DIARY OF THOMAS ALCOCK 1864                Bookmarks:  The Family    The Ship

      This is a record from Thomas Alcock's diary, maintained during passage by

him and his family from SYDNEY to LONDON round the Horn non-stop, lasting 90

days from 12th January to 11th April 1864, aboard "La Hogue".

      The data is exactly as written by him, including spellings and terms as used and has not been 'corrected' in any way (i.e. 'as' often used for 'has').

      Latitude and Longitude etc. were given for earlier days and mileage is given in most periods. All available data has been included here. Punctuation is scarce but new lines, shown by extra spaces, may often substitute.

Tu 12/1     Weighed anchor at daylight and was taken in tow for Sea, wished

Lat 34.48S  John a final Goodby. He being on board the Steamtug , outside we

Lon 151.25E had a Southerly wind, by the middle of the day we were all

Bar 29.9    very sick

Ther 68. SSE

We 13/1     All sick very little wind    making no progress

DR Lat 36.3

Lon 150.59  

57 Miles ENE 

Th 14/1     Signalled the ship "Black Hawk" from Melbourne to Newcastle

Bar 29.85

Ther 69.

Fr 15/1     All getting better of the sickness except myself. We are making

Lat 39.32   better progress with a good deal of Knocking about the wind being

Lon 152.31  strong

222 Miles ENE

Bar 29.46

Ther 67

Sa 16/1     Very rough and the wind is almost ahead, in the evening it

Lat 41.15   increased to a Gale

Lon 153.14  Ship Hove too

108 Miles SSE

Bar 29.4

Ther 64

Su 17/1            over  

Lat 42.43

Lon 155.57

150 miles W by S

Bar 29.16

Ther 62

Mo 18/1     Yesterday and today we were layto under bare poles as it was

Lat 42.53   blowing a gale or approaching to it and the wind being ahead

Lon 157.16  we are obliged to lay to, we have had plenty of rolling about

58 Miles SW so far.

Bar 29.50   Ship Hove too

Ther 58

Tu 19/1     The weather has moderated and we are making fair progress, all

            are now pretty well except me I have got the name of being the

            worst sailor on board.

            (The following was written then crossed out)

            This is Anniversary day in Sydney but no holiday for us, unless

            we say we have a long one

We 20/1     Weather not very good but we are making fair progress. I cannot  

            yet get over the Sickness. We begin to find out our place as 2nd

            Class is not very comfortable for the place is not to ourselves

            the table is used by stewards for their meals and there is all

            manner of traffic through it to the stores pantry

Th 21/1     Much the same style of day as yesterday

Fr 22/1     I begin to get better of the Sea Sickness  have taken my place at

            the table    we have comfortable neighbours and are a nice few in

            2nd Class (except one a ladie that would be) today the Butcher as

            killed one of the Cows so we shall be having some roast beef soon

Sa 23/1     Making good way, the sick are all well except self and I am much

211 Miles   better but still weak.

            The Captain is looking out for an Island

Su 24/1     Driving along all in good spirits now we are going so well,

242 Miles   passed the Antipodes islands

Su 24/1     Two Sundays in one week a novelty for us, it is getting cold and

168 Miles   we have to use extra clothes, the wind is getting much lighter

            in the evening it got very light

Mo 25/1     Almost becalmed, lots of Albitroses round us, the passengers

61 Miles    cought 7 or 8 of them and could catch any quantity by a line

            baited with fat Pork. I am now beginning to feel alright can walk

            the deck now very well, the Children ramble about deck all day

            and get quite hungry by meal times, our fare is excellent fiest

            Potatoes and meat every day and puddings often

Tu 26/1     Fine day we are going on slowly    we are beginning to anticipate

105 Miles   a long passage as we are already two days behind the regular time

            to be where we are. 6 Parrots made their escape today - this is

            Anniversary day in Sydney.

