Ship Panama from London

This ship Panama  is, at 1100 tons, twice the size of the one which sailed from London to Melbourne in 1852.

Now this is embarrassing. I have been caught by the oldest trick in the book.  Assuming that there is only one person, or in this case, one ship, of the same name.  Having previously searched through Trove looking for evidence of a ship called Panama arriving in Melbourne in 1852, I lighted upon a ship of that name which was on the California to Melbourne run BUT!!!  there was another one, at 511 tons, which left London for Melbourne in 1852, and that was the one that carried a George Griffiths.

Fortunately I did actually look at the passenger list for the Panama, and all was revealed.  Well, some of it was revealed.  The bit that was revealed was that the Panama had sailed from London, with the Master T S Thomas and 191 statute adult unassisted passengers.   The George Griffiths, aged 26, occupation clerk and an Englishman, arrived in Melbourne in October 1852.

The bit that was not revealed was whether or not this George was my gt gt grandfather George Griffith, a musician from Liverpool. He usually gave an age on records consistent with him being born in 1824, so by 1852 he should have been aged 28.  I don't necessarily expect to find the occupation of musician on the shipping records, but he was certainly sufficiently well educated to have the position of clerk, and this is the most likely occupation to date of any of the George Griffiths' who arrived in Melbourne around this time.

He may, of course, have come to Melbourne via a different port - too difficult to even contemplate at this stage.