Today's Stories from our Past
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Today's Stories from our Past
E12 – Bound for South Australia –The Tale of Doctor Mayo
Embark on a journey back to 1839 as we unravel the remarkable tale of Dr. George Mayo aboard the migrant ship Asia.
This episode reveals a gripping narrative filled with adventure, health struggles, and even threats of piracy during a time of mass migration to Australia. As a ship's surgeon, Mayo faced dire circumstances—gunfire and rampant diseases among the passengers. His diary offers a raw and intimate glimpse into the emotional resilience and tenacity required to survive such a perilous journey.
We explore the labyrinth of human stories intertwined with Mayo's account, revealing a community of immigrants confronting fear, loss, and the unknown. The gripping accounts not only highlight Mayo's efforts to treat sick children afflicted by measles but also the unique interactions amongst a diverse group on board. As he successfully navigated the challenges, Mayo's tale transitions into his legacy within a growing nation, contributing to the early days of Australian medicine.
Prepare for touching moments and riveting accounts as we dive deep into the daily lives of those aboard the Asia. What lessons can we glean from their experiences? Join us and reflect on the sacrifices and hopes of a bygone era, and stay tuned for the next episode as we continue to explore the profound narratives from Dr. Mayo's journey. Don’t forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and share your thoughts!
Contact us at todaysstories101@gmail.com.
There was great alarm occasioned on board our vessel this evening just after sunset on account of a report of a gun and a shot falling close to our quarter. No vessel till then was seen and immediately two more shots were fired. A brig was then on our starboard bow two miles. She was close to us in a twinkling crossing our bows, hailed us and desired we should heave to and send. It was now dark. A lantern was hung to our mizzen boom. She said she was a Portuguese in distress and we must heave to. We had all sail our ship going about five and a half knots. He then said he was a man of a war.
Speaker 1:The brisk Captain Duff ran forward with trumpet and said we had 200 convicts on board. He then went off close to the wind. Captain Freeman thought the brig was going to clap us alongside. I ran into the cabin for an instant and there saw Mrs Duff and Mrs Garrett on their knees in an agony of terror. The four guns were shotted and the muskets and boarding pikes got ready. When I went below many of the women were very much alarmed and hoped their husbands would not be cowards.
Speaker 2:Some of the Scotch women were for dressing in men's clothes and I was to head them. G'day I'm Peter, and g'day I'm Peter and g'day I'm Greg. Welcome to Today's Stories from Our Past, a podcast about a history of Australia from about 1800 onwards. The story is told through the experiences of those who lived it.
Speaker 3:We'll tell you stories about Australia that you probably haven't heard before.
Speaker 2:This is season one Bound for South Australia. This season is a story about the establishment of the colony of South Australia and how three of my ancestors contributed. If you haven't listened to this season from episode one, we'd suggest you stop listening now and go back to the beginning. In the last episode we talked about the Watts family crest. Now that was just a bit of a distraction, but before that we discussed John Watts' background and in particular his father and the public service achievements of the family in supporting their home village. It was clear that John didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps as a doctor and John was preparing himself for a colonial life. But how could John's father be comfortable with his son going to the other end of the planet by himself? One reason why John's father might be happy for John to go to South Australia was that his old friend Dr George Mayo was already there. It's time to talk about Dr Mayo.
Speaker 3:Okay, I've heard that name, Mayo, in relation to South Australia before, but what's the connection?
Speaker 2:You may be thinking of a federal government electorate in South Australia called Mayo. It's named after one of Dr George Mayo's grandchildren, dr Helen Mary Mayo, obe. Helen Mayo worked in the areas of maternal and child health and welfare in South Australia and child health and welfare in South Australia. She was the first woman elected to an Australian University Council in 1914 and co-founded the Mothers and Babies Health Association in 1927. The Mayo family became quite prominent in the colony. Let's talk about Dr George Mayo, okay. So where do we start At the beginning? Beginning, of course.
