Chapter 4: Life on the Hulk Ship Euryalus

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What a way to start my teenage life I was moved to the hulk ship Euryalus that was moored at Chatham, on 22 July 1833, (five days before I turned 13). Because I was only 12 years old I could not be transported till I was fourteen so I was stuck here for a year.   

 Life on Euryalus was not too bad except my personal freedom had been taken away and I was missing my family terribly, but otherwise I never had been so well looked after. As well as basic accommodation and regular food, I got a little education and some health care for the first time.

There were only boy on the Euryalus ranging from ten to seventeen. Because we were young we were treated a bit easier than the older convict.

Our day started at 5am time to pack up our hammocks and wash. Chapel was at 5.30am and then breakfast at 6am. Next we had to clean our ward and at 8am we start work, making cloths, all this had to be done in silence. Dinner at noon followed by an hour on deck for exercise. At 2pm some went for lessons but others like me went back to work. Supper was at 5.30 pm followed by another hour on deck before muster, then prayers and bed at 8pm.

For me it was the silence and the confinement that were the hardest to take for they were both unnatural.

The year passed slowly, and then I was bound for a new adventure.