We 27/1     We are going pretty well today, after dinner we are going along

165 Miles   firstrate, all begin to feel more at home on board ship

            Meat pie & boiled leg of mutton for dinner

Th 28/1     We are all pleased to see the Ship going along so well this is

270 Miles   our best days work as yet, the weather is getting cold but not so

            much so as we expected -

            Fry for breakfast, Roast loin of Pork and plum pudding for dinner

Fr 29/1     Fine morning and still going well   in the afternoon the wind got

260 Miles   much lighter and more behind us, the Ship is very steady a kind

            of misty rain as set in which sends us below

            Roast beef for dinner

Sa 30/1     Last night played a round hand at Cards, we are very sociable

156 Miles   in our cabin, this morning light wind and not going our course -

            cold roast mutton for breakfast, boiled beef & carrots at dinner

            and being Saturday our weekly allowance of Wine viz 1 bottle each

Su 31/1     Wet and uncomfortable going but little    sighted an Iceberg the

            first we have seen, it is now got cold. Pigs face for breakfast

            Roast mutton and plum pudding for dinner

Mo 1/2      Passed two Icebergs early this morning   fine weather we are

            obliged to move about well on deck to keep warm   in the

            afternoon passes four icebergs    one a large one it was a

            beautiful sight being Blue & Wt. the Sailors say the blue part

            as been under water it was about two miles from us. Cold Pork

            for breakfast, roast mutton & Irish stew for dinner

Tu 2/2      Thick weather not doing much we are going E by N out of the

            course of Icebergs, Meatpie & Pork with fruit pie for dinner

We 3/2      A wet day still going E by N     everything cheerless and

            miserable     Roast leg of Pork & salt beef for dinner

Th 4/2      A better morning able to get on deck to walk about, cold after

            dinner and more rain, Roast beef and plum pudding

Fr 5/2      Fine weather with sunshine which brings all hands on deck, in

260 Miles   the afternoon the Sailors caught a Porpose    Veal pie & fruit

            pie for dinner

Sa 6/2      Not so fine as yesterday but no rain, several of our passengers

188 Miles   have severe colds we ourselves are pretty free from them, Roast

            mutton with plum pudding for dinner

Su 7/2      A fine day and not so cold on deck, this is my Birthday so we

150 Miles   drank a round of healths over our Wine, Roast Pork & plum

            pudding for dinner

Mo 8/2      A stronger wind this morning and we are going along better

196 Miles   roast mutton & Irish stew at Dinner

Tu 9/2      We shall long recollect Shrove Tuesday in 1864 for at the first

            glims of daylight we were found to be running into a vast mass

            of Ice and where at the same time almost surrounded there was    

            just sufficient of an opening to put the Ship about and runout

            round it , when we were clear it was found to be an immence

            field of Ice    at least 20 miles in all manner of shapes 

            on the other side was an immence mass we could just disern we

            where four hours sailing past it without seeing a break it must

            have been at least 30 miles in addition to the pack ice we passed

            large bergs in immence Nos. till 8.30 pm when the Ship was hove

            too till morning.

We 10/2     Made sail at daylight with Icebergs on all sides we continued

            passing them all day and steering in between them as we came up

            to them in the afternoon they got much thinner and we seemed to

            have got past them all about 7 pm a strong wind blown all day. The

            Capt. was up last night and as been on the deck and lookout

            all day

Th 11/2     A very strong wind but no Ice this morning we were Forty hours

            amongs the Icebergs no one on board and there are those who have

            been going to sea for 40 years ever saw anything at all aproaching

            the immence quantity of ice we have encountered

Fr 12/2     We are driving along with a strong wind and have had two rolling

            nights we now hope to be at the Horn in four days, it is very

            wet and cold on deck

Sa 13/2     Another bad day on deck but going along well

Su 14/2     A fine day and not so much wind, it is not so cold as it as been

            in fact it is very beautiful weather for where we are it being

            but 350 miles to the Horn

Mo 15/2     Beautifully fine and Sunshine day with a nice breeze, sighted a

            French Frigate we expect to round Cape Horn tomorrow

Tu 16/2     Up at 5 am to see a group of small Rocky islands detached from

            the main land about 40 miles.