Speaker 2:George Mayo was born on 8 January 1807 in North Dibley, gloucestershire. His father was the Reverend Joseph Mayo, rector of Ozzelworth Church. This church is about 12 miles from Frantham on Seven where the Watts family lived. George's mother died when he was just nine and several of his siblings died young. I don't know whether this was the impetus or not, but George set off on a medical career Initially.
Speaker 2:For five years, until August 1827, george was under the tuition of Mr Charles Cook, surgeon of Gloucester. By January 1828 George had obtained a certificate issued by the Society for the Art and Mystery of Apothecaries allowing him to practice as an apothecary in England and Wales. The Apothecaries Act of 1815 gave the society the power to license and regulate medical practitioners throughout England and Wales. The practice of medicine was slowly becoming more regulated and scientific. After receiving his certificate, he started to study under his cousin Herbert Mayo and became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons on 2 January 1829. As was the practice at the time, george needed to do a medical apprenticeship under a practising doctor. Somehow he ended up working with Dr Thomas Watts. John's father, george, worked with Thomas Watts in Frampton-on-Seven for nearly two years, from 1830 to 1831. Thomas's son, john, was about 10 years old at the time. Then, in 1832, george began his own practice at Devizes.
Speaker 3:Okay, so Dr Mayo knew the Watts family well. Okay, so Dr Mayo knew the Watts family well. What happens next?
Speaker 2:George gets it into his mind to have an adventure. Early in 1837, he disposed of his rapidly increasing practice, initially with the view of going with his older brother to Canada. However, George later turned his attention to the newly formed colony of South Australia. He got a job as Surgeon Superintendent on a migrant ship headed for South Australia it was the Lady Emma, and they left for South Australia on 5 August 1837. Dr Mayo also acted as chaplain on the voyage. After a brief stopover in Cape Town, they reached Adelaide on 5 December 1837. During this voyage, George kept a daily diary. It gives a detailed description of the voyage and the passengers. What happens when he gets to Adelaide? Well, not a lot. By the end of December he leaves Adelaide on the Lady Emma, bound for Launceston in Tassie, and then gets a ride back to England on the Honduras. But in his diary, on 14 December, while the Lady Emma was at anchor in Port Adelaide, he wrote Dined on board the Eudora with Captain H, met Mr Neil, the auctioneer, and little Mr Squeak Voice.
Speaker 3:We had a good dinner but Captain Addison wished to make us drunk, Captain H sang Italian songs and surprised us all into fits.
Speaker 2:And then on 17 December he wrote up with mosquitoes and cried for mercy to be fetched on board again An awful mosquito night.
Speaker 3:Don't tell me that Dr Mayo meets up with William Henry Neal. Two completely different sides of your family have a random connection to Adelaide in 1837.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a bit of a strange coincidence that one Anyhow, dr Mayo meets with Colonel Light On 8 January 1838, he recorded in his diary.
Speaker 1:Up at 7am high tide. Last night Colonel Light, the Surveyor General, and Mr Gilbert, the Postmaster General, came on board Mosquitoes very troublesome. I have this day numbered 31 years and God grant that as I may increase in years, I may grow in the knowledge of thy word. Through Christ. We have lashed a number of casks round our vessel at low water with the hopes of lifting her off the mud.
Speaker 2:This meeting starts a long friendship with Colonel Light and his companion Mariah. We'll discuss where that goes near the end of this episode. As I said, dr Mayo goes back to England. After a brief time there, the good doctor decides it's time to go back to the colony. In July 1839, he boards another migrant ship, the Bark the Asia.
Speaker 2:There are hundreds of ships voyages from England to Australia in the colonial era. Their routes vary a little, some stopping at Rio de Janeiro or Cape Town, others going straight to Australia non-stop. Most voyages have common elements bad weather and seasickness, boredom and then squabbles amongst the passengers and illness to differing degrees, and sometimes death. This is our opportunity to give some details of one of those migrant voyages. And how are we able to do that?
