Delhi Durbar 1902-03

[HughC]

My grandmother went to stay with her brother at the time of the Durbar, new year 1902-03, and they evidently had a gay social time.

Her diary starts on 19 Nov. 1902, though I suspect she had already been there a few days.
Can anyone tell me when the SS Caledonia left Britain and when it arrived in Bombay around that time?

The voyage back to England started on 16 May 1903.  Disappointingly, no account of the journey (in either direction) has survived.

[ShaunJ]

The Caledonia left London on 24 October. Note though that many passengers took the "P&O Express" to Dover, crossed the channel and travelled to Marseilles by train to join the ship there a week or so later. She was expected in Bombay on November 15th - I'll look for the actual date of arrival.

[ShaunJ]

She arrived at Bombay on 14th.

[HughC]

Thank you, Shaun, for a most speedy and helpful reply.

The diary is tantalizing because it doesn't explain who any of the people were whom they met or were invited to meals with (or even to stay a night).

[ShaunJ]

Have you found her on a passenger list?

[HughC]

Not found in a passenger list at Ancestry; haven't had a chance to try Findmypast.
But from various remarks in the course of the diary there's no doubt she was on that ship.
Definitely boarded it in Bombay for the return journey on 16 May 1903, then complained it was too hot to write, and there the diary ends (rather frustratingly).

Incidentally, it was during that stay in India that she met my grandfather.  At the time he was married to someone else, who died a couple of years later (we think from consumption aggravated by the strain of childbirth).  It would be interesting to know when & where they next met, and whether it was a whirlwind romance or just a mariage de convenance for him, needing a mother for his two small children.  Noble of her to take them on, I feel.