Honouring Their Journey

Stories of the 'Bride Ship' Women Who Shaped Western Australia

Irish Bride Ships Legacy Project

This archive aims to collect and share the stories of women who emigrated to the Swan River Colony from Ireland in the wake of the Great Famine, over an approximate thirty-year period from 1853.

They came on request to fulfill the employment needs of the nascent colony – often working as servants to more established colonists – and also to redress its gender imbalance, in which men outnumbered women two-to-one. Leaving behind the poverty from which they came, these ‘Bride Ship’ girls went on to play an important role in the region that became Western Australia, as matriarchs, businesswomen and key founders of various towns.

Visitors are welcome to explore the stories of these women, as well as information about Western Australia’s Famine memorial and the ‘Travel Box’ commemorative initiative.

Travel boxes

When young women were selected from Irish workhouses and other institutions to come to Australia, they were often given a trunk or box which carried all their possessions: often this was no more than a few items of clothing and toiletries. These boxes have become a symbol for the ‘Bride Ship’ girls’ journey, particularly since the establishment in 2015 of an Irish project to construct replicas.

The Travancore ship

This ship was one of the first to bring young women – specially selected from workhouses in Ireland, to the Swan River Colony in January 1853. They were divided by place of origin – Tipperary, Limerick and North Kerry – and their journey was documented by Lorna Cross and Norm Flynn in their 2021 book, The Travancore Girls.

Bill Marwick's book 'Mary Marwick of York'

In the early 1980s, Bill Marwick – the former mayor and longtime councillor of Wanneroo – began to explore the history of his Irish family, in particular his great grandmother Mary Ann Taylor, who came to the Swan River Colony in April 1853 on the Palestine. His journey to find her origins and trace her story led to the publishing of Mary Marwick of York in 2016.

Famine

Between 1845-1852, Ireland experienced a cataclysmic period of mass starvation which killed approximately 1 million people and caused another million to emigrate to countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia. In Ireland, this event is known as ‘An Gorta Mór’ (The Great Hunger), and blamed not only on the failed potato crop, but on brutal and irresponsible governance of the country under the British Empire.

Workhouses

A common symbol of the desperation of Irish people during the Famine, workhouses were established in the 1840s to provide some shelter and food to individuals and families who had been evicted from their homes and were otherwise in need. Built to house as few as 200 people, and as many as 1000, they were often overrun during the Famine years, and marked by overcrowding and disease. Many of the ‘Bride Ship’ women were selected for emigration while housed in these institutions.

Swan River Colony

Established in 1826 on land which had been inhabited by many different First Nations groups for 75,000 years or more, the Colony covered a massive area, with Perth and Fremantle as the main town centres, and economic activity including fishing and whaling along the coast, and the raising of sheep, cattle and crops. Following challenges to its population size and economic viability, a decision was made to introduce convicts from Britain and Ireland from 1850, prompting a demand for young women to reset the gender balance.

Menu

Honouring Their Journey

Stories of the 'Bride Ship' Women Who Shaped Western Australia

Irish Bride Ships Legacy Project

Recent News