Speaker 2:As I mentioned earlier, george Mayo kept a daily diary that he started on his first voyage. He writes some interesting stuff about life on board a migrant ship. He writes about his duties as the ship's surgeon, he gossips about the crew and passengers and he records some interesting events. It's an enjoyable read. There are two others who write about this voyage. One was Thomas Frost and the other was Henry Hussey. Both accounts are reminiscences written many years after the event. Hence they can be prone to some memory issues there. Thomas Frost wrote his memoir in 1910. As he was born in 1825, he would have only been 14 years old on the voyage of the Asia. Henry Hussey wrote his memoir in 1897. He was also born in 1825, so he was a young teenager like Thomas Frost. Despite the lengthy period between writing these memoirs and the events that occurred on the voyage, their recollections are quite similar and correspond well with George Mayo's dailyary.
Speaker 3:Okay, some useful sources of information on the voyage to Australia in 1839. So where do we start?
Speaker 2:Well, let's start with the ship.
Speaker 3:Sounds like a good place to start.
Speaker 2:The Asia was a merchant ship built in 1815 at Calcutta for the owner, a Charles Hackett. She made four voyages transporting convicts from Great Britain to Australia and two voyages under charter to the British East India Company between 1826 and 1830. Then she was used as a migrant ship to go to Australia. At one stage she was put up for sale. Then she was hulked and broken up in about 1860.
Speaker 4:She's always been kept in excellent order. In 1856, she was specially surveyed and classed as an ammunition ship in red. She is sheathed with yellow metal, has a full poop and top gallant forecastle tween decks laid fore and aft. She carries a very large cargo and is abundantly found in stores now lying in the London dock at Jetty Boy.
Speaker 2:So Dr Mayo, crew and passengers left from Deptford in London on 5 March 1839. Captain Benjamin Freeman commanded the ship.
Speaker 5:Thomas Frost remembers the day thus I thought the River Thames a foul, dirty hole smells abominable and the miles of ships' masts bewildering. There was great crowding and scrambling when we got on board to find our berths, seeing about our luggage etc. Amid heaps of cases and cargo, there were 272 emigrants, a number of cabin passengers and a large crew. It was all new to us and bewildering in the extreme. And then the weather Bleak, cold and foggy. The shouting and cries of the sailors at work, the fright and cries of the poor children and the thoughts of home all helped to make things miserable indeed.
Speaker 5:Order soon took the place of chaos and in a very short time all were bestowed in the several compartments, divided into messes etc. Whether satisfactory or not, it still had to be borne and submitted to. It was on the third day of March 1839 that the start was made on our long voyage for the far-off home. My brother and self rose early the first morning from our swinging hammocks, muffled ourselves well up in our cloaks, for it was very cold, and went up on deck when we found that the vessel was at anchor off the town of Deal. The ship was completely covered with snow and ice, presenting a weird but beautiful appearance. The ropes were frozen stiff, presenting a weird but beautiful appearance.
Speaker 3:The ropes were frozen stiff. Ok now. Thomas Frost says there were 272 migrants. That seems a lot of people to be crammed on board.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but depending on which source you read, the Asia carried either 120 immigrants, 180 passengers and immigrants, or 245 passengers or 272, as Thomas Frost says. These discrepancies occur because the people on board were broken up into three groups the captain and crew, the cabin passengers and the passengers below decks. Sometimes the description migrants applies only to the passengers below decks, that is, in steerage. Sometimes the description migrants applies only to those intending to stay in the colony. These can include cabin and steerage passengers. Another discrepancy in numbers can be the difference between the number of people who boarded the ship and the number of people that disembarked at the final destination. That difference can include those who got off the ship during the voyage or those who died during the voyage, and, as we'll see, there are a lot who died on this trip. As we'll see, there are a lot who died on this trip.
