MORTALITY ON IMMIGRANT VOYAGES TO AUSTRALIA IN THE 19TH-CENTURY

The seaboard population of European immigrants to Australia after the mid1850s was probably the first such group whose adult mortality rate at sea was reduced to that on land. We calculate monthly death rates for various age classes and use novel regression techniques to estimate the correlates of mortality. For adults, the main characteristics associated with mortality were length of voyage and degree of crowding. For children and infants, these characteristics were even more highly associated with mortality, as was the tonnage of the vessel. The analysis highlights the special dangers faced by infants from infectious diseases aboard ship. © 1990.