THE BUERCKNER’S EMIGRATION TO PORT PHILLIP BAY 

WHY AUSTRALIA? 

In 1846, the Port Phillip District was recovering from depression of the early 1840s, which meant there was a high demand for labour, not only in rural areas but also in towns. New South Wales (now Victoria) looked enviously at the neighbouring South Australia, where a steady flow of German immigrants had been arriving since 1844 to join a group of German settlers that had arrived there in 1838 and 1839. An editorial in the Port Phillip Gazette in December 1846 stated: 

A healthy, useful, and moral emigration has been taking place during the last five years between Germany and South Australia. Our Adelaide contemporaries speak in the highest terms of their German Colonists - they are most industrious, temperate and peaceable in their habits, unexceptionable in their morals, and of sound religious principles. They have been accused of being narrow in their expenditure; but this is more than counterbalanced by the fact that they buy everything for ready money; in a word the thrifty German forms the beau ideal of a useful Colonist, and his industry is calculated to be of no ordinary advantage to the Colony he has selected for his future abode. We do not envy our neighbours their good fortune in possessing such a useful class of Colonists; but we think that, if possible, this District ought to take some steps to obtain a supply from the German Ports. We believe those persons who emigrate from that country pay their own passage, and commonly bring capital to some extent with them. They generally settle in communities and cultivate the soil, and are adverse to parting company and spreading over the face of the country. Port Phillip possesses many agricultural districts, which would be eminently fitted to receive these hard-working emigrants, and we are inclined to think that if they could be in anyway acquainted with the resources, and the capabilities of this District, we might expect a fair portion of those inclined to emigrate. 

This article was redefined and advertised in Germany as a way to entice Germans to immigrate to Australia. The Germans emigrated for various reasons, but mainly on religious or economic grounds as well as freedom from the stifling autocracy and bureaucracy. Those who immigrated to Australia amounted to only a few per cent. In the period of 1847 to 1851 about 174,00 persons emigrated from Germany to the United States of America, and only 5,600 came to Australia. 

To obtain a place on the ship, a prospective employer had to apply to the government with a list of the people he wished to bring out, stating their names, ages and occupations. To be eligible, married couples had to be less than 50 years of age and singles over the age of 21 years. 

The menu that was set out on brochures aboard J.C. Godeffroy and Son ships was: 

Sunday ⅝ lb meat with dumplings or pudding and dried fruit.
Monday ½ lb bacon with peas and potatoes.
Tuesday ⅝ lb meat with beans or sour lentils.
Wednesday ½ lb bacon with pickled cabbage.
Thursday ⅝ lb meat with rice and potatoes.
Friday ½ lb bacon with peas and potatoes.
Saturday groats with plums and syrup. 

In addition, each adult received ½ lb of butter, 5 lb of bread and ¼ lb of sugar per week and coffee and tea in the morning and evening. 

The fares were 200 Reichsthalers courant in the cabin without wine and spirits and 80 Reichsthalers in the steerage including meals, sleeping place and medical aid. Each steerage passenger had to provide his own bed as well as eating and washing utensils. It was also required that he put his clothes and utensils in a sack which was to be laid on the sleeping place during the day. Each person was allowed to bring a box three feet long, 2½ feet wide and 2½ feet high. 

THE EMMY

 J.C. Godeffroy and Son had a contract to build ships that could bring Germans out to Australia. An agent worked in Hamburg to get Germans on to these ships. The agent was Mr Delius. 

In 1848-49, four of their ships left Hamburg and arrived in Australia. The ships landed first at Port Phillip and then went on to Adelaide. The fourth German emigrant ship to arrive in Port Phillip was the Emmy, and she was one of the largest ships in Hamburg, being 554 tonnes.  

The Emmy set sail on 5 September 1849 from Hamburg with 395 passengers who were nearly all assisted migrants. She also carried some cargo and provisions. Not many records are known of the journey, except that the ship called at no port on her journey to Port Phillip. It is presumed that she sailed via the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, as this was the route for sailing ships to catch the westerly trade winds.

Since 145 passengers went on to Adelaide, there must have been about 224 passengers remaining in Port Phillip. The passengers were landed and accommodated in the government immigration barracks where they were open for engagement. The names of those who disembarked, except for 34, are not recorded. The 34 were vinedressers and wine coopers who were ordered to come out. 