Speaker 2:The cabin passages included Captain Duff, who we met before in Episode 5. He was the captain of the Afrikane and was happy to let my great-great-grandfather, charles Netties, and his mates go wandering across KI. That's a tragic story, that one. On this voyage. Captain Duff is just another passenger, traveling with his wife and daughter. Then there was the Garrett clan about 10 of them, as far as I can work out. And also there was Charles Armitage, a young lawyer, on his way to Sydney. Then there's the crew. Thomas Frost says there was a Armitage, a young lawyer, on his way to Sydney.
Speaker 2:Then there's the crew. Thomas Frost says there was a large crew. As far as I can work out, there were 34 crew members, including the captain and his two sons, one of which was the third mate. Then there's the first mate and the second mate, a cook, steward, surgeon, sailmaker and more. It also had a large cargo of goods for the growing colony. As ship's surgeon, dr Mayer's role on board was to keep everybody healthy. This could be a difficult task. With hundreds of men, women and children in close contact beneath the decks, as was common on these packed migrant ships. Disease could be quite a problem, thomas Frost recalls.
Speaker 5:Measles made its appearance among the infant children, deaths occurring very frequently, and 23 infants died before it was stamped out. The funerals at sea, so sad and solemn, caused great excitement among we young people, until the proceedings became familiar. Henry.
Speaker 2:Hussey has a similar memory.
Speaker 6:He wrote Enemies visited us on the voyage, presenting themselves in the shape of measles and whooping cough. These diseases attacked the juveniles with great and fatal effect, and we lost twenty-five in all, as many as three in one family. The great heat, when near the line, proved too much for many of the little ones and one after another they succumbed. Three in one day had to be committed to the deep, the last of them in the evening, the funeral service being read by the light of a lantern. A burial at sea under ordinary circumstances is a sad sight, but when the mourners are gathered round the gangway at dark, or the darkness made more visible by the feeble light of a candle, it is doubly impressive. These deaths cast a gloom over all on board.
Speaker 2:In Dr Mayo's diary he records his activities as the ship's surgeon. Here's a small selection of the early entries covering his medical duties.
Speaker 1:Friday March 15th Ellis Male Sickened with measles. A pretty go for me, so many children to have the disease, measles. A pretty go for me, so many children to have the disease. A boy, catharine's son has the itch. Mr Oliver is appointed my assistant, a very respectable man and very ready to act.
Speaker 1:Saturday March 23rd Scores of children down with measles. Monday March 25th Emma Uppel, aged two years three months, dead. The child was put overboard this evening. Tuesday March 26th Thomas Anderson, aged 2 years 4 months, measles. Peter Orme, aged 8 months, dead measles. Thursday March 28th Mrs Garrett's infant, ill. She is very alarmed about it. A nice life I shall have of it with the sickness below. Friday March 29th Mrs Duff's infant taken, very ill. She is almost in hysterics about it. The cases of sickness multiply every day, although cleanliness and fumigation are strictly attended to. Saturday March 30th Mrs Duff's infant, better. Mrs Garrett's better. Mary Uphill, aged one year one month, dead. Measles. Monday April 1st I have great trouble to get the emigrants on deck. Saturday April 6th Samuel Letts, aged 11, m, dead Convulsions. Mahoney Gillette, aged 6, m, dead, Atrophy. Sunday April 7th Jane Skinner, aged 1 month, dead Measles. Sarah Ford, aged 4 years 6 months, dead pneumonia. Monday April 8th Ellis Whaley, aged 1 year 4 months, dead erysipelas. Tuesday, april 9th Alfred Gregory, aged 8 months, dead typhus.
Speaker 3:Yes, wow, that's 12 trillion just the first month. This doesn't sound like a great voyage.
Speaker 2:No, and there are a lot more to come. We'll discuss these deaths and other medical issues with the good doctor in a later episode. Despite the significant health issues, the passengers were appreciative of Dr Mayo's efforts. Towards the end of the voyage, the passengers wrote a letter of thanks to Dr Mayo.
