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General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Gillg on Thursday 30 July 20 12:03 BST (UK)
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Trying to work out how long the journey from a Huntingdonshire village to Liberty County, Kansas, would have taken in the 1880s. I guess the journey would firstly have taken the travellers to London and from there to Liverpool. The crossing via Ireland to Ellis Island was the next stage, followed by a train journey from New York to Kansas. I'm not including stopovers or time spent in between the various parts of the journey, but there must have been several. I'm still amazed that my 71-year old relative would have undertaken such a journey in those days. Any suggestions?
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Have you identified all the stages or just making assumptions as to most likely route? Ellis Island didn't open until 1892- the earlier clearing station was at Castle Garden.
Not all ships stopped in Ireland. A journey from Liverpool to a Canadian port is also a possibility. And why go to London when they could have gone to say Birmingham then Liverpool.
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Aghadowey
Yes, I am making some assumptions and am till searching for records, but I do have ship's passenger records which indicate that the journey was made from Liverpool to NY via Ireland. As to the train journey within the US, I think they may have had to go from NY to Chicago and then taken the famous Rock Island Line (Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska or Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific line - its name kept changing). Am thinking that they would have travelled to Liverpool via London because other family members were living in London at that time and could have offered accommodation to break the journey. A lot of conjecture in my current thinking, I know, but still trying to work it out.
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Birmingham would be a diversion too. Huntingdon to Manchester via GNR through journey, then Manchester to Liverpool etc.
But is not Huntingdon Kings Cross (GNR) then Waterloo to Southampton (LSWR) a possibility?
Or Huntingdon - Birmingham via Peterborough then BIRMINGHAM to Bristol possible too?
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... I do have ship's passenger records which indicate that the journey was made from Liverpool to NY via Ireland. ...
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GNR route to Manchester then to Liverpool 4-5 hours.
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The transatlantic crossing would have taken about a week.
https://transportgeography.org/?page_id=2135
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Interesting and helpful suggestions - thanks very much, all. :)
I'm still thinking that they would have travelled via London, if only to bid farewell to a daughter living there, as they didn't intend to return to England. They has gone to join other family members in Kansas and settle there with them.
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If they did go via London, then the section within the capital would have been the slowest part of the UK journey. It still is.
I would expect an overnight stay in London. If they completed the trip inside the day they would only have time to wave in the general direction of their daughter.
Also bear in mind that they would have quite a bit of luggage in tow.
I think it would be more likely that their daughter would make a trip back to Huntingdon to say goodbye.
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andrew
That's a good thought. There was one remaining son in the next village, so possible accommodation there for the daughter from London, who could have helped with the packing up. 8 of the remaining children had emigrated to Australia, New Zealand and, of course, to the US, another two having already died in their 30s. The ship, the SS Berlin, definitely departed from Liverpool and made its way to New York via Queenstown, ireland. It was reputed to be a fast ship and they travelled steerage, since they were not well off.
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There was a ship called the SS Berlin sailing to the US in 1885, but from Germany. It may have called at Southampton but not at Liverpool.
It is likely that the ship was the "City of Berlin", which is listed as having eight sailings in 1885.
You can find information for the ship, including pictures and some 1885 timings, at http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=ciber
There's also a copy of a picture on Ancestry in their "New York Port Ship Images" database.
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You're right, it was the SS City of Berlin. One daughter travelled by it in 1877/8, and was followed by her mother and brother later in 1878, also on the same ship. I have seen the photo of the ship, which apparently had just one funnel plus plenty of sails. She was a British ocean liner with a reputation for speed.