Chapter 2 - Leaving Spain and the Voyage to Western Australia.

 

Isidro Oriol and  his fellow missionaries prepare to leave Spain.  

Training to be a Benedictine postulant at the convent in Cadiz 

The voyage begins -  life on a sailing ship in the 1850s 

Life as a missionary on board the John Panter

The Cape of Good Hope and the terrible tempest

Arrival in Western Australia and welcome by the Catholics of Fremantle

Rejoicing in their new home, the  Subiaco Monastery 

Barcelona to Cadiz.

The week long voyage around the coast of Spain to Cadiz in the steamer Barchino, was an exciting experience for Isidro and many of the new missionaries.  In Barcelona and the port cities Valencia, Alicante and Malaga, they went sightseeing together visiting cathedrals and other churces, seminaries, orphanages and convents and taking part in masses and other ceremonies.  They were welcomed everywhere with enthusiasm and given gifts for the native peoples.  Woodward suggests that this was part of a 'bonding process' as Salvado particularly, attempted to develop a sense of substitute family as well as a common spiritual mission and identity among the newly recruited (and mainly youthful) lay brothers.' (1) 

They were leaving family and friends, probably for ever, and developing new bonds would help sustain them in their new and difficult lives in a foreign country, with unfamiliar language and customs. 

A week later, on Saturday 20 November, 1852,  Barchino with the missionaries on board, arrived at Cadiz ‘at the ringing of the Ave Maria’.  

The ancient port of Cadiz in the 1850s.

Martinez writes: The next day, Sunday 21st ‘… the Secretary of Bishop Salvado, Fr Venancio Garrido, came on board… We entered the magnificent city and he took us to the Convent of St Domingo’. There they would wait for Salvado’s arrival from London ‘in the ship that would take us to Australia. ‘Meantime we spent the days in prayer and meditation with spiritual exercises’.(2) 

But when Salvado arrived by steamer a week later, he was unable to land. Dangerous winds and rough weather prevented the small port vessels from transporting passengers to shore – a foretaste of what was to come.  

The John Panter saga begins

Meantime  on 15 November, 1852, the sea going barque John Panter had left London bound for Cadiz to meet Bishop Salvado and the missionaries.  

The John Panter was a 272 ton barque, built in Newport, USA, in 1837.  On an earlier voyage to Adelaide in 1847 (when this sketch was made) the route was from London via the Cape of Good Hope. The voyage of 1853, which took four months, would take the same route. (South Australian Museum information)

On board was a young Irish priest Fr. O’Neil, two Irish teachers, Broderick and Mulroony, and four lay brothers who were to join the other missionaries in Cadiz, Spain.  

But a week later news arrived of severe storms that had nearly wrecked the John Panter, including a terrible tempest that resulted in the tragic death of the four new brothers.  The arrival of the John Panter from London would be delayed for five months due to lengthy repairs. (3) (Salvado Report  p. 50) However, in spite of causing ‘extraordinary expenses’ for Salvado, the delay in Cadiz had advantages as it allowed the new missionaries to get to know each other more intimately, and become familiar with the routine of monastic life. (4) Woodward p.35)

The missionaries in Cadiz

While in Cadiz the missionaries stayed at the Convent of Our Lady of the Rosary and Saint Dominic. 

Convent of Nuestra Señora del Rosario & Santo Domingo, Cadiz (Wikipedia Commons)

This monastery complex was established by the Dominican monks in 1660  around Baroque cloisters and church with a spectacular Italian baroque altar, it remains in use as a convent and hotel today. By a coincidence, among the residents In 2017 was descendant Melissa McElhone who was visiting Cadiz with husband David on a golfing tour (below) .