            About 9 am we sighted Cape Horn which is a chain of Mountains

We 17/2     A nice fine day with a light wind untill afternoon when a good

            breeze set in, it is warmer than it was yesterday

Th 18/2     Fine day but the wind is decreasing untill it was almost calm

            in the afternoon, we all very anxiously watch the wind now the

            "La Hogue" as got her nose towards home     sighted two ships,

            both distant

Fr 19/2     A wet and uncomfortable day with a head wind

Sa 20/2     Another uncomfortable day

Su 21/2     A fine day with a light wind, there is a swell on

Mo 22/2     Fine day but only little wind untill the afternoon when we had

            a strong breeze, carried away fore Stunsail boom

Tu 23/2     Fine weather and much warmer    beginning to be very comfortable

            on deck, strong wind

We 24/2     Similar to yesterday

Th 25/2     Blowing hard which increased at middle day to a gale of wind and

            heavy sea but still favourable and going well with about four

            sails set

Fr 26/2     Fine morning with a nice fast breeze, getting quite warm

Sa 27/2     Nice weather and hot, we are still going very well and fast

            pulling up lost time

Su 28/2     A very fine day with a light breeze, the days are getting shorter

            every day

Mo 29/2     Fine with a good wind which died gradually away till Sundown when

            it fell calm - three ships in sight    a breeze commenced about

            8.30 pm

Tu 1/3      Fine weather and hot with only a little wind and that often

            dies away

We 2/3      This morning at 7 am the Capt. Visited a passing ship, the

            "Colombo" outward bound from L'pool to Bombay he obtained one

            newspaper and the information "that all was quiet and prosperous

            in England but that the American question was as bad a state as

            ever" we are passing many vessels now as it is the track of

            outward bounders   Spoke the Brig "Unrestricted" from Monte Video

            to Falmouth 18 days out, we have also passed the Island of

            Trinidad and the Martin Vars Rocks sailing between them they are

            twenty eight miles apart

Th 3/3      A fine day with a good breeze for where we are, being as we are

192 Miles   nearing the Sun, it is not near so hot now we have a wind

Fr 4/3      Similar weather to yesterday   all of us count the days and begin

191 Miles   to speculate about the number of days we shall be before we sight

            the coast of England, we are getting sanguin we shall do it in

            90 days

Sa 5/3      Still fine with passing squalls and cool considering we are

175 Miles   getting on towards the line, in the afternoon it fell a calm

            for a short time, the breeze began again in about an hour

Su 6/3      Very fine day with a light wind    sighted 3 vessels today,

143 Miles   going but slowly

Mo 7/3      More wind this morning and very fine, it is very cold and

144 Miles   pleasant on deck but close between them, the breeze is from near

            East and cool, passed under the line of the Sun today

Tu 8/3      Going along well and soon expect to pass the Equator, getting

218 Miles   very sanguin of making a quick passage

56          Evening the wind fell away considerably

We 9/3      Not doing so well this morning, in the afternoon it fell almost

161 Miles   calm we expect to cross the Line tonight, which will be good

            work

Th 10/3     Crossed the Line last night when the water was flying about the

95 Miles    deck    In the afternoon we celebrated the event in the usual

58          manner Neptune with his wife and suit paraded the deck and

            afterwards a number was shaved and afterwards soused with

            plenty of water. A nice breeze sprung up directly the shaving

            was over

Fr 11/3     A regular wet uncomfortable day    in the afternoon it fell

135 Miles   almost calm, it is now getting very much cooler

Sa 12/3     A fine morning with a good breeze which began last night and

169 Miles   we have been going well all day, we are beginning to get tired

            of being on board ship

Su 13/3     Still a good breeze and fine, which gives us great hopes of a

231 Miles   speedy passage

Mo 14/3     Still favoured with fine weather and going along well, it is now

220 Miles   getting cooler between decks, it is quite cool on deck and

            pleasant    we are in N E Trade winds and are going N by W

Tu 15/3     Fine and going well if we continue to be favoured with good

225 Miles   winds we may yet make a rapid passage, it is already the best one

63          the Ship as made to where we are

We 16/3     Still going well in fact better for we are going more east which

210 Miles     is what we want. they are busy painting and cleaning the Ship

            ready for going into port

            Tom and Martha have both got the hooping cough

Th 17/3     Going along same as yesterday    exchanged sygnals with an

195 Miles   American Barque and left her behind, the La Hogue shews all

            vessels we have come up to the way to London

Fr 18/3     The childrens cough is very troublesome   we continue to go on

193 Miles   well, In the evening the wind died away considerably

Sa 19/3     This morning we got up to a calm    it died entirely away during

136 Miles   the night, about 9 oclock we got a light breeze and are going

67          about 5 miles an hour. The childrens cough is very bad, almost

            all the children on board the Ship have got or had the cough.    

