TEMPERANCE. – It affords us great 

pleasure to announce the arrival in our harbour of 

a thorough temperance ship. The Bengalee, Capt. 

Hamlin, sails without wine, beer, or grog ! and not 

only does Capt. Hamlin exert his influence, but by 

his example he contributes to the maintenance of the 

principle he has laid down.

The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser of Thursday 10 January 1839

Wines named after “a thorough temperance ship”. You’ve got to love it. Every time you drink a glass of Bengalee you can consider it an act of revenge on behalf of a crew forced to be teetotal all of the way from England to Sydney.

The Bengalee sailed from Hamburg and arrived in Adelaide on November 24th 1838 with 33 passengers, many being part of Pastor Kavel’s congregation. Their migration was sponsored by George Fife Angas. The Bengalee under Captain Thomas Hamlin from Hamlin & Co, Greenock, Scotland. Greenock is now one of the most famous sub-regions of the Barossa Valley.

Greenock

The Barossa Valley town of Greenock is named after Hamlin’s vessel which brought Pastor Kavel’s congregation of Silesian Lutherans to Adelaide in the years 1838 and 1839 and later the Barossa Valley. (Local legend suggest that German settlers moved into the Greenock district and named it ‘Mount Gruneck’which was later anglicised.

The role this group and other German immigrants played in the development of the Barossa Valley has been immense. Originally the German settlers developed farms at Bethany and Langmeil near the future town of Tanunda. From these locations the congregation spread north and west.

Bengalee wines are sourced from vineyards close to the town of Greenock.