On 31 May 1836
Katherine Stewart Forbes arrived at Portsmouth from
Jersey. She carried the depot of the 1st Battalion, the Rifle Brigade, numbering 13 officers and 218 other ranks. She then went into dock for refitting.
1837: Gravesend to Adelaide She sailed from
Gravesend on 27 July 1837 under the command of Captain Alfred Fell and arrived at Holdfast Bay, South Australia, on 17 October 1837. She carried 177 passengers, who came from England and Ireland. There were six aged over thirty, of whom five paid their own way. There were 129 aged between fifteen and thirty, of whom only four were required to pay, and there were forty-two aged under fifteen, all of whom were granted free passage. The voyage left England one month after
King William IV died and Princess Victoria was ascended to the throne. On
Katherine Stewart Forbess arrival at
Adelaide a public proclamation was made regarding the death of King William IV and the accession of Queen Victoria.
1838: Launceston to Port Adelaide Katherine Stewart Forbes departed
Launceston, and arrived
Port Adelaide on 17 June 1838. The only recorded passenger was Mr John Brown.
1839: London to Adelaide She departed London on 20 October 1838 and after a stop at the
Cape of Good Hope, she arrived in Adelaide on 21 March 1839.
1840: Adelaide to London Katherine Stewart Forbes departed Port Adelaide on 11 April 1840, carrying with her the former Governor of South Australia,
George Gawler, his
aide-de-camp,
James Collins Hawker and his gardener and
Derbyshire botanist,
Joseph Whittaker. The vessel was delayed for five days at
Kingscote on
Kangaroo Island in order to fill with wood and water for the journey. She then called in at
Mauritius and
St Helena and then stopped at
Corvo in the
Azores for just two hours to obtain provisions. The vessel reached England on 23 September 1840. The journey back to England was described in some detail in Hawker's 1899 book,
Early Experiences in South Australia. Pressed plant specimens collected by Joseph Whittaker from the island stops that
Katherine Steward Forbes made en route were subsequently supplied to Kew Gardens.
1841: London to Wellington Under Captain John Hobbs,
Katherine Stewart Forbes left Gravesend on 5 February 1841 and arrived at
Port Nicholson on 24 June with 176 emigrants.
1842?: Sarawak Between 1841 and 1843, J.S.Hobbs, hydrographer, of
Katharine Stewart Forbes, master John Hobbs, made a 'Sketch of part of the N.W.Coast of Borneo showing the approaches to and entrances of the Sarawak River'. This map was then drawn up in London and sent by
Henry Wise to the Admiralty in November 1843. The map notes two anchorages, at one of which 'Katharine S.Forbes anchored and loaded Cargo'. In 1846 she underwent a large repair.
1850: Adelaide to Port Jackson Under Captain William Wright, she made a coastal voyage with passengers.
1851: London to Auckland Under Captain William Wright,
Katharine Stewart Forbes left St Katherine's Dock on 22 October 1851 and arrived at
Auckland on 9 March with 65 emigrants. ==Fate==