Captain Patrick Campbell received a letter of marque on 20 January 1794. "Surprize" left England on 2 May with 33 male and 58 female convicts. The guards consisted of an ensign, a sergeant, and 23 privates of the New South Wales Corps. Among the privates were six men who were deserters from other British regiments and who chose the Corps over remaining in gaol; one was a mutineer from Quebec. On the vessel were four Scottish Martyrs, the political prisoners Thomas Muir, Thomas Fyshe Palmer, William Skirving, and Maurice Margarot. The surgeon for the voyage was James Thompson.