The Duchess of Northumberland, commanded by Captain Frederick Geare, was a ship of 600 tonnes carrying 251 passengers and her crew. The passengers were a mixed group made up of 5 male and 2 female adults, plus 3 male and 4 female children of the Superior Class of fee paying persons. The assisted passengers - 58 male and 62 female adults and 57 male and 44 female children plus 6 male and 8 female babies under the age of one year.

As the shouts of the crew echoed over the ship and the sails unfurled many of the passengers on board would have been unaware of the perils that lay ahead over the 135-day voyage. Assisted passengers were housed in the steerage section of the ship. Here, in the midships, the conditions were cramped with four passengers often having an area of little more than six feet square to share. The bunk in which they lived also was the storage place for their personal belongings. On each deck there were bunks two high with a total head height of seven feet. Stowed under the bottom layer of bunks were all the heavy possessions of the passengers. In these cramped conditions everyday life, for the families, had to proceed with some form of 'normality'. The single women were housed together, in the stern of the ship as far removed from the crew's living quarters, in the bow, as possible. Having to spend such a long time together, in these cramped conditions, placed a heavy burden on family relationships.

This ship took its passengers and crew slowly out of the Thames River through the Strait of Dover, into the English Channel then beyond the Bay of Bisque. It then went out into the Atlantic Ocean. Here it turned southwards and followed down the East Coast of Africa. The weather at this time of year was hot and humid, making life for the heavily dressed emigrants even more uncomfortable. The ship broke its journey at Cape Town, to gather in fresh supplies before rounding the infamous Cape of Good Hope.

The breaking of the journey at Cape Town was an experience filled with relief and fears. The emigrants were relieved that they were again on land and out of the cramped confines of the ship, but also full of fear at the strange sights and sounds in the capital of South Africa. It was a placed filled strange smells and sights, a town where Christians and Moslems worshipped, where Africans, British, Chinese, and Indians lived and worked side by side. The strange cooking smells mixed with the sights and the increased heat and dust may have been fascinating and yet frightening. Many emigrants were so frightened of the sights and sounds of Cape Town they refused to stay on shore but rather preferred the 'safety' of their vessel.

For many the conditions on board ship were almost intolerable, the women had access to water closets (toilets) but the male passengers had to use the upper decks for their daily ablutions. Many passengers were too afraid to take the recommended daily exercise above the decks, which compounded the claustrophobic conditions below decks. This along with the necessity to batten down the hatches and leave passengers below during days of relentless storms also caused many health problems. These cramped and unhealthy conditions may have lead to John and Ann Fisher's daughter Anna contracting diarrhoea, at the tender age of one year (she died on September 13th, 1839. This sad event was somewhat lessened by the arrival of their first son, Thomas, on 27 October 1839.

After four and one-half months at sea and all the perils of the voyage, the coast of South Australia must have been a welcome sight; little did the emigrants realise there was a hazardous end to their voyage, still ahead.
When the Duchess of Northumberland landed in an area known as 'Port Misery', chosen because the mangroves on the banks of this section of the river were less dense than anywhere else. The large ships had to stay further out, as there were problems with tides and shallow water. Ships had to wait for high tide before being able to venture any distance into the river. The passengers, and their goods and chattels, were then placed into small boats and taken to shore. Often they made this journey after spending a night or more on board the ships waiting for the tide to rise sufficiently to allow them in to anchor. This meant that many people had to live cramped together in increasing temperatures and swarms of mosquitoes. Once the passengers and their goods were landed they had to make the six mile journey to the town of Adelaide, either by horse and dray or more likely, because of the lack of money, they would have had to gather their lighter possessions and walk the distance, with the heavier items being carried on a wagon. What a hazardous and uncertain arrival this family must have had. After leaving Wales for a better life, they were now probably wondering if they had made the right choice.