Robert Espie

His first appointment was on the Morley in 1817. It was the first of four voyages bringing convicts to New South Wales. It departed England on the 18 December in 1817 and arrived in Port Jackson on 10 April in 1817. None of Espie's medical journals from this voyage survived. However, it is noted that there were no deaths. After this journey, he returned to England via Batavia on the Morley in May 1817.[5]

Espie's second appointment was a year later on the Shipley in 1818. It was the second of the four voyages bringing convicts to New South Wales. Espie kept a medical journal from the 23rd of June, 1818 to the 21st of December, 1818. There were one hundred and fifty male convicts from England under his care. Three convicts died during this voyage. In his journal, Espie notes that their death was not because the ship was “sickly” or related to cleanliness; their deaths were “purely the effect of incidental disease attacking men already much advanced in years and greatly emaciated by mental anxiety and confinement…”. He returned to England in 1819.

His next voyage was on the Dorothy in 1820. His brother, George Espie, joined him on this voyage. He kept a journal that dated from 1 March 1820 to 29 September 1820.[6] He starts by noting that he received thirty male convicts who were orderly and well-behaved. None got sick in the first few days. He then received 102 more male convicts who were generally healthy but about six had bad legs. He received 59 more, totaling to 191 convicts.[7]

He notes that the prisoners were in good health as they were mostly young men under the age of thirty-five. After inspection, he also found the ship was clean and comfortable. After a few days on the voyage, Espie started taking off the leg irons of the well-behaved prisoners. On this voyage, his brother George, wife Janet, and their three children came along.

His fourth voyage was on Lord Sidmouth 97 English female convicts. He kept a medical journal through this journey from 22 August 1822 to 1 March 1823. According to his journals, it can be noted that he was less tolerant of females than of male prisoners.[8]

His fifth voyage was on the Lady Rowena with 100 female convicts. None of the women died during this passage but there are no medical journals available.

In 1830, he was appointed to the convict ship Mary by the Royal Navy. She arrived in Van Diemen's Land on 10 April 1830 with 167 male prisoners. Out of these, one prisoner died.

During his journey on the Roslin Castle, he kept a medical journal. There were seven cases that he considered to be serious, three of whom died. The first one was named James Bond, a 19-year-old who concealed his illness and died on the ship. The second was Edward Gale, age 29, who was already sick before the journey and later died of a ruptured blood vessel. The third patient was George Turner, a sixty-nine-year-old man who caught a chill and despite Espie's treatment and nourishment, failed to recover. Espie notes that the man would have lived if the ship was not so wet and cold.[1]

In 1836, he was appointed to the Elizabeth by request. It was an all-female convict ship but the women were “wild and defiant” and he was almost stabbed by one of them before he left. Despite the chaos, there were no deaths