Parmelia (barque)

Parmelia was a barque that was used to transport the first civilian officials and settlers of the Swan River Colony to Western Australia in 1829.

Parmelia was built in Quebec, Canada in 1825, and registered on 31 May of that year. She was 117 feet (36 m) long, 29 feet (8.8 m) wide and 20 feet (6.1 m) deep in the hold; and she was rated at 443 tons. Johnson (1987) writes that she "was more of a plain working girl than the great and beautiful lady of the sea". Parmelia was sent to London, and on 17 November she was transferred from the Quebec to the London register. In 1826 she was used as a troop carrier. Some time in the first half of 1827, Parmelia was sold to Joseph Somes, who was also a director of the British East India Company. For the next year, she operated under charter to the British East India Company, carrying goods and passengers between London and Bengal.

In 1828 the British government, at the urging of Captain James Stirling, decided to establish a colony at the Swan River in Western Australia. HMS Challenger was despatched under Charles Fremantle to annex the colony, and it was arranged that a contingent of soldiers, officials and settlers would follow on HMS Sulphur. Stirling however argued that the passengers and goods to be carried exceeded the capacity of HMS Sulphur, and asked for an additional ship to be chartered. The government reluctantly agreed to the extra cost, chartering Parmelia in December 1828. It was then arranged that HMS Sulphur would carry the military personnel, with Parmelia responsible for carriage of the civilian officials and settlers.

HMS Sulphur and Parmelia sailed from Spithead off Portsmouth, England on 3 or 6 February 1829, sighting their destination on 1 June. Contrary to popular belief, Stirling did not captain Parmelia (J. H. Luscombe did); on arrival, however, he assumed the duties of pilot. He initially tried to enter Cockburn Sound through a passage that he had discovered in 1827, but was prevented by strong winds and a heavy swell. Instead he hove to off Rottnest Island for the night. The following day, he tried to bring Parmelia into the Sound from the north, against the advice of Fremantle, and ran aground on a sand bank, later to be named Parmelia Bank. Despite the best efforts of the crews to dislodge her, Parmelia remained on the bank for over 18 hours, finally coming off the bank by herself early the following morning. By that time, she had lost her foreyard, rudder, windlass, spare spars, longboat and skiff, and was leaking at a rate of 4 inches (10 cm) per hour. Parmelia then rode out a storm at anchor for three days before finally being brought to a safe anchorage. The passengers were able to disembark on 8 June.

HMS Challenger was due to depart once HMS Sulphur and Parmelia had arrived, but Parmelia needed repairs that it could not get without access to the skilled labour amongst HMS Challenger crew. Fremantle therefore took the decision to remain and assist with the repairs, which were completed many weeks later. Later that year, Stirling chartered Parmelia to bring food supplies from Java. In 1830, she returned to England.

For the next nine years, Parmelia was used to transport convicts to the penal colonies on the east coast of Australia. She made nine such voyages, each of them carrying at least 200 prisoners. In 1839, Parmelia was refitted for the purpose of carrying migrants to the Americas. She was intended to run between Britain and Quebec, but on 3 May 1839, her refit almost complete, she was destroyed by fire in Bank's Yard, at Frank's Queery, Cremyll. Five days later, Lloyd's of London wrote her off; any remaining timbers were probably salvaged for other purposes.

The Kwinana suburb of Parmelia is named in honour of Parmelia, as is Parmelia Bank.