SS Great Britain Passenger Lists

[tropicalj]

We do know Ellen who was born 1871 married Henry Herbert Fisher in 1893 in NSW and their descendents (one being my friend Sandra who is Ellen's g grandaughter) moved to Qld but we know nothing about what happened to Ellen's parents or siblings.

I  can not see this marriage on the NSW bdm's?

Jenn

[tropicalj]

Ah ha
I see they married in Qld in 1893  twin  girls born  the same year.

Jenn

[LzzieG]

My apologies Jenn. It was Qld where Ellen and Henry married in 1893. I think I'm starting to go crosseyed after spending so many hours on the internet today trying to find more info on the Whittakers.

Thanks for your message Margaret. It was always going to be a longshot about the SS Great Britain. I shall just have to keep searching through passenger lists until I locate them. 

Lizzie

[Barrie Green]

Hi Lizzie

I have the book 'Is Yours An S.S. Great Britain Family?' as my Manx family Chubbin/Cubbin arrived at Melbourne on it in 1867 on Voyage 30. Then they came on to N Z from there.

I have checked p 93 and there are only 3 Whitaker listed all on voyage 23, 1863. Mrs Hannah, 29, Walter 2 and Maria no age given. So that clears that point up for you.

I'm sure if they had travelled on this ship, family would have talked about it for the rest of their lives - as mine did as the steam voyage was history making and such a change from sailing ships.

The S.S. G.B. is now restored at Bristol, Eng. and I have been on it and aghast as to how small it was.

Only the Salons for the 1st Class had been restored and as my family had travelled out steerage class it would have been interesting to have seen how a family of seven could have been accommodated for the 59 days. I mentioned this to the receptionist as we left saying that a large number of those travelling to Aust/NZ could only have afforded the steerage passage and it would have been interesting to see how they coped, but all I got was a frosty stare! Oh dear! The class system??? I put my foot in it!

 My gm was an infant on the trip but her sisters, 3, 5, and 8 remember how kind the sailors were when they lifted them up to see the icebergs floating past. Warming of the earth then maybe!!

Will do Lookups in the book for anyone else - will try to remember to check this post from time to time.

Good luck with your research - Faith Green   N Z

[MarieC]

Hi Faith

I knew that the SS "Great Britain" had been restored and was in Bristol, but was very interested to read your experiences of visiting it, and how small you found it!

My gggrandmother Margaret Anne Cameron (Mrs Donald Charles Cameron) came on it with her children in the 1850s.  I have those details.  However, her husband came a couple of years earlier, and I have not been able to find details of his passage.  Would you please check to see if there is a Donald Charles Cameron in the 1850s?  He would probably have been in his early forties. 

Also, it's possible my ggrandfather William Justin Beauchamp Cameron came on it in 1860.  Would you mind checking for him?  He may appear under William Cameron or Beauchamp Cameron.

Thanks very much!

MarieC

[Barrie Green]

Hello Marie C
Only too glad to help but....

Voyages to Australia, Melbourne started with Voyage No. 9 in 1852 and ceased with Voyage 44 in 1875. The passenger lists for voyages 18 ( Dec1859), 19 (July 1860) and 44 (Aug 1875) have not survived .

Your Camerons do not appear definitely with the names you have given me. Some are just Mr. and Mrs. etc but families are kept together. However, all have ages.

If you could give me their approx birth year I'll do a quick bit of maths and maybe that will clear things up as they say the handwriting on the Passenger Lists was hard to decipher at times.

Also the chn's names of the family which came out with Margaret Anne Cameron as there are several families with a 'Mrs' Cameron.

We in NZ are shocked at your Q. Floods! Feel so sorry for you if that's where you are. And the terrible bush fires near Melbourne - our sympathy goes out to everyone.

Faith   

[MarieC]

Hi Faith,

Don't worry about Margaret Anne Cameron and her children - I'm pretty confident that I have them (probably on the old computer, which I haven't yet got to communicate with the new computer!  )

Donald Charles Cameron was born ca 1812 - I don't have his exact year of birth.  William Justin Beauchamp Cameron (commonly known as Beauchamp Cameron) was born in 1845.  These are the two I would love to find!

Thank you for your expressions of sympathy!  I am in southern Queensland, nowhere near the floods - in fact, we are in drought and our city's water supply dams sit at just over 10%!    There are terrible tragedies to the north and south of us.  The bushfires are getting most of the air time, but the hardships of North Queenslanders are just as intense, though there has not been the enormous loss of human life.

MarieC

[Barrie Green]

Here we go MarieC - I've done every William or W Cameron except a 1 yr old one and one who was heading to Otago, NZ,  there's only a few of them.

Cameron W R (could this be W B?) 28 yrs, Voyage 24, departed L'pool 15-10-1863    took 63 days

Cameron William , Labourer,18 years, Voyage 25
departed L,pool 26-5-1864  took 60 days

Cameron William, 25 yrs  Irish  Voyage 28,
departed L'Pool 18-2-66    took 58 days

Cameron Don     29 yrs  merchant Scot  Voyage 41 
departed L'pool 27-10-1873     took 41 days

So there was only one Donald and no Charles - the males all had their given names or initials.

There is no sign of a J or a B to fit in with W J B Cameron either.

Otherwise they could be on the first 2 missing passenger lists which were 11-12-1859 and 20-7-1860. At least that might narrow it down. Check Melbourne papers of that time on the Internet, as the Shipping News usually had passengers listed, especially with ships arriving from England.

It's so frustrating isn't it to be so close but unable to finalise the trips.  that's why I called my book about my Manx family "Threads and Patches". The threads were the pieces of data, the patches were when something was solved or changed but the Holes left were the unanswered questions!

Good excuse anyway!

Do let me know if I can help further.

Faith

[MarieC]

Hi Faith! 

Thank you so much for doing all that searching for me - I really appreciate it!

I think there's a good chance that WJB Cameron came on one of those missing passenger lists, probably the 1860 one.  D**n!  And as Margaret Anne Cameron came in 1853 on the Great Britain (I've just found my stuff on her!), maybe Donald Charles came a couple of years earlier, on a different ship.  I and others have searched for him on passenger lists, but not found him. 

Never mind.  "Threads and Patches" is an excellent metaphor for this!

Thanks again, Faith!

MarieC