ABSTRACT
In the winter of 1858, the barque Constance hovered off the coast of Tasmania. Wild weather prevented her from reaching the port for several days. News of her voyage, though, had preceded her; the English papers arrived a week earlier via the fast new Suez route, ensuring colonial participation in the imagined community of empire at the earliest possible opportunity. It was quickly disseminated in the local press. Amidst pages detailing Palmerston’s controversial India Bill, there appeared in the Hobart Mercury the following announcement:
The last emigration transaction of the Family Colonisation Society was completed on May 7, by the departure from Gravesend of the Constance, having on board 129 single females and six families selected by the Society. The ship was bound for Hobart Town; and judging from the appearance and demeanor of the young women, we cannot but think they will prove a valuable acquisition to the Tasmanians. Times. (7 August 1858)
