Hi
My Great parents were married (both in their mid-twenties) March 1892, lived and worked in Barton Bendish near Swaffham Norfolk.
By the 2nd April 1892 they were on board the “City of Berlin” sailing from Liverpool to the USA.
Would anyone have any knowledge of how:
Would they travel to Liverpool from Norfolk plus cost.
Would they arrange their boat tickets plus cost.
Finally arranging their accommodation in advance for when they arrived in the USA.
If we were to do it today it would be so easy just sit in front of the PC at home.
Regards
Hello
Have you considered that they may have been supported and sponsored by the local Poor Law Board or a Church based Charity as were many others?
In which case there may be note of them in the local Union Records.
If they were purely private immigrants arranging things themselves, then travel from Norfolk to Liverpool may have been by stagecoach (unlikely) or horse and cart which would have been sold at Liverpool Docks or given to a relative travelling with them before boarding the ship.
Ship tickets could be bought on the Dock which is most likely as they had only just married. USA accommodation would most likely have been ad hoc, or had been pre-arranged by a sponsor, once they had passed through immigration. Like now, it wasn't just a case of getting on and stepping off a boat. Various official documents had to be cleared and checked first. That could take days.
After the 1875 Page Act many immigrants were denied access to the USA, being considered undesirables.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page_Act_of_1875 This would not have affected your ancestors unless they had a criminal record, but is worth knowing about.
After about 1885 America was becoming concerned that it was being used as a dumping ground and began to fear the new arrivals from Europe and Russia.
A very useful peice of information on USA immigration can be found on Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_immigration_to_the_United_StatesHope this helps a bit.
Vicwinann
Show Posts