The Woodlark Passengers 1874, Wellington One-Place Study

This study attempts to trace the 322 passengers that travelled on the 1874 voyage of the Woodlark from London to Wellington, New Zealand. 

The Woodlark was a clipper of 869 tons, built in 1870 by A. Stephen and Sons, Dundee. She was chartered by the Shaw Savill Co. for three voyages to New Zealand. The second voyage left London on 16 December 1873, with 322 ‘souls’ and arrived in Wellington on the 24 March, 1874 – a voyage of 98 days. Twenty children died on the voyage. On arrival the Minister for Immigration described the ‘unfavourable character’ of the immigrants and the subsequent conduct of several of the single women as ‘drunken, dissipated, and immoral’.

Let’s see if we can follow the journeys of the passengers after they arrived in New Zealand.