Speaker 7:It said On board the Asia, bound to South Australia, july 1839. To George Mayo Esquire. Dear sir, as we have now approached the end of our voyage and consequently the termination of your arduous duties, allow us to express, on the occasion of our leaving, the confidence we have felt in your judgment, in the trying cases you have had to contend with and to assure you, we have felt and seen those difficulties and for the kindness and sympathy shown to those parents whose hearts have been wrung by the dispensations of an all-wise providence. We return you our sincere thanks, although a poor compensation, and, as we understand you propose remaining in the colony with us. We trust to show our gratitude more substantially, wishing every blessing may attend you. We remain respectfully yours. The undersigned.
Speaker 3:Well, that's a nice gesture, An endorsement of his medical abilities and an endorsement of his compassion towards the passengers.
Speaker 2:Yep, that occurred near the end of the voyage. There is an earlier incident that everybody remembered well.
Speaker 1:Dr Mayo wrote about it thus Yesterday we were 200 miles east of the Isle of Maize, one of the Cape de Verde groups. There was great alarm occasioned on board our vessel this evening just after sunset on account of a report of a gun and a shot falling close to our quarter. Just after sunset, on account of a report of a gun and a shot falling close to our quarter, no vessel till then was seen and immediately two more shots were fired. A brig was then on our starboard bow two miles. She was close to us in a twinkling crossing our bows, hailed us and desired we should heave to and send. It was now dark. A lantern was hung to our mizzen, boom. She said she was a Portuguese in distress and we must heave to. We had all sail, our ship going about five and a half knots. He then said he was a man of a war. The brisk Captain Duff ran forward with trumpet and said we had 200 convicts on board. He then went off close to the wind. Captain Freeman thought the brig was going to clap us alongside.
Speaker 1:I ran into the cabin for an instant and there saw Mrs Duff and Mrs Garrett on their knees in an agony of terror. The four guns were shotted and the muskets and boarding pikes got ready. When I went below many of the women were very much alarmed and hoped their husbands would not be cowards. Some of the Scotch women were for dressing in men's clothes and I was to head them Over the grog at night. Our captain told some uncommon tough yarns of pirates. A sharp lookout was kept all night by many of the emigrants. The brig inquired the name of the surgeon. I was afraid of being shot and the emigrants flourished their pistols about. So Tuesday April 2nd, obliged to allow the men emigrants grog, to keep up their courage, the women have bowel complaints from the fright of last night.
Speaker 3:I just love that idea that the Scotch women are up for a fight. If they were dressing in men's clothes, weren't they wearing kilts? Ahoy there, matey.
Speaker 2:Ahoy there. I don't know, but Thomas Frost remembers this event too, but not the Scotch women in their kilts. He wrote.
Speaker 5:On one occasion I climbed into the main top riggings to get a good view. It was almost sunset and a favourite time to search the great boundary line that hemmed us in. I was fortunate in descrying a sail directly abeam of us and called out Sail Ho. The news soon brought on deck most of the passengers, but the vessel could scarcely be seen from the deck without the aid of a glass. Shortly after dark, a cry was heard, light, abeam. And it was concluded that, as vessels at that time were not compelled to carry lights, it must be a vessel in distress. Orders were given to send up our masthead light and while preparations were being made, a flash of light was seen, followed by the booming of a gun echoing across the water. The light appeared to be rapidly drawing nearer, although the wind was adverse. Our old captain came on deck but was too unsteady to take any action in the matter. Captain Duff took charge. Suddenly we were startled by another bright flash from the stranger, followed by a quick report and the whir of a passing shot which passed so near to the man at the wheel that he let go for a moment.
Speaker 5:Now the excitement became intense. As it was evidently no ship in distress. Orders were given immediately by Captain Duff, all women and girls below and all men and youths on deck. Hatches were then put on and covered and the bosun was ordered to pipe all hands to quarters. The four guns we had on deck were cast loose and run out and all small arms and ammunition made ready. As the orders were carried out, the women were speedily got below, some screaming, fainting and praying. Gun ports were opened, guns cleaned out, powder grape canister shot and balls placed in hammock nettings to supply the guns, and all were soon armed with some weapon or other.
