First Gold Cargoes Home.
The first ship to land Australian gold in the British Isles was admitted by most people to be the smart little Aberdeen White Star liner Phoenician, commanded by Captain Sproat, a great passage maker. She arrived off Plymouth on 3rd February, 1852, after a passage of 83 days from Sydney. This was considered a record for the run home. She brought 74 packages of gold dust, valued at £81,000.
The first ship to arrive in Liverpool with a gold cargo was the Eagle Line packet, Albatross, Captain Gieves. She arrived on 31st August, 1852, with £50,000 of gold dust; but, what was far more remarkable, was that she arrived with the same crew to a man with which she had left England.
This was a very different experience to that of her sister ship, the Eagle, which left Port Phillip on the 2nd September, after waiting six months for a crew, and then paying between £50 and £60 per man for the run home. Apparently though, the Eagle’s expensive crew were worth their money, for she made the quickest passage ever known up to that date, arriving in the Downs on the 78th day out. She also had a record gold shipment of 150,000 ounces.