Museum plots descendants’ reunion

Descendants of passengers, crew and convicts who sailed on the Edwin Fox are invited to a party.

The Edwin Fox is the only surviving ship that transported convicts to Australia, and the Edwin Fox Maritime Museum is planning a reunion for the ship’s descendants in 2019.

Built on the Ganges in 1853, it was later chartered by the Shaw Savill Company to carry immigrants to New Zealand from England in 1873.

It made several visits to the new colony carrying hundreds of passengers, making it part of many Kiwis’ family history.

The Edwin Fox, the ninth oldest preserved ship in the world, now sits in dry dock in Picton.

The team at the Edwin Fox Maritime Museum believes there are still many stories out there that could help bring the boat’s past to life.

They are asking people to share their stories and photographs for the Descendants Reunion. The last Edwin Fox reunion was in 2004.

Museum manager Karen McLeod said it was a good opportunity for voyage descendants to meet and share their stories.

Since posting about the reunion on social media, Karen has already received some early photographs.

‘‘Photographs are the thing we are starting to get through,’’ Karen said.

‘‘For many years we have never really had photographs of anyone that had travelled, we just had the list of names. A lot of that can only be done through making community connections with the descendants.

‘‘We hope we can get photographs, diaries, and other stories.’’

Karen said a photograph could be very powerful. ‘‘We feel it’s almost brought the ship to life again, now that we can put faces and stories to names. It makes the whole experience a little more meaningful when you know about the people.

‘‘There’s a picture, for example, of a little girl named Maria Prince who died on board and that’s quite hard to see. I mean that’s a girl that never made it.’’ The museum had yet to decide a date for the event, but it promised to be a big turnout, Karen said.

‘‘It will be over a long weekend or school holidays and we’ll have different activities. There will be descendants of crew members and the convicts as well.’’

Karen said while visitors were able to interact with the past at the museum, it was the living descendants of the voyage that made the memories real.

‘‘It’s good to reconnect with the descendants because it’s those people that hold the memories of Edwin Fox in their hearts.’’

For more, go to the Edwin Fox Maritime Museum Facebook page.

PHOTO: SUPPLIED George and Emily Prince arrived in New Zealand on board the Edwin Fox. Their daughter Maria Prince died on board, but they had 14 other children.