Speaker 5:The stranger had by this time drawn up close alongside and Captain Duff, who had his nightglass, said she had 28 brass carronades on deck and a coloured crew. He hailed them. What ship's that reply HMS Wasp. Captain Duff remarked that's a lie and then asked what do you want? During this dialogue we were sailing along, abreast of each other, the stranger backing and filling so as not to outstrip us, no doubt anxiously quizzing our crew and defenders. The stranger gradually edged away from us on the starboard side, filling her sails and making rapidly off. Captain Duff sang out when are you bound to Reply To Sierra Leone on the cruising act? Put your helm to port and go to hell with you. And away she flew like a bird, captain Duff remarked. She no doubt gave us the truth on leaving, as on the cruising act means pirating. Meanwhile our four deck guns were fired off with blank cartridges to give her a parting salute. But the report set the poor women screaming and fainting again.
Speaker 3:Well, thank heavens for Captain Duff. This could have easily turned out badly. The ship's captain was found wanting. I wonder how often that was the case.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I wonder that myself. Then, on June, 5th Mayo, recorded a strange event.
Speaker 1:A severe thundershower and several going round.
Speaker 2:After dark. The electric fluid stood on the tips of the three masts like a small flame for some time while a cloud passed. Here Mayo is describing St Elmo's Fire. St Elmo's Fire is a weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a corona discharge from a sharp or pointy object in a strong electrical field in the atmosphere, such as generated by a thunderstorm. The phenomenon sometimes appeared on ships at sea during thunderstorms and was regarded by sailors with religious awe for its glowing ball of light. Accounting for its name, st Elmo's fire is named after St Erasmus of Formia, the patron saint of sailors. Well, at least one of the patron saints of sailors St Brendan, st Nicholas, st Christopher and St Clement are all claimed to be patron saints of sailors. The phenomenon, which can warn of imminent lightning strikes, was regarded by sailors with awe and sometimes considered to be a good omen, as it was a sign of the presence of their patron saint, or sailors sometimes regarded it as an omen of bad luck and stormy weather and stormy weather.
Speaker 3:It's interesting that the sailors have so many patron saints. Perhaps that reflects the risky business of being a sailor in those days.
Speaker 2:Yes, it was certainly a risky business. A few months later, they were getting close to their destination, adelaide. Everyone knew that they would be close to Adelaide when they sighted the western end of KI. This happened on 14 July, but instead of heralding the end of the voyage, the sighting of KI nearly ended in disaster, but that's a story for the next episode. A couple of days later they arrived safely in Adelaide on 16 July 1839.
Speaker 3:So what happens now to our hero, dr George Mayo? After they landed?
Speaker 2:After the arrival of the Asia, dr Mayo decided to remain in South Australia. He set up practice in Adelaide. He practiced there until his retirement, becoming one of Adelaide Hospital's surgeons by 1849. He was appointed to the hospital board in 1853, a position he kept until his resignation in 1885. Dr Mayo was noted for undertaking an operation that was groundbreaking at the time. Was noted for undertaking an operation that was groundbreaking at the time. On 23 September 1852, dr Mayo undertook the first oveotomy in Australia. This is the removal of an ovarian tumour. It was noted that he did it quote so successfully that his patient jumped a four-rail fence not long after the operation, admittedly with the assistance of a horse. We'll discuss this operation with the good doctor in a later episode.
Speaker 3:OK, so Dr Mayo had a good professional life, but what about his private life?
Speaker 2:On 7 July 1840, george Mayo married Mariah Gandy. You should remember Mariah from earlier episodes. She was the companion of South Australia's first Surveyor, general Colonel William Light. She was referred to publicly as his housekeeper and privately as his mistress. As his housekeeper and privately as his mistress, mariah would be described today as a common-law wife or his significant other, or simply his partner. The relationship between Light and Mariah led to Mariah's ostracism from so-called polite society. That didn't seem to be an obstacle for George. George and Mariah were married at Holy Trinity Church in Adelaide and they lived in Colonel Light's Thurberton Cottage for a while but moved to Carrington Street later on. They lived together there until her passing on 14 December 1847, after which Dr Mayo and his family lived there for the rest of his life.
