Our Society’s 2008 Dinner at the Ringwood Lutheran Hall provided the opportunity for the descendants of the passengers of the 1858 Hamburg Ships to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the arrival in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia of about ten ships, carrying Germanic, Wendish and other European passengers from Hamburg.

Background to 1858 Shipping Lists

(1) The Public Record Office Passenger Lists: Passengers from Hamburg were recorded on their arrival at Melbourne. These non-alphabetical lists, kept at Victoria’s Public Record Office, were laboriously transcribed from the hand-written originals during the 1980s and 1990s by volunteers under the supervision of the Public Record Office. Our ‘Wendish/Sorbian Research Centre’ now contains the micro-fiche copies of these hand-written original lists, labelled “Immigration to Victoria: Inward Passenger Lists; Foreign Ports 1852-1859, VPRS 7667”. These filmed originals can now be inspected on our micro-fiche reader at our library at 27 Livingstone Street in Ivanhoe, Victoria.

The PRO has entered all of the transcribed surnames onto an alphabetical index, which has formed the basis for our passenger lists below. Problems have naturally arisen over the suspected incorrect spelling on the original hand-written list and over the great difficulty with reading and transcribing these hand-written Germanic and Wendish surnames. We will certainly be pleased to hear from anybody who can pass on to us any corrections including the correct spelling of surnames, as well anybody who can provide additional information about these ships and their passengers, which can then be added to our shipping and surname files.

The PRO’S alphabetical index or list of passengers’ surnames and ages is available from two sources: (a) the CD ROM “Immigration and Shipping Lists: Unassisted Shipping Index 1851-1923” and (b) the index “Unassisted Immigration to Victoria: Index of inward Passenger Lists for British, Foreign and New Zealand Ports, 1852-1923” on the website http://proarchives.imagineering.com.au/index_search_results.asp.

(2) The Eric and Rosemary Kopittke Passenger Lists: The suggested alternatives to the spelling in the PRO indexes are given below after the slashes following the PRO surname entry. These have been taken from the CD “Emigrants from Hamburg to Australia 1850-1879” compiled by Eric and Rosemary Kopittke and available for use in our Library. These lists are based on the departure lists kept and transcribed in Hamburg and the Kopittkes include on their CD the 1858 Hamburg ships Magdalena, Bielefeld, Neuhmuhlen, Carl, Susanne and Dorothea. Each of these passenger lists includes the departure date, the town, state, occupation, age and gender of each passenger and these will be on display for inspection at our 1858 Hamburg Dinner at Ringwood.
The information in brackets () has been added by John Noack who, in the 1980s, inspected, identified and noted at the Public Record Office the passenger lists of over 100 ships which carried Germans and Wends from Hamburg to Melbourne during the 1850s and who is combining the above passenger lists for this Newsletter.

The following combined Public Record Office/Kopittke passenger lists are therefore based on the alphabetical PRO index of surnames, but include suggestions from the non-alphabetical Kopittke lists added after the slash. The lists include some large family groups but the SURNAME in CAPITALS is listed only once and only the eldest male or female is included. If any of these immigrant pioneers are your ancestors, we look forward to hearing from you.

The 1858 Ships

Marbs

The barque Marbs was built by Johann Marbs in 1852 but was later called the Panama. Its agent was Roosen and Co. It arrived for a second time in Melbourne from Hamburg on 8 Jan 1858 under Capt. E.C. WILDER with 28 passengers including Herman ARNOLD; Mrs BRUHN; J. DABELSTEIN; V. De HYDE; J. HECHT; F. HOLH (HOLZ?); Emma KONCKE; F. MEYER; E. MICKE; A. PERELS; I.C. ROLOFF; H. SCHIECK (SCHRECK?); I.A. SPUNKHORN; Mrs TIEDEMANN and F. WEITTENKAMPF.

