Who was Rachel Henning?
Rachel Henning was a passenger on board the SS Great Britain whose diary has allowed us to learn more about life on board the SS Great Britain.
Rachel Henning was a brave Victorian woman who ended up challenging societal norms and leading a fascinating life in 1800s Australia.
She originally moved to Australia in 1854 but found it a world apart from her upper-class world in Somerset struggling to settle in with the cultural changes and the hotter climate. However, following her return to Australia in 1861, it was the sense of freedom from the conventions of English society which made her stay.
She wrote a diary on her second voyage, recording her experience of traveling from Liverpool to Melbourne on board the SS Great Britain, February to May 1861.
Watch Head of Collections Joanna, share Rachel’s story
Early life:
o Rachel Biddulph Henning was born in England on 29th April 1826, the daughter of a clergyman and the eldest of five (surviving) children.
o Lost both her mother and father by age nineteen, and as such became the head of the family.
o They lived around Taunton and Exeter after their parents died, eventually moving to Somerset after an uncle died and left them his home.
o Her brother Biddulph was first persuaded to move to Australia due to poor health throughout his youth, resulting from the scarlet fever which had killed two of his siblings.
1854 Voyage
o Rachel and her sister Amy initially travelled to Australia in 1854 on the Calcutta. They were following their brother Biddulph and sister Annie who had travelled there on the Great Britain in 1853 to improve Biddulph’s health.
o Rachel found herself out of her element both socially and intellectually. She hated the heat, she was homesick and she didn’t feel that she was any use to her brother. Homesick, and resigned, she returned to England in 1856.
1861 Voyage
o She returned to Australia in 1861, travelling on the Great Britain.
o Rachel kept a detailed diary of her experiences on board. Highlights included the discovery of a stowaway who became the surgeon’s assistant, a visit to the engine room in her long Victorian dress and the birth of a baby who was named after the ship’s captain, doctor, and newspaper: John Gray Morland Hocken Great Britain Magazine!
You can read extracts from her diary by clicking here.
o Her adventures included crossing dangerous creeks, admiring mountain ranges and even feasting on eels out in the countryside. She ended up living a life that would have been unimaginable back in the UK.
o Rachel married Deighton Taylor, who worked on her brother’s farm. The marriage was not welcomed by the family as they thought he was ‘not good enough’ and socially below her. However, she felt fulfilled by her life in Australia and explained to her sister in a letter ‘I doubt if there is anyone else in the world who would have made me so happy or whom I could have made thoroughly happy. You know I am not the most patient of tempers.’
o Eventually the Henning sisters were reunited. Rachel and Annie both widowed chose to live together in old age.
Adopt Rachel’s Diary
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