Australia by CHANCE

Rob writes "

I have read over the years in the Newsletter of the Clan MacRae Society of Australia and New Zealand of MacRaes emigrating to Australia aboard the ship CHANCE. My MacRae ancestors also travelled to Australia on this vessel and I thought I would share some of the history of this ship with everyone.

CHANCE was built in 1851 in Richibucto in New Brunswick in Canada by Lestock P W DeBrissay and launched on the 10 September 1851 from the Building Yard of DesBrisay. She was reregistered in 1851 in Miramichi, New Brunswick. CHANCE was built of copper fastened Hackmatac, Birch, Oak and Pine. Later on in 1852 she was sheathed in felt and yellow metal, partly fastened with iron bolts. CHANCE was 1,049 tons, had a length aloft of 163 feet, an extreme breadth of 30 feet and a depth of hold of 22 feet.

The Owner of CHANCE was Coltart and Co. of Liverpool, England and her Port of Registry in 1852 was Liverpool. CHANCE made her maiden voyage in 1852 departing Liverpool on the 24 July 1852 under the command of Captain Alfred Hayes, arriving Melbourne 26 October 1852.

On that maiden voyage CHANCE had been chartered by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission with 466 Government immigrants, among them my great great grandparents John and Ann Macrae. Deaths on the voyage numbered 41 and there were 7 births. On the voyage storms in the Atlantic tore away masts and rigging and CHANCE hit another storm in Bass Strait. CHANCE suffered casualty and with the overcrowding, much sickness onboard. On arrival in Melbourne CHANCE was ordered to take up quarantine anchorage. She was finally released from quarantine on the 11 November 1852, I guess much to the relief of our forbears.

They had a rule in those days that no ship shall be allowed to clear out with a proportion of persons onboard greater than One person for every Two Tons of registered Tonnage. Being just over 1000 tons and with 466 emigrants aboard, CHANCE was pushing the limits.

CHANCE finally cleared Melbourne on the 20 November 1852, bound for Callao. From what I have been able to determine from the Records CHANCE made several more voyages to Australia through the 1850s, 1860s and into the 1870s. The end of her life occurred on the 3 November 1872 on a voyage from Pensacola to Sunderland when she was abandoned at sea.

I do not currently have an image of CHANCE. I was able to make contact a few years back with the descendents of the shipbuilder in New Brunswick, LPW DesBrissay to see if they knew of any drawings but I lost contact with them. I reckon if I can ever get to the New Brunswick part of the world I could find a sketch in a library. Interestingly, I was able to obtain from the Maritime Museum in Greenwich in London, a copy of a Survey Report undertaken on CHANCE on the 20 July 1852 in drydock in Liverpool, two days prior to her maiden voyage to Melbourne.