Hi everyone,
A Google search brought up a very old mention of the Niagara in this Common Room, way back in 2008, and as I don't know where else to start I thought I'd come to the same place.
Can anyone point me to a Crew and Passenger List for the ship RMS NIAGARA (No 135193) which left Sydney on 13 Nov 1916 for Vancouver?
I have a very pressing need to find this. My grandfather, Alfred Ernest Hammond (born 16 Feb 1884 in Battersea) was a Ship's Steward since January 1913. He wrote to my grandmother telling her that he was catching this ship, and possibly then settling in Canada. The Purser's Office was convinced that he had been seen on the ship, but there is no record off him having disembarked. Moreover, his Union reported that he had not joined another ship since he left his previous one.
At the time, the usual searches brought no news to my grandmother, and Alfred was eventually declared to be "missing, presumed dead". I am hoping that now, with so many records digitised, I may be able to throw some light on the matter.
It's actually a very intriguing story, even though it lacks an ending, and I have the ship's papers, photos, descriptions, even menu cards and route maps, for all his previous worldwide voyages on the Tainui (where he survived its near-sinking in a collision), Philadelphia, Osterley, Marama, Canberra, Indarra, and (on previous voyages) Niagara.