Can anyone read this please?

[Lady Di]

Hi Folks,

Attached (I hope) is part of a Passenger list when my ancestors came to Australia (1853)

I can read the line that says:

Mr and Mrs Medcalf (actually says Metcalf, I think)
I cannot work out exactly if the following line is Mr/Mrs or Miss Medcalf
Next line is "Six Children"

The Person in the middle is not supposed to be there and as far as I am aware, he/she wasn't part of the family - all very strange as they certainly appear as they are all together.

Suggestions please as to Male or Female, and what is the little bit after her/his name?

(I hope the list comes out in a readable fashion)

Many Thanks
Di

[suey]

Heres my first guess...

Mr and Mrs Metcalf

Mr Metcalf and

six children

Suey

[mc8]

Heres my first guess...

Mr and Mrs Metcalf

Mr Metcalf and

six children

Suey

yes-exactly what I thought
is Messrs or Misses smiths?

[bearkat]

The little bit after her/his name - is it 6

[lizdb]

I agree with :
Mr and Mrs Medcalf
Mr Medcalf and
six children.

Looks like either grandad went with them, or eldest child was classed as an adult (i.e 7 children but oldest was over 16, or 14 or 18 or whatever age you had to pay full fare for!)

[Lady Di]

Thank you to everyone who answered.

Looks like it was a Mr Medcalf who was a hitch hiker to my family.

I didn't mean for the picture to be so large - but it certainly made it easier to read - didn't look that good on my screen

Grand Father had died 30 years prior to trip. Uncles are accounted for and eldest child (of 6) was 13. They left Gravesend on the ship MERIDIAN and were shipwrecked on Amsterdam island in the Indian ocean, picked up by a Whaler (The Monmouth) and taken to Mauritius, finally left there on the Emma Colvin to Melbourne. Shipping Lists on all ships DO NOT include the extra "man", but he obviously appears to be part of the family, doesn't he?

Family left Melbourne for Sydney (NOW INCLUDING THE NEW FAMILY MEMBER) and they arrived exactly 12 months after leaving England - must have been the longest trip for any immigrant ever undertaken.

Any suggestions on how to find out who my hitch hiker is? 

Many thanks for your very able assistance

Merry Christmas to all
Regards
Di
 

[loo]

It's not entirely clear to me that the mystery traveller is a "Mr".  Could it not also be a Mrs or even Miss?
Could it even be that the writer got distracted by some of the 6 children, and repeated himself in writing things down?  Perhaps there wasn't an extra person at all.  I can't figure how you would acquire an extra adult body part-way through unless a male got married along the way, and this was a Mrs., but I don't see that there are any eligible males.
     
Such a sloppy writer - tsk tsk!

[Lady Di]

THANK YOU loo

I also thought "it" was a Mrs - just my guess only. (My logic was that if it was a single adult male he would have had his name above/below the family unit - not in the middle.)

I do happen to be missing an Aunt (Mrs Medcalf) - but she may have remarried and is not on freebmd yet.

I think the best I can call the person is "a family member" 

Still don't know how to find her/him?

Looking for Mr/Mrs Medcalf on shipping lists for unknown period of time is a bit daunting.

Regards
Di

[lizdb]

Is it possible a 7th child was born en route, and eldest child was listed separately (perhaps over 13 was 'adult' rate in those days) Would explain why he is listed between the parents and the younger children.

Just a thought.

I think it definitely says Mr for this person, no doubt in my mind.