Open Writing

It is currently in vogue for New Zealanders of retirement age to trace their genealogy. Invariably after four or five generations there are links to the United Kingdom.

It was not without trepidation that thousands of working class people in the 19th century chose to leave the security of their home to face an uncertain future on the other side of the world. Nevertheless, the mid 19th century was an era of high emigration with many working class English taking the opportunity to escape the harsh social conditions they were forced to endure in their homeland.

Then there were those like Mortimer and Hannah Corliss, who found themselves bound for the colonies without previously giving any thought to leaving England. A sergeant in the Royal Artillery, Mortimer was given orders in July 1854 to sail to New Zealand as second in command of a small detachment of artillery.

They had little time to consider what was ahead as less than a month later they and their three children, Catherine aged 3, Mortimer Jnr aged 2, and 10 month old Mary, were on board the barque, Polar Star, bound for New Zealand.

The Polar Star left Gravesend on 5th August, anchored off Falmouth harbour on the 12th to take on more freight before finally setting sail for New Zealand on 16th. The vessel struck light winds at first. Madeira and the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa were passed on schedule. Apart from crossing the equator with all the attendant rituals the journey remained uneventful. However, on 30th September the climate began to change for the worse. Come night, the Polar Star was battling a ferocious storm. The tiny 366 ton vessel was lashed by gale force winds and pounded by mountainous waves as it wallowed helplessly in the Atlantic Ocean.

By dawn the storm had abated. The relief felt by the first passengers on deck, Mortimer Corliss being one of them, was short-lived. It was with consternation, they discovered the roaring of the sea during the storm had been so loud, they were unaware part of the ship’s rigging had been lost.

Worse was to follow. At 8 am Sergeant Corliss detected dense black smoke billowing from the foreward hatchway. Further investigation revealed a fire had started in the straw taken on board to feed the horses used to pull the guns.

He immediately told his lieutenant and the fearful cry of “Fire!” resounded around the ship. The women and children, many of whom were wearing very little clothing, as they had not yet arisen, were hurried into a cabin on the quarterdeck while the crew, soldiers and male passengers threw water down the hold. After working for some time with pumps and buckets it became obvious their attempts were futile.

The Captain, Henry Walker, gave the order to batten down the hatches in an attempt to suffocate the fire. Despair was etched on every face, but not from concern that all their possessions were condemned to the fire, rather they were sure death was to be the end to the terror they felt.

The lifeboats were hung over the side and everybody was allocated a place. This however, was only an attempt to calm those on board as the boats were not capable of holding more than half the people.

The fire continued to burn. Dense smoke issued through every hatchway and the pitch in the deck seams began to melt.

All on board were now in a most deplorable position for in addition to having the ship burning under them, they had neither water, nor provisions on deck and were a thousand miles from land and well off the track of other vessels.

In the afternoon a successful attempt was made to get to the aft storeroom and several hams and bags of biscuits, drinking water and a small keg of spirits were retrieved.
To continue to keep the fire contained the men were divided into two watches to be relieved every two hours. Mortimer Corliss was in charge of one of these. For the next two days the men continued to fight the fire, while all others kept a vigilant eye on the horizon for the sight of another sail.

As night was closed in on the third day, with hope of being rescued almost gone, another ship was spotted. She was the Annamooka, a guano carrier from Callao, bound for Cadiz. The Polar Star signaled its distress which was answered immediately. An hour later, the Annamooka was near enough to enable Captain Walker to go on board and explain their situation. Captain Hutchison of the Annamooka promised to render all necessary assistance.

Despite heavy seas, the women and children who had spent the past three days and nights cramped together on the quarterdeck, were immediately transported to the Annamooka.
At daylight both Captain Walker and Captain Hutchinson examined the decks of the Polar Star and agreed she could not hold out much longer. The rest of the passengers, some of the troops and the livestock were immediately sent on board the Annamooka.

The hatches of the Polar Star were once again opened and within minutes she was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. All hands were ordered to the lifeboats. Ten minutes later all the masts went over and the vessel was a livid sheet of flame from stem to stern. The Annamooka stood by all day and watched the Polar Star burn. By dusk there was nothing to be seen and they made sail eastward for St Helena.

This was not the end of the suffering of the individuals from the Polar Star. Although every attention possible was shown to them by those on the Annamooka, with 96 additional people on board, it was impossible to provide a full provision of food and water and comfortable accommodation during the 18 days it took to arrive at their destination.

On their arrival in St Helena, the islanders generously took up a collection to enable the stranded passengers to purchase clothes and other necessary items and to procure passages from the island.

The Corliss family along with the other soldiers stayed on the island for four months, eventually setting sail for England on 24 February 1855. They disembarked in Woolwich on 11th April.

On 6th August, Mortimer and Hannah’s fourth child, John Joseph Corliss, my great grandfather, was born.

On 3rd September, the detachment from the Royal Artillery and their families once again set sail for New Zealand aboard the Carnatic. They arrived safely in Auckland on
29 December 1855, sixteen months after they first left England on the Polar Star.