Speaker 3:Did George and Mariah have a good marriage?
Speaker 2:Well, george and Mariah certainly had a few children. Mary Jane was born in 1841, kate was born in 1843, and George Gibbs was born in 1845. They had a daughter, mariah Louisa, obviously named after the mother, born on 5 February 1847, but sadly she passed away on 12 November of that year. George's wife, maria, passed away on 14 December 1847 in Adelaide at the age of only 36. They had been married for seven years at the age of only 36. They had been married for seven years. Their son, george Gibbs Mayo, went on to be an explorer. His children include and these therefore are George's grandchildren Dr Helen Mary Mayo, who was a women's health pioneer. We mentioned her at the start of the episode. The Federal Electorate of Mayo is named after her. Then there's Elton Mayo, a noted psychologist, olive Mayo and Sir Hubert Mayo, a noted jurist. He served from 1942 to 1966 as a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia.
Speaker 3:It's a remarkable family.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they certainly are. On 9 February 1852, dr Mayo married again to Ellen Ann Russell, a resident of Chelsea in London. George had made a trip back to England in 1851 when he became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in London. That's where he met and married Ellen. George and Ellen had one daughter, ellen Stuart Mayo, born on 28 June 1853 in Adelaide. George Mayo passed away on 16 December 1894. He's buried in an unmarked grave along with his first wife, mariah, their baby daughter, mariah Louisa, and his second wife, ellen.
Speaker 3:An unmarked grave seems a bit poor for an outstanding fellow like George Mayo.
Speaker 2:Yes, sometimes the unmarked grave of Maria Gandhi, which includes George Mayo, is explained as being due to Maria's unmarried status with Colonel Light. However, I think there is a much better reason why the graves of these four people are unmarked. While in England in 1851, george Mayo visited his father While George was still in England. His father passed away on 30 December 1851,. George Mayo visited his father While George was still in England. His father passed away on 30 December 1851. George must have attended the funeral and burial.
Speaker 2:George's father was buried according to his wish. That's what his son, william, says. His grave is in the Ozzelworth churchyard At his own expressed desire. The grave is unmarked by any monument. In this respect, he was unconsciously following the example of his great-great-uncle, joseph Watts, rector of Kent Church, who died 114 years before he directed that he should be buried quote before he directed that he should be buried quote without any gravestone or any ground risen higher than the rest over me. Hence, george's father had an unmarked grave. As George died before Moriah, I assume that he directed Moriah and then himself to be buried in a way which followed his father.
Speaker 3:Well, that's a bit different, but a better explanation than the one that says the grave is not marked due to prejudice against Mariah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, While Dr Mayo and co were on board the Asia and braving the wild storms around the Cape of Good Hope and pirate attacks, here's a few things that happened elsewhere around the world. A fortnight after they left, on March 26, the first Henley Royal Regatta was held on the River Thames in England, and three days before that, on 23 March 1839, the Boston Morning Post marks the first recording of the use of the phrase OK or correct.
Speaker 3:OK, that's a brief history lesson.
Speaker 2:Yes, it is a bit brief. There was a lot to talk about with Dr Mayo, so the diary of Dr Mayo and the reminiscences of Henry Hussey and Thomas Frost give us a good insight into a voyage from England to Australia in the 1830s. During those many months at sea, prolonged periods of tedium can be broken by short periods of intense grief and fear. But what happened during those prolonged periods of tedium? With over 200 people crammed together in a small ship, it's inevitable that small dramas would be played out. Fortunately, george Mayo was keen on recording these dramas in his diary. In our next episode we'll use George Mayo's diary to get an insight into the daily lives and associated gossip of life on board the Asia.
Speaker 3:Sounds good. So thanks for listening. So it's goodbye from me, and it's goodbye from me, and it's goodbye from me.