FatherJohn Campbell1 b. 1808, d. 5 Oct 1852
MotherCatherine MacCallum1 b. 1811, d. 3 Jan 1885
Pedigree

Birth, Death, Marriage

Helen Campbell was born on 14 April 1844 in Kinchrackine, Argyll, Scotland.2 
ChartsCampbell, John, descendant chart

Story

Twins Helen and Catherine were born and spent their first eight years in Upper Kinchrackine, Glenorchy, Argyll, Scotland. For a map of places relevant to the family, see this Glenorchy map.
 
In the International Genealogical Index (IGI), Victorian immigration index, passenger list on the Ticonderoga website and book of the Ticonderoga's voyage Fever Beach, she is known as Helen. On her mother's death registration there is no Helen but a 'Mary Ellen'. Ellen is a Scottish derivative name for Helen.3,4,5,6,7,8
 
Changing Fortunes on the Crofts
When John and Catherine Campbell married, they lived and raised their large family on the croft belonging to John's father, Archibald. In the early years the croft provided plenty of food through the planting of potato crops. In the 1841 UK census, we see John, Catherine and their young family living with John's parents, Archibald and Ann Campbell in Upper Kinchrackine, Glenorchy, Argyll.

The family's fortunes changed dramatically in 1846 with the arrival in the Scottish highlands of the devastating potato blight. Within a single season, the family and all those around them, were without their main food source.

Unable to now make a living on the croft, the family members were forced to work elsewhere to survive. By the 1851 UK census, a lot had changed. John's mother had died. John was no longer with the rest of his family, but in Kings House about 30 km to the north. Eldest son Alexander was working as a 'post boy and labourer' in Bunessan on the Isle of Mull about 80 km to the west. Eldest daughter Ann was working as a housemaid in the home of Lilly Campbell, her father's aunt, in Ardchattan about 23 km to the west. Twelve year old Donald was also there. And sixteen year old Janet was working as a domestic servant for the Marquis family just across the river in Stronmilchan, where Marquis senior was a crofter and Marquis junior was a shoemaker.

Catherine and the now seven younger children remained on the croft with John's 77 year old father.

In 1852, the government, through the newly established Highland Emigration Society, offered them a way out of their desperate plight. The offer was for plentiful food and work in booming Victoria. In return they would have to sell up and say goodbye forever to any family left behind. See From the Scottish Highlands to Booming Victoria.9,10,11
 
Ill-Fated Ticonderoga Voyage
John Campbell and two of his young children were three of 100 passengers who perished on the voyage to Australia aboard the ship Ticonderoga. His wife Catherine and eight of their children survived the infamous 1852 voyage. Eldest daughter Ann travelled to Victoria later. It is unlikely the 19 year old Alexander Campbell on board the Ticonderoga is our Alexander.

On 4 August 1852 in Liverpool, 795 migrants, predominantly Highland Scots, boarded the vessel for the voyage to Victoria. They were to help with the huge labour shortage in the colony following the discovery of gold. The Ticonderoga was a three-masted American 'double-decker' ship, but unforseen factors including the ship's design, the route chosen and the number of very young passengers, led to an unprecedented loss of life. Ship's doctor Dr Sanger reported disease about two weeks into the voyage with the first death due to fever on 23 August.6,5
There are no known paintings of the Ticonderoga; this is the Marco Polo, a similar double-decked clipper
By October, with storms, icebergs and fogs in freezing Southern Ocean regions, raging epidemics of typhus and scarlatina (scarlet fever) resulted in several deaths every day. John Campbell died on 5 October. His two year old daughter Jean died the same day. Having lost her husband and a daughter, Catherine was left on her own to look after the remaining nine children, some of whom were also sick. On 29 October, just three days before land was sighted, infant Peggy (Margaret) died.12,5
 
On 1 November, the ship arrived at Port Phillip heads, and two days later moved to what is now called Ticonderoga Bay, the site of a proposed quarantine station, where evacuation to the beach began. Catherine and the remaining eight children remained on the beach for seven weeks. It wasn't until 19 December, and following a further 68 deaths, that quarantine was lifted. Survivers arrived at Queen's Wharf, then the Immigration Barracks on Christmas Eve 1852 to start their new life in the 'Lucky Country'.

For a more complete account of the Ticonderoga and its ill-fated voyage, see Ticonderoga: The Ship and the Journey.6,5
 
Settled in St Kilda
The now-widowed Catherine Campbell, took her family to settle in St Kilda. The two older girls, Janet and Lilly, probably lived where they found work. The younger children spent their childhood in St Kilda, receiving an education at the Church of England Grammar School.13,14
 
We don't know what became of Helen Campbell. She appears on her mother's 1885 death registration as 'Mary Ellen dead'.7
 
There is also an 1853 death registered for 'Ellen Campell'. The names Helen and Ellen were often interchanged. The age of ten years fits with our Helen. And the death was at the Emigration hospital in Melbourne, just seven weeks after the family arrived in Melbourne following the lifting of quarantine.15
 

Citations

  1. [S40] Unassisted Passenger Lists 1852-1923, online index, PROV.
  2. [S309] International Genealogical Index (IGI), Helen Campbell entry, viewed 6 May 2012.
  3. [S309] International Genealogical Index (IGI).
  4. [S223] Assisted Passenger Lists 1839-1871, index and register.
  5. [S253] Ticonderoga, website, Julie Ruzsicska, 2011, <http://www.mylore.net/Ticonhome.html>.
  6. [S252] Fever Beach: The story of the migrant clipper 'Ticonderoga', its ill-fated voyage and its historic impact, QI Publishing, 2002.
  7. [S396] Catherine Campbell, death registration no. 3191, 3 January 1885.
  8. [S2] 'Helen', What's in a Name, online, viewed 13 October 2014 http://www.whatsinaname.net/female-names/Helen.html
  9. [S197] UK Census 1841, transcript, Archibald Campbell household, Glenorchy, Argyll, Scotland, viewed 20 November 2014, Ancestry.
  10. [S127] UK Census 1851, transcript, Duncan Marguis household, Janet Campbell entry, Glenorchy and Inishail, Argyll, Scotland, viewed 20 November 2014, Ancestry.
  11. [S127] UK Census 1851, transcript, 'Lilly Campbell' household, Ann Campbell entry, Ardchattan, Argyll, Scotland, viewed 20 November 2014, Ancestry.
  12. [S252] Fever Beach: The story of the migrant clipper 'Ticonderoga', its ill-fated voyage and its historic impact, QI Publishing, 2002, p. 147.
  13. [S1] The Swan Hill pioneer register only says that Lucy was educated at the Church of England Grammar school; I have assumed the other younger children did the same.
  14. [S101] Swan Hill Pioneer Register, fiche, 1988, 'McDonald, Lucy Turner.'
  15. [S488] Ellen Campell, death registration no. 5646, 13 April 1953.