Magdalena

The ship Magdalena arrived in Melbourne from Hamburg on 10 Jan 1858 under Capt. M. D. HINRICHSEN with 52 passengers. The agents were Haege and Prell and its cargo included candles, matches, gin, rape seed oil, brandy, bird-seed, bird cages and several pianos. Passengers included Hermann BEUERS/BEVERS; Fritz BOESENBERG; Claus BUSCH; Nicolaus BUSCHA/BUTSCHAU; Henry CLAUSSEN; C. Mahlz/Mathys de DACHS/DOCKES; W. DEGENDORF; Rud DIRKS; W. FRENDZEL/TRENZEL; Gottlieb FRITZ; Ed. GOEDEKE; Carl GRAEFE; Didr. HENK; Louis HIRSCHFELD; Johann HORN; Johann Jasper; Conrad KEHNEIN/KEHREIN; Joh KOOFMANN/KOOPMANN; Peter LIEBERS/SIEBERS; Casar MOELLER; Adolph NEYNABER/NEYABER; M. NIGGEMEIER; Heinrich NORDEN; Claus and Heinrich OTTEN; J.C. PAULSEN; Eva PLAUTZ/BLANTZ; Nicolaus REIMENS/REIMER; R.J. REUSCH; Aug RIECKMANN; Joh SCHULER/SCHUEDER; Henry SHELLING/STELLING; Heinr STAHMER; Hinr STEFFENS; Heinr STEGEN; Carl and Wilhelm STUMPEL/STUMPFEL; Joachim STURAP; Hermann TIETJEN; Christian WEISS and Fr WILSHUSEN.

Bielfield/Bielefeld

The ship Bielfield/Bielefeld arrived in Melbourne from Hamburg on 22 Feb 1858 under Capt. H.L.P. HENERT, with 36 passengers and a cargo of cheese, herrings, raspberry juice, candles, matches, cigars, walking sticks, butter, 1,000 brooms and 22 merino rams. The agents were Tondeur, Lempriere and Co. Passengers included Ernst BRUVALDZ/BUWALDT; Jul BURCHMANN/BUSCHMANN; Georg and Elizabeth DOMSCH (Wends from Tauer in Lusatia, Prussia); Ed DRESCHOW (Dreckow? a Wend from Burg?); Jul GALOWSKY; Christian GROVESCKE/GROESCHKE; J. HERMBANG/HEIMBUERGER; H. HOFFMANN; L. KERPH/KERTZ; Albertine KUELBACH; Christine LOAS/LOOS; Bernh LORBER; Joh Math MEYER; J. Georg PETERSEN; Guisin RETTIT/RITTEL; Caroline SCHUENING; Johann SCHUPPAN (Wends including wife Anna and children Johann, Maria, Friedrich, Anna and Louise from Tauer in Prussia); Hannchen SLOWE/LOEWE; J. Christ TEEK; W. TIMMERMANN; Catharine TUMPE/PUMPE; Antoine TUSCONE/PATRONE and Peter WIESE.

Alfred

The ship Alfred arrived in Melbourne from Hamburg and Adelaide on 24 Feb 1858 under Captain Joachim MEYER, carrying 400 cases and 50 casks of brandy, 450 cases of wine and 250 cases of spirits for thirsty Melbourne, as well as 18 hogsheads butter, 23,000 fire-bricks and 72 rams. The agents were Mollenbaeck, Uhlhorn and Co. There is no PRO list so these surnames are all derived from the Kopittkes’ Alfred passenger list.
Sixty passengers gave their destination as Port Adelaide. The ship arrived on 13 Feb 1858 and included Johann ALTUS, (a Wend with his family from Nechern, Saxony); Joseph BARTELMEYER; Gottlieb BEHN (from Poppendorf, Mecklenburg); Johann BIELE (a Wend from Nechern, Saxony); Christian BRETAG; Johann BRUHN; Magdalena BRUSEN; Wilh. DRENDEL (from Bobersberg in Prussia); Sophie FLUECKHAHN (?PLUECKHAHN); Wilh GROSZ; Ehrenfr HAHN; Carl LIESFIELD; August KRUEGER; Carl MADER, August NOLL and Christ WASSENDORF (from Mecklenberg).
The 35 passengers who gave their destination as Melbourne arrived on 24 Feb 1858 and included Albertine BERNHARDT from Hamburg; Carl BOGEN; Adolf ENGLER; Jac HASTEDT; Joh Carl HEINICHEN; Dorothea JUERGENSEN; Johan and Anna KAISER (Wendish farmers from Nechern, Saxony); Fried Conr KNABENSHUH; Gottl KOENIGSBERG; Fried MUELEISEN; Clemens REICHE; Fried RIECHELMANN; Math ROELOK; Joh ROSENBLAT; Richard SARTARIUS; Balthasar SCHECHER; Chr Fr SCHEFFUS; Adolf SCHEMMEL; Ed Wilh STROSAHL; Wilh STUERMER; Wilh WEHL; Bernh WOLFF and Hans ZANDER.

Passengers such as Adolph and Emilie SCHEMMEL are included in Adelaide’s newspaper ‘The Register’, so they and possibly others may have disembarked at Adelaide.

