to cross the bar. Small boats could enter the
inner harbour, coming in to the jetty at the foot of Yarra Street or mooring at the new Steam
Packet Wharf, opposite Mack's Hotel, as did the little steamers, Aphrasia and Vesta, that
commuted between Melbourne and Geeiong. There was an insanitary immigration barracks in
Swanston Street. But Richard and his family would have had no need of such
shelter, having a home to go to - nor of the immigrants' tented village at Point Henry.
According to family legend, he already had a job lined up. If so, it must have been as a
stonemason and arranged for him by his father, William, who would also have found Richard
and his family some accommodation. Even if Richard had no job to go to, there would have
been no problem obtaining work in the town. Geelong was still in some confusion, as
immigrants, settlers and diggers ebbed and flowed. The finding of gold near Ciunes in June 1851
and then at Buninyong south of Ballarat and but 50 miles from Geelong, had led to some 2,500
people abandoning their new homes and livelihoods in Geeiong and heading for the gold-fields.
Said The Advertiser. 'In some of the suburban villages the male population has almost
completely disappeared.'
Although many had returned,, some to spend their earnings in riotous living, the town that would
be Richard's home for much of the next 12 years was still in a state of social flux.
In 1853, according to Ian Wynd in Geelong - The Pivot: 'Wages were three to four times as
high as in 1851, and employers boarded the ships before disembarkation seeking suitable
employees. An immigration depot was established with quarters at Point Henry, in Geelong, and
on a hulk moored in the bay. A staff of nine was employed in looking after the new arrivals. To
cater for all these newcomers, boarding-houses and hoteis proliferated. In 1852 there were 22
boarding-houses and 82 hotels and taverns.'
Geelong's population doubled in the first two years of the gold-rush, rising to 16,000 in 1853.
Richard and his family were but five among the thousands who poured into Geelong that year.
Did William go to meet his son and Richard's wife and children? How did he know they had
arrived?
There must have been a system that announced the approach and arrival of every ship. Their
approach may have been noted by a signal-station on Indented Head. Certainly the moment the
pilot went on board to bring a ship to Point Henry, her name was known and would have been
communicated to the shore. Notices, chalked on slate perhaps at the Customs House or Steam
Packet Wharf in Geelong, would have announced the Banker's Daughter's arrival.
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