Grenada 1821

6 June 1821; serving Lime juice and sugar to the guard and convicts,… gave permission to dance.

Surgeon-superintendent, Peter Cunningham was noted for encouraging the convicts in his charge to dance. His medical journal of the convict ship, Grenada, was kept from 28 March to 20 September 1821 during its voyage to New South Wales. The journal contains daily sick records, details of ship’s movements and weather conditions, thermometer readings and also includes a daily narrative of activity on board ship, including this one reference to dancing.

See also Cunningham’s reference to convicts in transit from hulks to transports, and the convict performance of the play The Forty Thieves.