Palm Su 20/3  Still fine weather, after a calm almost all night we have a fine

135 Miles   breeze today

Mo 21/3     Fine breeze this morning going well, we are thinking of preparing

159 Miles   ourselves and thing for landing     it is quite cool today

            Afternoon the wind died away to almost a calm

            The childrens hooping gets no better

Tu 22/3     This morning it commenced blowing strong, and while they were

120 Miles   taking in sail a very heavy squal came on which carried away the

70          main stay sail and split the fore stay sail to ribbons, the wind

            is a head one which we hope will not long continue

We 23/3     Head wind, we want a Westerly wind and have one from the East,

50 Miles    it is very anoying to us especially as we could run to London in

            ten days easily with a moderate wind if favourable

Th 24/3     Wind dead a head and blowing strong after tacking both ways we

30 Miles    have only done thirty miles    In the afternoon the wind round

            more favourable

Good Fr25/3 Going on well though a little of our course, we all had hot +

182 Miles   buns which is very unusual on board Ship, blowing hard what you

            might call half a gale we had to take in sail

Sa 26/3     This morning it came on to blow very hard which increased to a

130 Miles   gale we are carrying only a little sail, not going our course

74          we are to much West and cannot get East with the wind as it is,

            it will make our passage longer than we anticipated a week back

Su 27/3     Not blowing so much but still going to much West we are going

122 Miles   fully three points off our course

Mo 28/3     Fine day still blowing strong and we are going four points to

170 Miles   much West, a queer Easter with us but we hope for the good time

76          coming

Tu 29/3     Still fine weather and the wind is not any to strong, we are

200 Miles   very near our right course today. They are busy cleaning every

77          thing on deck ready for going into port, two vessels in sight,

            we outsail all we have met with

We 30/3     A large ship was in sight last night which we are overtaking she

200 Miles   is a large Clipper Ship from Shanghai 86 days out, she as got

            royals and skysail set we have no royals (they were sent down

            some days back) and still we are going by her, we have a nice    

            breeze from the right quarter and we are going nicely, have

            passed several Ships, in the evening about 7 pm we spoke a

            Schooner who informs us that the Princess Of Wales as a Son  

            upon hearing it we gave several hearty cheers

Th 31/3     The wind as been very changable all night and this morning is

184 Miles   blowing from the North very cold it is a good wind for us, we are

            all talking about getting to London and beginning to put our

            chattels together ready for shore, we quite expect to be in by

            this day week or at the latest by Saturday week

Fr 1/4      This morning the wind was much lighter and gradually died away,

149 Miles   by noon we were becalmed which is extremely disagreable to us

            as we are now within 600 miles of the Lizard light, we have had

            a heavy swell since yesterday and are rolling a good deal,

            evening a light wind is beginning from the South

Sa 2/4      By 7pm last night the breeze was good and today we are going

175 Miles   along well which cheers us up wonderfully - We have been talking

81          about going marketing next Saturday night, I hope we shall for

            it would be a treat to walk up High St. again

Su 3/4      We have been going along all night and are going first rate we

265 Miles   expect to make the Land in the morning and if the wind continues

            the Capt. says we shall reach the Downs by Tuesday evening

Mo 4/4      This forenoon we are abreast of the Lizard light at Landsend,

184 Miles   we counted 12 vessels in sight, got the Anchors bent, in the

            afternoon wilst very busy packing a message arrived to prepare

            letters for shore turned to at once and wrote one home and sent

            it home in the "La Hogue" letter bag to be taken to Plymouth by

            the Pilot boat, we took a channel Pilot on board and we are 83

            days out, not bad work after all. Two of our 2nd class

            passengers went to shore in the Pilot boat, fare 1 pound each to

            Plymouth

Tu 5/4      Got up this morning at 7 am to find we were becalmed, there was