Horatio

The ship or barque Horatio arrived in Melbourne from Hamburg on 18 March 1858 under Captain and Agent H. A. HOLM and bringing more cigars, brandy and 12 merino rams. One passenger F.I. HEED is crossed out on the original list so he apparently died on the passage. Those arriving included Andrew BEILNARSKI; August HERMAN; F. KOPS; J. MANCKE and M. PISKLEIN.

Neumuhlen

The ship Neumuhlen arrived in Melbourne from Hamburg on 23 July 1858 under Capt. T.H.A. HEUER. Built in 1852, this ship’s earlier name was Emigrant and its later name was Erna Paetow.
The cargo included a case of books for M. Goethe, pastor of the East Melbourne Lutheran Church, looking glasses, liqueurs, champagne, chicory, sauerkraut and sausages, as well as the usual fire-bricks, candles, matches, butter, brooms, broom-sticks and other domestic requirements.
The 68 passengers included Georg ANENDEUS/QUEDENS; Caroline BARTELS; Carl BILGE/BETGE; Martin BOHN; A. BURGMANN; Matth CASBUTIN/CARBUHN; Hugo CHRISTEN; Wilhelmina COLDIN/COLDITZ; F. COMPERNE/CORNPESNASS; Hans DAMLOS; M. DETCHEN; Heinr EHLER; E.A. FRANS/FRANTZ; M. FULSCHER; HAUSELMANN/JUSELMANN; M. HOETSMANN/HOLTZMANN; G. HUMMER/HAMMER; H.M.J. JENIEN/JENSEN; Heinr KRUSE; Elise LORENZER/LORENZEN; Heinr MAAS; C.B. MERLLENBAY/ MECKLENBURG; H. MILLER; Hans MUCKPRANY/MACKEPRANG; Carl MUELLER; Friedr PETERS; Fr PETERSEN; Joh REIMERS; C.C.H. RESIKE/RENCKE; H.A. SAHLINER/SCHLUETER; Carl SEEHAMER/ SEEHAUSEN; F.O. SOTHY/SOTTORFF; Emily SPANN; J.D. STEHN; S.J. STINDE/STINDT; Peter STUHL/STAHL; P.G. TANNER/JANNEN; Nielsen THOMSON/THOMSEN; B.G. TONNENEN/TOENNESEN; H.D. VANDERSEN/VANDERSON; Otine VARBOY/NORBOY; Heinr WITTERN; T. WOEKE/WOEHLKE; Carl WOLLF/WOLF; Aug YUNGENS/JUERGENS.

Carl

The barque Carl arrived in Melbourne on 1 October 1858 under Capt Simon PETERSON and with Tondeur, Lempriere and Co as agents. This was its third and final visit to Melbourne and the cargo included timber and musical instruments.
Amongst its 48 passengers were Ernst ADAM (a farmer aged 22 from Hof in Hesse); F. BELLIN; W. BENECKE; Claus BICKERT/RICKERT (a farmer aged 19 from Neumunster, Holstein); Eugen BURMESTER; Hans Hinr DITTMER; Carl DOERING (a labourer aged 32 from Goerlitz, Saxony); Gebhard GUT; Martin HAHN; Chr HOEPPNER; Joh JARRN; Gottlieb KALKUTSCHKE; H.F.B. KIPPNER; Ferd LITZAU/LIETZAU; Alois MADELENER/ADALINER; Chr MAHMS/MAHNS (aged 42 from Schiesow, Mecklenburg); Philipp MULLER (aged 22, a shopkeeper from Hamburg); Carl NETZLANDT/NETZBANDT (aged 26, a tailor from Berlin); O. NEUMANN; Ignatz NEYMANN (aged 33, a shop-keeper from Danzig in Prussia); Florentine POPPE; Johann PROMNITZ; Giovanni REBORA/RIBORA; N.T. ROSSEN/RASEN; Wm SCHOLZ; L. SCHULTZ; J.T.SEHLI;
L. STOFFERS/STOFFENS (aged 58 with wife and two children; a tailor from Hamburg); Gustav TAMM/THAM;
H.W. THOMS; Otto WILMANN/WILLMANNS (a farmer from Vegesack, Oldenburg) and Joachim WISCHMANN.