The interior courtyard of the convent in 2017 (Photo M. McElhone)

At this convent in November 1852, Isidro and his fellow missionaries began their training as 

Benedictines.  Martinez records: 

‘During these five months, less five days, that we were in Cadiz, we always stayed in the referred to convent, daily proceeding with spiritual exercises, having every Sunday and holiday general communion which our most blessed Prelate nearly always deigned to give to us. Also after we learned the completes we sang them every day at twilight accompanied by the organ.’ (5)–Martinez diary, p.2)

They became aware of the spiritual importance of their new task as they actively participated in the religious life of the city – notably the impressive funeral rites of the Bishop of Cadiz, Fr.  Domingo de Silo, a fellow Benedictine.   They also assisted in carrying the coffin through the streets of Cadiz, crowded with devoted parishioners, to the Pontifical Cathedral for the Requiem service itself, which was presided over by Bishop Salvado and the Cardinal Archbishop of Seville.  

Catédral de Santa Cruz, Cadiz (Wikipedia Commons)

Martinez notes how this impression of the powerful ceremonial presence of the church in Spain, and the respect they received from the crowd, contrasted with the anti-clerical sentiments and jeering he and others had sometimes experienced at a time when religious communities, formerly banned by the government, were still the subject of sectarian prejudice (6) Martinez p. 2)

Leaving Cadiz – the final departure

On 19th April, 1853, their final departure from Spain for Western Australia was marked by a special high mass at the Cathedral, where Bishop Salvado blessed the citizens of Cadiz, who responded ‘with tears of joy and admiration for the heroic resolution of the young missionaries who showed such determination and courage’.  The Mass was followed by a procession of the young missionaries and the priests and canons of the Cathedral through the streets to the port to their ship.  

However their ‘heroic resolution’ would have been tested that morning as there was such an angry sea many ‘trustworthy’ people advised them to delay their embarkation.  ‘To which Salvado replied in a ‘grave voice’: “What! The good missionary doesn’t fear dangers! Today is the will of God that we embark, also it is mine”.  Such words, Martinez records, ‘filled the listeners with surprise and admiration’ and inspired the young missionaries to enter the small boats taking them to their sailing vessel.  

Nevertheless, by the time they reached  the ship  ‘the greater part of [them] were soaked because of the water from the angry waves which furiously spilled into the boat.” (7) But Woodward believes that far from deterring them ‘evidence of such maritime dangers would have bound the new brothers more closely in a common bond as would the dramatic demonstration of faith and determination by Salvado’ (8) 

A few days later, on Tuesday 20 April, 1853  the John Panter was able to leave Cadiz. 

Isidro Oriol, Manuel Martinez and their fellow missionaries had a long and dangerous voyage ahead of them.  Members of the group consisting of –Bishop Salvado, four priests, and 36 lay brothers including two Irish catechists – looked forward to the journey with a mixture of excitement and apprehension.  Apart from Salvado, few had ever been on a sea-going sailing ship and the journey would be a test of their physical and mental strength and endurance as well as of their religious faith and dedication. 

On board the John Panter

In his diary Martinez  gives no details of the ship itself or of life on board but describes instead the daily routine: which priest said Mass, events at sea such as sightings of ships, whales, birds and ‘fishes’ and the drama of surviving storms and tempests. 

But we know conditions on a sailing ship in the 1850s were primitive and dangerous, with overcrowding and little privacy. For the wealthier passengers, travelling first class, there were simple cabins in the stern on the upper deck, of minimal size fitted with narrow wooden bunks. Ordinary passengers usually travelled below decks in second or steerage class and accommodation consisted of bunks or hammocks in dormitories with little ventilation and minimal toilet or washing facilities.  

Below in the hull, unused luggage and cargo was stored. The hulls of sailing ships often leaked and when the sea was rough the entrances to the areas below deck were sealed. Confinement In unhygienic conditions and sea sickness often made conditions below decks almost intolerable.  Voyages to Australia were no pleasure trip and typically lasted from four to five months with few if any ports of call. 

Accommodation for the missionaries was heirachical and Salvado, the pragmatic administrator, notes that he and the four priests had first class cabins while the thirty nine missionaries travelled in steerage. Salvado had a separate cabin (costing £45), the priests shared two cabins at £40 each. ‘Neither of the two in 1st  class had wine but a bottle of beer for lunch’. There were eighteen other secular passengers on board. (9) Salvado Notes on the Voyage) 

Provisions were typically limited by lack of refrigeration to non-perishables such as salted meat, the indestructible ship’s biscuit, pickled and canned vegetables, rice and flour. Drinking water stored in casks was sometimes served with tea or coffee but deteriorated during the voyage and, according to Ursula Frayne (who travelled on the Elizabeth in 1846) became ‘inhabited’ and undrinkable at the equator (10).  Diet in first class was usually of better quality and sometimes included fresh meat and wine and was eaten in the saloon above deck. Some passengers brought additional food and they also had access to the upper decks for walking or reading in good weather.

