The Eudora was built in Chepstow (Wales) in 1835, as a barque (C36) of 208 tons. Owned by Ryan & Co and registered in London in 1837, she sailed between London and Hobart for the next 11 years. Her first master was Stephen Addison. In 1842 she was refitted (as C45), when McMeckam became master. She continued the run to Hobart until 1849, when according to the Lloyds Register her assignment was finished.
However, from 1849 she continued under new ownership, A Morrison of Hobart. Her new master was John Russel Gourlay.
Voyages include:
She then sailed for San Francisco, stopping en route at Honolulu on 8 Mar 1850.
Although she carried cargo during this period, she also carried passengers on some of her voyages, including the last-named from Hobart to Honolulu (including the Bartholomew Soden family).
Her most famous passengers were Backhouse and Walker, Quaker missionaries to Australia and Tasmania. They took passage in 1837, described in James Backhouse’s A Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies:
“Having engaged a passage to King Georges Sound, by way of Port Phillip and South Australia, on board the barque Eudora, of 208 tons, Stephen Addison, of Hobart Town, master, we embarked, on the 3rd of 11th month... ”
“11th mo. 6th. There were ten cabin passengers on board the Eudora, eight of whom were persons in the prime of life, going to Port Phillip, with a view to improving their circumstances... In the steerage, there were several mechanics and their families, who were hoping to obtain better wages at Port Phillip, than they could get in Van Diemens Land.”
“11th mo. 11th [at Port Phillip] Some horses and a bullock, belonging to our fellow-passengers, were landed on the beach, by means of boats...”
“11th mo. 17th We returned to the Eudora, but the sea breeze setting in before we were ready to sail, we remained at anchor...”
“11th mo. 27th. We came to anchor, at about five miles from the shore, in Holdfast Bay, South Australia...”
“12th mo. 13th. We took leave of our friends at Adelaide, walked to the Port, and again went on board the Eudora. The heat was so great, that the thermometer stood at 102º, in one of the stern cabins, with the window and door open, and the deck above, wet...”
“12th mo. 18th. We made 224 miles, between the noon of yesterday and to-day, and were out of sight of land.”
They arrived at King Georges Sound, Western Australia, on the 25th.
“12th. mo 27th. Our kind friend, George Cheyne, offered to convey us to the Eudora, in his whale-boat, at an early hour, but some of the men who were to have rowed us, were too early intoxicated. When we got off with others, some of them were incapable of managing the boat, from the same cause, and G.W. Walker and G. Cheyne were under the necessity of taking to the oars. We had agreed with Stephen Addison, to touch with us at the Swan River, on his way to India, for fifty pounds, provided he could effect this without a delay of more than a fortnight, and that, in case the wind should be so against him as to prevent him touching, we should go with him to India, for the same sum...”
“12th mo. 29th. ..We came to anchor in Gages Roads, at the Swan River, about half-past seven o'clock in the evening, having been favoured to make this voyage, in little more than two days, from King Georges Sound!”
“12th mo. 30th. Our luggage was sent on shore, by a large boat, at the charge of £3!”