Eventually, a settlement named Germantown, near Geelong, was founded by 10 of these families, numbering 37 persons, who came on the Emmy. They established a church and a school there. The name Germantown was changed to Grovedale during World War I. 

It would appear from two reports in The Argus, a Melbourne newspaper, of 5 December 1849 and 20 December 1849 that the Emmy passengers were highly esteemed and all recommended by the agent, Mr Delius of Hamburg. 

The Argus on Wednesday, 5 December 1849, stated that a meeting was held on German immigration. At this meeting, Mr Westgarth, an agent for the Emmy in Port Phillip, Melbourne, stated, ‘A vessel Emmy was shortly expected from Hamburg with about 400 German immigrants of a well assorted class, and suitable to the wants of the colony.’ The main purpose of the meeting was to appoint a committee of a few persons who took an interest in German immigration to act in assisting the Germans on their arrival.  

A second meeting was held on 15 December 1849 in which Mr Westgarth stated he had received a letter from Mr Delius saying the Emmy was to leave on 15 August. (She actually left on 5 September) 

The South Australian register also reported:

The Emmy had 400 passengers when she left Hamburg. Of these 30 died on the voyage to Melbourne of dysentery, diarrhoea and other disorders, pre-existing and incidental. The vessel appears a pattern of cleanliness and order, and no complaints have been made of the provisions or officers. The general appearance of the immigrants and ship reflects the highest credit on the authorities. For a vessel of 554 tonnes, we think however, the number of passengers enormous. We have inspected the surgeon’s list of dead passengers and found not only several presumed causes of death, but the mode of treatment adopted in each case. This is as it should be. 

Below is a reconstructed list of the passengers who came out on the Emmy. There are no records that are known about the passengers who came to Australia on this voyage. The reason for this is that a desk clerk in Germany was ordered to make space in the filing cabinet, so all the records of the Emmy voyage were thrown out. 

On the Emmy, under Captain J. H. O’Meyer:  

H ANDRESEN*; S ANDRIESKE; G ARNDT; Fr BAENSCH; C G S BIESKE; J BISCHOFF; G BOCHEW; J G BOEHM; J G BONSAK*; W BORCHERS*; C L BUCHOLZ; G BURGEMEISTER*; C W BUERCKNER; M DIENHOFF; J G ELIX*; G EINSPORN; H FELLER; J G FIEDLER; G FINSTER; J C FRANCKE; W GEHLING; F W GEISSLER; S GERLACH; R GETZSCHMANN; S GOLDENBERG*; G GOGOL; GREGOR*; O GREUMERT; C GRUNWALD*; C HAFERKORN; H O HANASHKE; M HARTMAN*; W HECKER*; C R HELLWIG; C HEINBACH*; C HELD*; E A HENKE; J HEMMEL*; T HEMMEL; J G HERRRMANN; J C A HESSE; G HIELAND; W HOHN*; W & G JAN; KE; S KAEGER; J G KNATSCH; J KOBBEL; F W KOCH; L KOHN*; C KRUGER*; C KURGEMANN; LANGE; J F LEHNIG; J G LIMME; G F W LINDAU; T LINDENSCHMIDT; C MARAUN*; J A MARKERT; MEISS; G MARSCHNER; C W MILICH; J NICOLAI; J NITSCHKE; T ORTH*; H PAULKE; J PLAESCHKE; J RADSPIELER; J G RAU*; C F E REIMANN*; C F S RITTER; S ROEHR; G ROSENZWEIG; G RUEDIGER; G RUSSACK; N SCHAEFER; W SCHEIMEISTER; E SCHILLER*; C SCHLIPALIUS; C E SCHLOBACK; J SCHOBER; E SCHRODER;* J SCHUBERT; A SCHWABSCH; A SCHWERKOLT; B & A SEIDEL; A SEMKE; J G SIEBEL; G SOMMER*; L STARK*; C A H STORCH; C VOGES*; J W WAGENKNECHT; W WAGNER; H W A WALTER; W WENSELL; J G WINTER; J G ZIMMER.  

* Disembarked at Adelaide.

Notes: From Hamburg to Hobsons Bay – German Emigration to Port Phillip (Australia Felix) 1848-51 by Thomas A. Darragh and Robert N. Wuchatsch.