For steerage passengers like the missionaries, meals consisted of basic fare prepared in the galley and often eaten below decks in a small stuffy room or in the dormitories on benches cleared of bedding. Access to decks was usually restricted to the crew areas and depended on their goodwill—or lack of it in the case of the English crew of the John Panter.(11)  Martinez Diary p. 3 

The voyage begins

The first day of the voyage, Tuesday 20 April, ‘started with rain, then Fr Garrido and 

Fr Ribaya said Mass. At ten am anchors were raised and the ship left with favourable winds. At two pm we lost sight of the beautiful city of Cadiz, and saw a ship and a whale’.

This is a typical daily entry by Martinez, describing shipboard events, and observations of life at sea. He observe the next day (21 April), ‘All were seasick except Bishop Salvado’.((12) 

Salvado's Voyages to Australia - voyage of 1853 indicated by dark dotted line begins at Cadiz 

The first days of the voyage were difficult for the inexperienced passengers. Apart from the primitive conditions on board a small sailing ship and the curse of seasickness, there was the problem of language and the antagonism of the largely English crew towards the missionaries. Salvado spent so much time in the first weeks attending to the missionaries, ‘who needed me all the time as they could not understand or be understood by the English’, that he could not think about the three hives of bees he had been given, which he kept locked in his cabin. In spite of his belated efforts to feed and water them, all the bees died. (13)  

Martinez notes Salvado’s empathy and awareness of the missionaries’ difficulties is in his entry for their second Sunday at sea, in which:

 …his Lordship…made us a tender and salutary homily which principally referred to exercising brotherly love and charity ...in particular in the present situation in which we found ourselves ...in all the many necessities and afflictions inherent in such a long voyage. We needed to trust in God and he for his part would do everything he could in this respect, which he proved, ministering like a loving father sustenance and medicine in all our needs. (14) 

Salvado’s leadership and charismatic personality was vital in sustaining the group's morale. Physically strong, courageous and energetic, with a warm and outgoing personality, he made friends easily and inspired confidence and loyalty. His energy and dedication to the mission at New Norcia inspired the missionaries, and in dangerous situations his physical strength and courage gave him a heroic status in their eyes.  However, he also expected the Rule of St Benedict and the monastic routine of prayer and observances be strictly followed.(15) 

At the beginning the English crew made life difficult for the missionaries, by interrupting their prayers ‘with much shouting, noise and revelry [but]…[these plans failed because the greater the noise, the more insistent the brothers were in proclaiming her (Our Lady’s) praises. Today was very hot’. They also abused and sometimes beat the brothers ‘with the heavy cords used on the ship, as hard as steel’ when they were on deck ‘simply observing the sea from the sailing of the ship’, but the brothers turned the other cheek.  (16) 

 

Accustomed to prevailing anti-clerical attitudes, Martinez thought this initial antagonism was understandable as most of the crew were Protestants, including the Captain, ‘though he treated us most respectfully’. Salvado described Captain Robert Austin Clarkson as a ‘sober and sensible man’.(17)

However, gradually the sailors’ attitude changed and in the final few months of the voyage: 

…they were…anxious to be with us and tried to give us the best morsels with great friendship, granting us anything we might need and ask for and I am sure this change was caused by the kindness and patience of some of the brothers. (18).

Life as a missionary on board the John Panter  

The missionaries were expected to maintain their religious routine on board ship as far as weather allowed. Salvado would prepare an horarium or timetable for regular prayers and other activities, beginning with Matins at four or five am, before attending the daily Masses celebrated by the priests. This was followed by breakfast of sea biscuits with the water from one of the ship’s barrels, with or without tea or coffee.

