The Pestonjee Bomanjee was a wooden sailing ship built in 1834 by James Lang of Dumbarton, Scotland. She was a three-masted wooden barque of 595 tons, 130 feet in length, 31.5 feet in breadth, first owned by John Miller Jnr and Company, Glasgow. Her last-known registered owner in 1861 was Patrick Keith & George Ross, Calcutta. The Pestonjee Bomanjee was built for East India service, and undertook a number of journeys between the United Kingdom and the Australian colonies. In 1838 she undertook a journey from London to South Australia, carrying with her George Gawler who had been appointed as the second governor of South Australia, in succession to Captain John Hindmarsh, who had been recalled. Gawler and his wife, children, gardener, and future aide-de-camp arrived on the Pestonjee Bomanjee on 12 October 1838, after a four month journey to Adelaide via Tenerife and Rio de Janeiro. In 1841 her master, Captain Stead, was attacked and murdered by a gang of Chinese villagers in the Chusan Islands. For the latter part of her service she was used as a convict ship. In 1848 the vessel was felted and its hull sheathed in 'yellow metal' to protect it from damage by marine growths.
Voyages
1838 Sailed London to Holdfast Bay, S Australia. Captain J K Hill.
1845, 1847, 1849 & 1852 voyages to Van Dieman's Land as a convict ship.
1845 Departed Woolwich, England 6 September 1845; Arrived 30 December 1845 Captain Jn Austin. Surgeon: J. W. Johnston.
1850/1851 Departed London via Portsmouth 30 October 1850; Arrived Port Adelaide 17 February 1852 Captain Ed.Pavey
1852 Departed Plymouth 18 April 1852; Arrived Hobart 31 July 1852. Master: Captain Edward Montgomery. Surgeon: Daniel Ritchie.
1854 Emigrant voyage. Departed Southampton 18 June 1854; Arrived Port Adelaide, South Australia7 October 1854. Captain Edward Montgomery. Surgeon: William H. Motherall.
