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Martha RidgewayCaptain: James Forbes Bisset Surgeon Superintendent: John Frederick Knox Sailed London 5th July 1840 Sailed Downs on morning of 9th July 1840 Sailed Isle of Wight 6pm on 11th July 1840 Arrived Wellington 14th November 1840 This splendid Liverpool-built ship had been constructed expressly for the passenger trade. She had a very spacious poop, with a height of 6ft 9in in the 'twixt decks, and was replete with every arrangement for the comfort and health of the passengers. The end of the Martha Ridgeway was that, while bound from New Zealand to Bombay, she was wrecked on a reef at Nimrod's Entrance, Torres Strait, and was abandoned by the crew. Shortly after the Martha Ridgeway left England, smallpox broke out, and during the passage to New Zealand the ship was never wholly free from cases. She sailed from Gravesend on July 5th, 1840, with 225 emigrants, and arrived at Port Nicholson on November 14th. The first to contract the disease was a steward, who developed it soon after leaving England. It must have been a mild type, for we do not read of any deaths. Several of the passengers were down when Port Nicholson was reached, so a quarantine ground was established on the eastern shores of the harbour [Lambton Harbour]. The ship was taken across, and everybody aboard was placed in strict quarantine for three weeks. Like everything else it did, the Company had seen carefully to it that the new settlement was supplied with first-class medical men, and these soon had the disease stamped out. (taken from White Wings by Sir Henry Brett)
Arrival of the "Martha Ridgway"
Anderson, T. ..... 21 Note only one member of the Milner family is shown on this list and the dates of departure and arrival are not correct
Milner family passengers (from draft passenger list compiled at London 5 July 1840 - date of sailing) The final passenger list compiled off the Isle of Wight on 11 July 1840 does not include the infant, suggesting she may have died between the 5th and 11th of July
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