The day was spent as far as possible on deck following the timetable for prayers (often sung) and other activities, including English lessons, spiritual readings and choir practice, often led by Salvado or Br Vincente Oltra, both skilful musicians. Although there were periods of tedium on the long voyage, land was occasionally sighted and other diversions included passing ships, flying fish and birds such as the huge wandering albatross. When the John Panter was becalmed, plentiful fish provided a welcome change of diet. 

Then there were the traditional shipboard ceremonies and rituals—an important part of a ship’s routine, observed to keep sailing ships safe in perilous seas, the crew happy and passengers entertained. An important rite of passage was the ‘Crossing of the Line’  (the Equator) when the sailors ‘baptised’, shaved or threw tar on various passengers as part of what Martinez described as ‘their barbarous jokes’.  Salvado, on this his third crossing, saved the missionaries from this fate by ‘by giving the sailors a bottle of rum’, and they escaped with only a drenching. (Salvado Notes). Martinez notes that ‘owing to their respect for our good Bishop they did not tar any of us’.((19) 

After nearly two months at sea, the John Panter was approaching the Cape of Good Hope, their only port of call.  But there was a serious problem – bad weather was delaying their arrival at the Cape and the ship was running out of water.  On 12 June Martinez records:

'Today we were assembled by his Lordship to warn us that drinking water was rationed as kitchen water was short and dirty and there was still a few days needed what we needed…’. (20) 

The bad weather continued and it was not until five days later that that an English ship The Protomelia, ‘seeing the flags of distress’, stopped nearby and they were finally able to persuade the captain of their urgent need and obtain water. (Salvado Notes p.10)

The Cape of Good Hope

After nearly two weeks of cold and stormy weather, on 29 June it was with feelings of ‘great joy when after more than seventy days at sea we saw at 70 miles the Mountains of Africa and entered the port of Cape Town at 10 or 11 pm, very calm’.

 Table Mountain and Cape Town at the Cape of Good Hope 1850s. (PICRYL, Public Domain) 

The next day Thursday 30 June, they saw ‘the beautiful city at the foot of the great mountains and the beautiful countryside all green and the magnificent Port with many ships and frigates…’ After Mass by Fr O’Neill and then his Lordship, ‘the Captain and Fathers went ashore and his Lordship stayed on board with us’.

For the next two days ‘we had a very harmonious and amusing time with 100s of fishes swimming around the ship…and we caught over 100 on hooks and fishing lines’. Then after Sunday Mass by his ‘Lordship and Fr M[artelli], Italian, and a Solemn Mass sung by Fr O’Neill, English’, ‘we had great fun catching 50 big lobsters in a makeshift net made of old bags, a marvellous calm day. We also saw a Frigate and a Brigantine coming in...’ They talked to many black Africans and watched many ships, including a ‘beautiful Chinese frigate…with sails turned the wrong way’ and ‘obtained many fresh provisions’ (21).

From the Cape to the Bay of Fremantle

After leaving the Cape on 6 July, the time taken for the rest of the voyage to Western Australia in the 1850s depended on how far the ship sailed into  the dangerous southern latitudes. Salvado’s map indicates the John Panter followed a fairly direct line from the Cape to Perth. For the next few days after leaving Cape Town, the ship was battered by seas so rough it made Mass difficult or impossible, it flooded their rooms and they were struck by ‘a gale so strong that the ship was flying not just sailing’.

But worse was to come. A week later they were struck by such a ‘terrible tempest ‘ that ‘the least of those mountainous waves [were] sufficient to sink out ship to the bottom of the sea’ bottom of the sea.  Martinez continues:

The expert Captain gave the order to get rid of the sails, except the smallest one to keep the balance of the ship…[and] recourse was made to God’s mercy, leaving the ship to go wherever it went.The ship was flooded, water coming into the rooms (steerage) even with the doors closed. ‘A big blow broke the window of the Captain’s cabin, which was flooded immediately, so was his Lordship’s and all the cabins in First Class…’ 

The sailors, ‘terrified, their faces pallid…retired in panic leaving his Lordship’s cabin with water up to the knees. But with unbreakable patience he [Salvado] raised up his habit, and started getting rid of the water, which he did, fixing the opening where it came through with grave danger to himself’. Then he made his way to the brothers’ apartments and persisted in fixing the openings where the water ‘gave the worst blows’ until they were all fixed. Martinez’s admiration for Salvado’s courage is palpable. 