84          a little breeze most of the night, a beeze began about noon

            almost ahead and thick weather. Stood in towards land to

            ascertain our position, at 4 pm the land was plainly in view

            and turned out to be Portland, we could disern the Houses, the

            Ship was put about and the wind is dead ahead being almost due

            East so that we have to Tack about, plenty of Shipping about

            all day

We 6/4      Not much wind this morning but what is is ahead, we have the

            Coast in view all day and are off Weymouth, it fell quite calm

            for a few hours and then a light breeze came on ahead again, a

            Cowes Pilot boarded us this morning and in the afternoon a

            Pilot Cutter belonging Antwerp passed and spoke us, we have not

            made 20 miles the last 30 hours which is very anoying but

            cannot be helped we are beginning to dispair of being in this

            week

Th 7/4      A dull wet morning, wind still ahead   only a few miles further

            forward, towards middle day it cleared of and the wind droped

            we where becalmed for a time and the wind sprang up again from

            the same place, during the time we where becalmed the Tide ebed

            and carried us back so that we are no further forward in the

            evening than this morning in fact we are further back, another

            of our passengers went ashore this afternoon, sent letter, a

            Steam Line of Battle Ship 90 Guns passed close to us

Fr 8/4      We have been making a little head way during the night the wind

            came round 3 points, we made the Land below Brighton and have a

            fine view of the coast with Beechy head in front, in the

            afternoon it fell almost calm again    we have not weathered

            Beechy head up to the time of going to bed and have only little

            wind, been looking out all afternoon for a Steamer - 

Sa 9/4      This morning at 5.30 am we had two Steam Tugs in sight and at 6 -

88          we had one in front towing us which is a good job for we have

            done very little alnight and it is calm - During the day we have

            had a most beautiful view of the coast being at times very close,

            the day as been exceedingly fine and calm, we passed a great many

            vessels and 7.30 pm Anchored for the night just below the Nore

            (sighted the French coast off Dover)

Su 10/4     Morning two tugs on steaming away for the Thames passed Gravesend

            by middle day and made fast at Blackwall by 3 oclock went up to

            London to look for Brother Benson but missed him, came back to

            Ship soon after 6 oclock and found Benson and Henry there enjoyed

            their Compy. an hour or two when they left

Mo 11/4     Very busy all the Morning getting our baggage on deck and having

90          it passed by the Customs house officer, got it alright and in

            Pickfords Cart soon after one oclock PM     After some little

            refreshment all of us started for Paddington by rail from

            Blackwall to Fenchurch St. Station thence by Cab to Paddington

            meet Henry & Eliza with Louisa Smith by appointment we where

            afterwards joined by Benson and later by Hy Smith we all spent

            the evening together

The diary stops at this point.

THE FAMILY:

Thomas Alcock (1830) married Martha Davis (1826) in 1853. They had 5 children: Edward (1854) Alfred (1857) Thomas (1860) Martha Mary (1861) and Sarah Jane (1864).  Sarah Jane was born August 1864 not long after the ship arrived in England. She died 14 months later.  Martha Mary was nearly 3 years old during the voyage. She died November 1865, 26 days after Sarah Jane.  Thomas Alcock Snr., Thomas' father, aged 60, died in Worcester, on 4^th March 1865, nearly a year after the family passage to England. After their visit, the family returned to live in Sydney.

The diary came into my hands from the writer's grandson, only son of the eldest of Thomas' sons, Edward. By chance, I met Geoffrey in Sydney, 1988, on the day I left for New Zealand, having been told about him by other local relatives with whom I was compiling the Australian Alcock family database. He was then 82 and promised to photocopy the original diary that was not readily to hand when I called on him. He later sent the copy to me in England, shortly before his death. My connection to Thomas was as elder brother to my great great grandmother; see other family details and links in the Forbears section of my memoir. (RG)