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This 684 ton ship was built in Calcutta in 1834. It was employed as a convict transport
and left Portland, England on November 2, 1851 bound for the Swan River Colony. She
carried the sixth of 37 shipments of male convicts destined for Western Australia. The
voyage took 89 days and the Marion arrived in Fremantle on January 30, 1852 with 30
passengers and 279 convicts [Erickson]. Alex Bissett and Fred W. Le Grand were the
captain and surgeon respectively.
There were no deaths recorded on the convict shipping and description lists and 279
convict numbers were assigned for the voyage ranging from (986 to 1264) although
[Bateson] says 280 convicts embarked and only 279 arrived.
There were no pensioner guards on this voyage and the 30 passengers mentioned above
have not been accounted for, but were possibly cabin passengers or regular soldiers.
Fred W. Le Grand's surgeon's journal for the voyage is preserved in the Public Record
Office (PRO) in London. Researchers can view a copy on the Australian Joint Copying
Project (AJCP) microfilm reel 711 which is held in most major libraries and archives
offices throughout Australia.
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