The tempest raged on through the ‘horrible never-ending night’ while the brothers prayed with Fr Garrido to ‘to obtain the Lord’s mercy on us, but He appeared resistant to our supplications…until at 6 am…there was a sudden noise…and the ship was struck by a such huge mountain of water [that] we thought we were at the end of our mortal days’. In despair they prayed to Mary, ‘recalling what Bishop Salvado had told us: if we are saved, it will be a great miracle of the most Holy Virgin… Finally the storm began to subside, and by midday we were rewarded by the bright light of a Rainbow. We were all now calm’.(22)

During the rest of the voyage there were other storms and narrow escapes but no reported sightings of land until five weeks after leaving the Cape, driven by variable winds ranging from steady to ‘furious’, the John Panter arrived off the coast of Western Australia. 

The arrival: ‘what we had been longing for so long…’ 

It was eight am on Monday 15 August 1853, the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, when they sighted land. Martinez describes how ‘amid great rejoicing’ the travellers on the John Panter saw ‘what we had been longing for, for so long, the land of Western Australia’.

While Bp Salvado and the priests celebrated Mass, ‘we passed in view of Rottnest and Garden Islands and at 12 noon we anchored in the Port of Fremantle’. The missionaries crowded excitedly on deck as the John Panter approached the low sandy coast, with its hillocks of grey green scrub, before anchoring in the bay of Fremantle near the mouth of the Swan River. 

Early view of Fremantle showing gaol at Arthur's Head , lack of jetties or port facilities and on right, the  Swan River with bar preventing access, still the case in 1953. (lithograph by Walter Bickley 1832, NLA)

There was no port. A sand bar blocked the mouth of the Swan River preventing ships from finding a safer anchorage and there was no sea jetty until 1857. Meantime passengers and cargo would be unloaded by barge or scramble into small boats which carried them to the sandy beach.

Later that day they were officially welcomed by Bp Serra:  

At 7 pm Bishop Serra came to the ship, although the sea was rough and furious. After the usual greetings, kisses and embraces, [for] our illustrious and spiritual Father, Bishop Salvado, and the other Fathers, all we Brothers were called and had the distinction (though unworthy) of prostrating at his feet given the honour which his dignity deserved

.

But the stormy weather continued and it was not until two days later when, at about five pm, they were able to ‘enter the barque to go ashore intoning the Salve Regina…and we saw Bishop Serra and other important people…who showed great pleasure at seeing us particularly the most illustrious Bishop Salvado’. 

They entered the small wooden Fremantle church where ‘His Excellency gave the Blessing to the great Congregation’ and in the street afterwards the missionaries were surrounded by children asking for holy pictures, rosaries and medals. The celebration concluded with a ‘wonderful supper’ (this is the only time that Martinez ever mentions food), and although it was about eleven pm they left immediately by boat for Perth. (Unlike many of the brothers Martinez had a watch and was always careful to note the time.) It was moonlight so they could glimpse the beauty of the Swan River scenery, which always delighted new arrivals after the rigours of the voyage:

Martineau describes the scene.

Along the way it was marvellous to see the bushes and trees and now and again the lights in the small houses among them. We reached the capital at 2 am, alighted, and in a few minutes we were surrounded by the Brothers of the Mission of Bishop Serra. After the usual greetings of Brotherly affection…we went with the others through the city, without stopping, [and] went through the bush in the direction of our Monastery, God blessing us with bright Moonlight [enabling us] to avoid the obstacles in the bush, and falls, as some did fall to ground now and again. (23)

The monastery at Subiaco 

Two hours later [at four am] they arrived at the Subiaco monastery to find the community ‘coming out of the morning Office’ and were surprised to ‘hear their voices in choir and to see them coming out in their cowls [and] to hear the bells… Our hearts were overjoyed at seeing all our expectations fulfilled’. And immediately they entered the oratory and all prayed together ‘for our safe arrival to our solitude and home’. 

