SHAMEFUL TREATMENT OF THE PASSENGERS OF THE 'THOMAS LOWRY'
DECEMBER 1848

From the day they left Plymouth Sound till they reached Port Adelaide, the Captain's conduct had been most discourteous and ungentlemanly. He (Mr Bright) had been accustomed to mix in rural society at home, and he had always thought and felt that however high or low a man's position might be, he was at least entitled to civility. But on board the THOMAS LOWRY there had been an absence of all kindly feeling; every indignity was offered the passengers; and they were in fact treated as brute beasts. He (Mr Bright) had hoped to have seen amongst them that evening an aged passenger much respected by all, but he supposed a fear of the excitement had deterred him. He was not however the less entitled to their esteem and regard. (Cried of 'Name, name'). He meant Mr Tolmer (Loud Cheers).
Mr Nicholson seconded the motion, which was carried by acclamation.

Mr Bryan Weymouth moved the second motion
MOTION: THAT MANY COMPLAINTS, BOTH WITH REGARD TO THE PROVISIONS AND THE HEALTH OF THE PASSENGERS, HAVE BEEN TREATED WITH CONTEMPT AND INSULT BY THE CAPTAIN.
Mr Weymouth said he was the party who headed the heads of the different messes, forming a deputation to the chief mate, to complain of their being supplied for eight successive days with beef almost uneatable, instead of a supply of pork every alternative day. They had also to complain that evening that the meat was not weighed to them during the whole voyage; and that other articles of dietary had been weighed out to them by leaden weights manufactured on the voyage. He also stated that for three days down Channel no rations were served out, nor yet whilst the vessel was lying off Plymouth; and that when complaints were made to the Captain, he called the complainants 'riffraff', and that he (Mr Waymouth) 'a d----d chattering b----r' (Cries of 'Its true") Mr W Pepper said he was present on the occasion referred to by Mr Waymouth and could fully corroborate all he had stated. The first cause of offence was given by the Captain at the outset of the voyage, and that if he had treated the passengers at all civilly he would never have found them inimical to him. Notwithstanding all the unpleasantness that had passed between them, they voluntarily worked the vessel for three weeks before arriving at the port, when the crew were in a state of mutiny; and were at all times ready to lend a hand in stress of weather, for which they had not even been thanked by the unmannerly skipper. Indeed to his knowledge he had never spoken civilly to a single passenger during the whole voyage; and their every remonstrance was met by a threat that he would put the complainant in irons. (Cries of "Yes, yes") The resolution being put by the Chair was carried nem con.

Mr William Eggers moved the third resolution,
MOTION: THAT THE CONDUCT OF MR. JOY, THE SURGEON, HAS BEEN HIGHLY REPREHENSIBLE, IN NEGLECTING PROPERLY TO FULFIL THE DUTIES OF HIS OFFICE, AND THAT IS LANGUAGE AND GENERAL CONDUCT HAS BEEN OFFENSIVE IN THE HIGHEST DEGREE.
Mr William Eggers said there had been so many instances of misconduct on the part of the surgeon of the ship, that it was almost a work of supererogation to enumerate them. He (Mr Eggers) was a foreigner, but he knew that in passenger ships, on long voyages, the surgeon was the proper person to apply to in case of any real or imaginary complaint; but the surgeon of the THOMAS LOWRY (Mr Joy) always disclaimed any such power or authority; and in cases of sickness had not only professionally neglected the sick, but cruelly refused their being supplied with medical comforts. (A voice - "He said my wife and child might die and be damned, for what he cared".)
Mr Thomas Henry was a witness of the surgeon's conduct to the female passengers more especially. In one instance that came within his own knowledge, he expelled from the hospital a woman who was dying. He (Mr Henry) had himself applied to the surgeon for medical assistance which was refused with a fee, which he offered to pay. His wife, also weakly, occasionally required a little brandy as a stimulant, for which, when he could get it, he was obliged to pay nearly double the price he agreed for with the London shipbrokers (Messrs. Marshall & Edridge). On being remonstrated with, the doctor's reply was that he did not care a damn what the passengers said. Besides, when he got ashore, how could they find him in the bush?

He (the speaker) knew of another person, who was not present, who when embarking, informed the doctor that his wife was very delicate, and asked him whether he should provide himself with such articles as sago, arrowroot, &C. The Surgeon answered 'No, do nothing of the sort, there is plenty on board'. but on applying for them, he was told he must pay for them. Another passenger (Ryan), whose wife was lying very ill, feeling the doctor neglected her, put a sovereign into his hand in the hope of stimulating his humanity, adding "Will you see my wife die?" and in reply was upbraided for being a dirty, low-lived Irishman." On the resolution being put by the Chair, a person in the room cried out that he would hold up fourteen hands for it, if he had them, for a greater vagabond never existed under the canopy of heaven. Carried unanimously.

Mr Carrington Smedley proposed the fourth motion
MOTION: THAT THE GENERAL SYSTEM PURSUED BY THE OFFICERS OF THE THOMAS LOWRY QUITE DESTROYED THE HAPPINESS OF THE VOYAGE.

Mr Smedley said that the preceding speakers had dwelt principally upon the surgeon's professional neglect, but he (Mr Smedley), as a married man and father of a family, must touch upon his conduct from a moral point of view. [The speaker here, having requested the door to be closed, declared that a youth of about 16 years of age, one of the cabin passengers, and mentioned some particulars which are wholly unfit for publication.] He continued, that such depravity made him shudder when he thought of it, and feel ashamed of his sex. He could bring parties to swear to the truth of what he had stated, and he unhesitatingly declared that Mr Joy was unworthy the notice of any decent respectable person. Mr Smedley then asserted that Divine service had only been performed once during the whole voyage, nor had any attempt been made by the ship's officers to afford any religious or moral instruction to the children; nay, they had even discountenanced any efforts of the passengers to do so., saying they would have no canting humbug there. There was another case of neglect which he must mention, as it had occasioned himself and family much inconvenience, and actual sickness, namely the want of proper attention in repairing the watercloset which abutted his cabin, rendering the effluvium almost unbearable, and on some occasions causing the water from the cistern to flood his cabin floor. He first called the attention of the doctor to this nuisance, then the first mate's, and afterwards the carpenter's, but for several days he could get no redress. Mr Mullett seconded the resolution. He could bear full testimony to the statements they had just listened to. So regardless were the officers of the ship, of common decency that the watercloset referred to by Mr Smedley was nailed up on one occasion to save the trouble of it being repaired, in consequence of which his daughters, and in fact all the female passengers had to go forward, and make use of the roundhouses alternating with the male passengers and the crew. (Cries of "It's true, it's true" and "Shame! Shame!"). Mr Mullett also stated that, when they were in the tropics, and the hatchways had been removed by the carpenter for ventilation, the mate observing them being removed, angrily ordered him to replace them. On the passengers refusing to allow this, the mate re-ordered the carpenter to close them, adding "Nail them down, and let me smother the b----rs. I would rather have a parcel of convicts to deal with, as I could take them to the windlass, and give them a dozen or two when I liked." Mr Mullett concluded by detailing the circumstances of an assault committed on him by the captain, accompanied by his usual abusive language, and for which he had meditated taking criminal proceedings, but he thought the publication of the complaints they had brought forward that evening would be a sufficient punishment. (Cheers and Laughter). The resolution was then put and carried unanimously.