Susanne

The brig Susanne was built by the Godeffroy shipyards in 1850 and left Hamburg with 110 Prussian passengers under Capt H.P. MOELLER and agents Neuhauss, Haller and Co. for Adelaide and Melbourne on 22 May 1858. It first arrived in Adelaide on 23 Sept 1858 and amongst its 80 Adelaide immigrants mainly in large family groups were Hermann BOECKER; Mine BREDACK; Gottfried BURDACK; August DAMKE; Joh DAMSCHKE; Johann FILKE; Ernestine GRAETZ; Joh Friedr HARTMANN; Rudolph HAUPT; Joh Gotth LEHMANN; Joh Sam MATTSCHOSZ; J. Carl and Carl August SCHMIDT; Gottfried SCHULZ; Joh Gottb STAEHR; Christian WALTER and J. Gottlob WIELAND.
This brig then arrived in Melbourne on 11 October 1858 with the remaining 33 passengers as well as 85 merino rams. These included Theodor BAUPT/RANFT; Friedrich and Wilhelm BLOCK; Heinr BURMEISTER; Gottfried CLEMENS; Carl CRONE; Jul DAVIDS; Ferdinand ERICH; Wilh GRAINGER/GRANZER; Joh HIRMULLER/HUEMUELLER; Franz KOCH; Dethleff KRASSE/KRUSE; Rudolph KRUEGER; Carl LAHR/LAHN; Albert and Robert LEMPKE/TAMPKE; Johann MARTINS/MARTINI; Franz MUELLER; Wilh PISHLE/PIEHL; Dorothea RAMSTER/RAMSTEIN; Carl ROTISCH/ROITZSCH; Wilhelm SCHLATER/ SCHLUETER; M. SUSEMEIKLE/SUSEMIEHL; Herrmann TEMPKE/TAMPKE and August WILKENDERRS/WILKENDORF.

Podesta

The barque Podesta was built by the Stuelcken shipyards in 1855 and left Hamburg under Capt M. ANGELBECK and agents Tondeur, Lempriere and Co. It arrived in Melbourne on 3 Nov 1858 with watches, watchmaker tools and 26 passengers, including Mrs BECKER; J. BLANCH; N. BURMEISTER; L. CASSANDER; F. FALICKE; F. FONTAINE; A. FRATZ; G. GREVE; F. HANSEN; G.L. HARROLD (HASSOLD?); B. HIRSCH; F. IMEN; H. JUGERSAN (JUGENSEN?); Magdalena KNIPPHALS; H. KRUGER; T. LIEBNING (LIEBNIZ?); C. LOCHER; H.E. MASTENSEN; C.W. MULLER; Maria PODESTA; A.L. SEYDEL.

Cesar and Helene

The brig Cesar and Helene was built in 1856 in the Godeffroy shipyard at Reiherstieg. It arrived at Melbourne on 8 November 1858 under Capt J.K. MEYER and agents Neuhauss, Haller and Co. It carried 3 cases of playing cards and 26 passengers, including J. ALBERTSEN; A. BENDEL; C.P. DOMINICAS; Marie HESSE; T. HOBAMAN; J. JORGENSEN; F. KNOBEL; P.L. KUHL; L. LARSEN; H. LESEMANN; F. NAGEL; C. REINHARDT; Mr SCHWIEGER; Mau THOMSON; Dorothea WENDS; H. ZIEGENBEIN.

Manila

The ship Manila of the August Behn line was built in 1854. It arrived in Melbourne on 8 November 1858 under Capt L. BEHRENS and agents Mollenbaeck, Uhlhorn and Co., carrying over 17,000 tiles and 16 passengers. These included H. BORNHOLDT; H. DOEPPE; F. EILERS; D. HAGEMAN; A. HAMMER; E. JANNER; C. JOHNSON; C. LABSES; I. MODSTEIN; H. RAN (RAU?); C. RICHTER; I. SACHAYEMED; Madam SCHEIBER (SCHREIBER?); J. SCHRODER and H. SIEVERS.

