Emigrating to USA in 1892

[Ridgeback]

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

[Vicwinann]

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_States
Hope this helps a bit.
Vicwinann

[Erato]

In 1892 they would have gone through Ellis Island.

http://www.ellisisland.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_Island

[Ridgeback]

Thank you both for your replies, I did wonder if they would have travelled to Liverpool by train, had not even thought of horse and cart, a long way to go by that means. I will research the Local Union records

I have done some research on the Ellis Island Org (see attachment).

After my Great Grandparents arrived in the US  it was only to be a short stay, my GGF sadly died Feb 1893 leaving his wife and a newly born son. GGM decided to return back to the UK with her 2 month old son Apr 1893, that must have been hard for her.

Thanks again

[Elwyn Soutter]

Would anyone have any knowledge of how:

Would they travel to Liverpool from Norfolk plus cost.

Would they arrange their boat tickets plus cost.

I have no knowledge of the specific arrangements for Norfolk, but I have encountered  a lot of people from Ireland who emigrated via Liverpool. Their position was pretty similar to travel from Norfolk. Typically that involved a train journey across Ireland to Dublin or Belfast and then a ferry to Liverpool. In my experience, the agent that they booked the transatlantic voyage arranged the domestic journey too. (Sometimes this was free, as there was a lot of competition for the business). So in my opinion, based on what happened in Ireland, the travel to Liverpool from Norfolk (which I am sure was by train in the 1890s) was probably arranged by the agent (in Norfolk) and included in the price.

I have attached a link from the 1850s in Ireland which, although 40 years earlier, shows that shipping companies had local agents all round the country where you could book your ticket. There was already a package deal approach to travel to America and elsewhere including, where necessary, a couple of nights in a seedy lodging house in Liverpool, and compensation of a shilling a day if you were delayed. (An approach to passenger handling I think some modern low cost airlines might continue today if they could).

http://www.finnvalley.ie/history/emigration/index.html

[Ridgeback]

Thanks for the link Elwyn a very interesting article.

Regards