Ship named “Araminta Hulk”
Member Alex Wood sent me the following (by mistake - he later apologised and said it was meant for the West Africa Study Circle). However, I thought it worth placing on our Forum in case anyone can add anything that might help:
Attached is a copy on an envelope posted 1864 addressed to “Araminta Hulk” Duke Town, Old Calabar. The Araminta was a well-known ship taking emigrants to Australia in the 1850s but I can find no record of her on the West African route. Clearly she had been in Calabar long enough for mail to go back and forth to UK and is described as a “hulk” but she was not a wreck, as she left Calabar and sank off the Irish coast in 1867.
Can anyone throw any light on this?
Colin Tabeart has responded as follows:
Have very little on Araminta. She was not a warship, and all I could find on Google was:
Araminta was a ship that was used to transport emigrants from the Scottish Highlands to Australia in the mid-19th century. The ship was part of the Highland and Island Emigration Society, which aimed to help tenants in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland find a better life by emigrating to Australia 1. The Araminta carried 365 emigrants, most of whom were from the Scottish Highlands, and set sail for Australia in 1852. Unfortunately, the emigrants contracted measles while in a filthy depot and brought it on board. Twenty-seven people died during the 103-day voyage 1.
Learn more:
1. scotlandspeople.gov.uk 2. hec.lrfoundation.org.uk 3. en.wikipedia.org
It is not a common name for a ship, so maybe that was her, and she ended up as a hulk at Old Calabar, perhaps as a coal hulk for the African SS Co and to supply the Royal Navy's anti-slavery patrol steamers.
Can anyone else provide any further information please?
Thanks, Mike