Dorothea

The barque Dorothea of the Martin Arnesen line made six voyages from Hamburg to Melbourne. This second voyage arrived on 18 December 1858 under Capt Gantschow and agents Haege and Prell, with 72 passengers mainly from Prussia and Denmark.These included J.M. ABRAHAMSON; Anna BAGGE; J.O. BARY/BARG; Peter, Carl and Johann BOLLOM/BOLLHORN; Nicol BOESE; H.P. CARLSON; Heinrich De VOIS/VOSS; Isack EWERT; Catherine GROSS; Friderike GUENTHER; Otto HANSEN; C. HELWIG; Carl August and Johanne HEMPEL (aged 43 and 42 with 7 children from Treppendorf, Prussia); Fr and Beate HEMPEL/HAMPEL (both aged 44 with 3 children from Querseiffen, Prussia); L HERCHFEDT/HIRSCHFELDT; Caroline HOELBURG/HOELBING; N. P. JENSEN; F.I. JOHANNE/JOHANNS; Gust KEREN; Fr KLAUSTH (a Wend(?) from Galbin, Prussia); H.P. KOCH; Chr KROG; Samuel KUEGLER; Aug LOCHAMNER/ZSCHAMMER (a Wend aged 33 from Tromnitz(?) Prussia); Carl LORENZ; Gottl MAHNS; Christ MOSER/INOESER; Jacob MUELLER; Heinr OLDAY/OLDAG; Friedr PANKEL/SAAKEL; Henry PATHEUR/NATHENS; P.M. PEHNE/NEHME; Rasmus PETERSEN; J. POLANDT/IRDLANDT(?); Matthias and Liese POWKER/NOWKA (Wends both aged 42 with 2 children from Galbin, Prussia); Fr RASMUSSEN; C.F. SCHNUG/SCHMIG; Jens and Juergen SEBIENS/JEBSEN; Doris SOLIS; Friedsrich SUPP/LUPP; Hermann THEISSEN/PREISSEN(?); A.H. VENAYBER/NEYNABER; H.A.F. VOLLMER; Wm WEINHARDT/WINHARDT; August WICKERT/WECKERT (aged 43 from Rackwitz Prussia).

Other Australian Destinations

The Adelaide ships:

Although our focus for our Dinner is on the 1858 Hamburg ships to Melbourne, at least seven ships brought European emigrants from German ports to Adelaide in 1858. These include Ohio (3 Feb), Alfred (13 Feb), Grassbrook (15 Aug), Susanne (23 Sep), Victoria (24 Sep), Sophie (21 Oct) and Leontine (17 Dec). The Alfred and Susanne also brought passengers to Melbourne so they have been included with the Melbourne lists above. These two ships, plus the full lists with the passengers’ personal details for the three Adelaide ships described below are included on the CD “Emigrants from Hamburg to Australia 1850-1879” compiled by Eric and Rosemary Kopittke and available for use in our Library at 27 Livingstone Street in Ivanhoe.

Grasbrook

The brig Grasbrook, which arrived on 15 Aug 1858 at Adelaide brought 121 mainly Prussian passengers under Capt. Bruhns These included the Fechner, Gertig, Gerike, Gierke, Graebner, Kretschmer, Lange, Otto, Polke, Raschke, Schaedel, Taeubner and Zanker families.

Victoria

The barque Victoria, which arrived on 24 Sep 1858 at Adelaide, brought 187 also mainly Prussian passengers under Capt C.P. Tonnissen. About 120 were Wends from Lower Lusatia near the Spreewald and many came from the Werben area. George Nielsen has observed that more Wends arrived in 1858 than in any other year. The Wendish families on board the Victoria included the Dalitz, Domaschenz, Dreckow, Gniel, Habner, Handreck, Hoene, Kneffel, Kollosche, Kosch, Kshammer, Kschenka, Kschiwan, Lehmann, Lehrak, Lewitzka, Lieschka, Lucas, Materna, Mudra, Nossack, Nowka, Rapko, Russchen, Schoetz, Schwarz, Starick, Twarz, Voigt and Zerna families.
Other families on the Victoria included Benecke, Borrmann, Deckert, Grosse, Linke, Ludeke, Pietsch, Presser, Schirmer, Schuller, Sommer and Stubing.

Sophie

The barque Sophie was a Godeffroy vessel which arrived on 21 Oct 1858 at Adelaide under Capt A. Decker.
This was the 4th of 10 trips to Australia and amongst its 97 mainly Prussian passengers from Bomst, Friedrichshuld, Rackwitz, Ransen and elsewhere were the Bartels, Baum, Baumgarten, Fock, Grosser, Hennig, Kalms, Liebich, Mueller, Mundt, Neldner, Sauer, Schmelzkopf, Schultz, Stieler, Weckert and Wischer families.

Many early pioneers who had arrived and settled in South Australia soon moved to Victoria as their families expanded and established a close connection between these two states. However, ships with immigrants also arrived in various other Australian ports in 1858 but the above ships provide ample reason for celebration here in Victoria.

As we recall the above voyages on sailing ships at our annual Dinner, with the pioneers facing constant dangers along the way but also displaying their determination to reach their goal usually after about 3 months, descendants living in Victoria and elsewhere are warmly invited to join in our 150th Anniversary Dinner of the 1858 Hamburg ships at the Ringwood Lutheran Hall on Saturday 4 October 2008 at 6pm. The full passenger lists with personal details will be on display for inspection and celebration with other pioneering families on the same ship. We look forward to meeting you.