1860 plan for the Monastery.  In 1853 it  consisted mainly of a chapel and handful of rustic wooden buildings in the khaki section next to Herdsman Lake.

The next day,  ‘we made the rounds of the monastery, with the beautiful view it offers, the big lake next to it, the extensive river and beyond it all desert. And we did not get tired for days of looking at that inspiring panorama’. A few days later they began the routine of monastic life in their new country, or the ‘observance of the Holy Rule of St Benedict’ as Martinez puts it. He details the monks’ schedule: rising at 1a.m. followed by  masses and prayers (the Office), daily activities including, tidying rooms and 'singing practice', and details of meals, rest and work and all to bed at about 8pm. This routine looks daunting to us but would have been familiar to the missionaries (24)

The monastery, a few simple wooden buildings and a chapel on the sandy soil beside Herdsman Lake, had been commenced in 1851 by a group of monks sent by Serra from Guildford to establish a ‘mission farm’ on 210 acres there.(25). Since then the monks had worked hard planting a large area of vines and olives and sinking wells, but the wooden buildings were still primitive. It was not Salvado’s idea of a monastery and he described it dismissively as ‘the so-called monastery built on posts and covered with reeds’ (26) 

A new life: expectations and reality 

 

Isidro and his companions had finally reached their destination. Although it is not clear what they expected, the religious observances at least would have been familiar after their time in Cadiz.  However although they anticipated a new and different life, it is unlikely that they understood how primitive and very different it would be from life in Spain. It is possible some had read Salvado's Memoir, published in Italy 1851 and Spain 1852, but this was more an inspiring account of the Salvado and Serra's heroic efforts in establishing New Norcia (with idealised images drawn by a Spanish artist) than a realistic account of potential hardships. In the section on the flora and fauna of WA Salvado describes with enthusiasm its pleasant climate and beauty of the new country.

The new missionaries believed their stay in Subiaco was only temporary and they would soon be leaving for their true destination—the mission at New Norcia. But there was trouble ahead. Salvado and Serra had very different aims for the future of the Benedictine community. Serra was in charge of the diocese and Salvado, his subordinate, was kept busy in Perth and unable to go to New Norcia. It was two months before the group could leave Perth and discover what really lay ahead of them and if  their expectations would be fulfilled.

Chapter 2  Notes:

1. Woodward, Judith. 'Formation of Identity and Kinship: 19th Century Preparation of Monks for the Mission of New Norcia. New Norcia Studies, No 3, July 1995 pp.29-38 (p.31)

2. Martinez y Sanchez, Manuel, Diary first 12 pages, Translation Anon, Transcribed Hilaire Natt 2019, New Norcia Archives.-.p.2

3. Girola, Stefano (Translated & Edited), Report of Rosendo Salvado to Propaganda Fide in 1883, (2015) Abbey Press, Northcote, Vic. 3071 (p.50)

4. Woodward Ibid p.35

5. Martinez ibid p.2

6. Ibid p.2

7. Ibid p.3

8. Woodward Ibid p.36 

9. Salvado Notes on the Voyage. (New Norcia Archives) ? p.

10. CK Killerby, Ursula Frayne: a biography, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, South Fremantle, 1996, pp. 101–2.

11. Martinez Ibid p.3

12. Martinez Ibid p.3

13 Salvado Ibid p. 3

14 Martinez ibid p.3

15. Russo, George, Lord Abbot  of the Wilderness: The Life and Times of Bishop Salvado, (1980) The Polding Press, Melbourne 3000. (passim) 

16. Martinez Ibid p.4

17, Salvado p.2

18. Martinez Ibid p.4

19. Salvado ibid p. 3  and Martinez p.4

20. Martinez ibid p.6.

21. Ibid p.6

22. Martinez p.7 - 8, Salvado Ibid p.19. 

23. Marinez Ibid p.9

24. Ibid p.10

25. Russo p. 80

26. Salvado Report 1883 p. ?