Ship Diaries
Some of you have written excellent diary entries imagining that you were on one of the early ships coming out with settlers from the UK.
Self Regulated Learners (SRLs) have a task this week which asks you to write some diary entries from this persepctive.
You might like to check out the two diaries that are on a Nelson Museum website about the voyage of the Clifford. A boat that sailed from Gravesend in England to Nelson between December 1841 and May 1842:
http://www.nelsonmuseum.co.nz/havenahoy/hughes.aspx
Here is the link to the diary written by the Gapper family:
http://www.nelsonmuseum.co.nz/havenahoy/gapper.aspx
Here is the link to the Hughes Log, written by the doctor on board the Clifford:
http://www.nelsonmuseum.co.nz/havenahoy/hughes.aspx
Think about their experiences:
- What was similar/different about their experiences of the journey?
- What things did they choose to write about? Why do you think they chose these things?
- Why do you think they commented so much about the weather?
- What adjectives would you use to describe the people writing the diary and how they coped with the journey?
- Find an entry that was especially interesting for you. Describe why you found this entry so interesting?
- Did anything surprise you about their experiences/entries?
- Any other things you noticed/wanted to comment on
The First Four Ships
I know that you have already done some thinking and learning about the First Four Ships. Here are links to a couple of websites that you might like to explore.
First Four Ships: http://www.firstfourships.co.nz/index.php
This website has some great photos and lists each passenger on each ship. If you click on their name you can find out information about that passenger. This is a project which New Zealanders contributed to with information about their family members on the ships.
Canterbury Pilgrims and Early Settlers Society: http://www.pilgrims.co.nz/
This website also has info on the ships and the passengers on them. It includes a number of other immigrant ships that came to Lyttelton around the same time as the First Four.
When you are exploring these website think about the following:
- What age ranges were people on the ships? What was the most common age bracket? Why might this be?
- Were there mainly men or women or an equal number of both? Why might this be?
- What occupations or skills did the people who were coming out have? How might this have helped them/or made things difficult for them when they arrived in Chch?
- What happened to the people once they got to Lyttelton? Looking at the summaries of their lives, did they stay in Christchurch or did they move elsewhere? Why might this be?
- Describe some of the interesting settlers that you discovered when doing your searching.
- What other things did you learn or what questions would you like to find out now that you have explored this website?
