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SHIPS, by Paul Peterson

They were big ships, larger than anything people had seen in their entire lifetime and they actually moved...slow...lumbering...unstopable. The Dreadnaughts plowed the wild Irish sea and ordinary men stood at the rail and dreamed about having a farm, their own farm. America in the 1850s was a place of free land giveaway's of homesteads and hearths...and all you had to do was get there and get there they did, in great waves of humanity, millions and millions of them, and it all started with ships.

There was a bubbling mass of energy and excitement in America in the 1850s, most of it brought on by the invention of technology. Indeed, the Columbia Exposition of 1890 was a showcase of technology for the masses. There was a steam engine on display as big as a 4 story building, it worked! and it dazzled everyone. But just as impressive was the electric light, the telephone and the telegraph. It was an age of possibilities, of things that could be done, of dreams that seemed reachable, BIG dreams that matched a big brave new world, a world where streets were paved with gold. It was a new start, a new beginning and it started with words "We're Going To America" and it started with ships.

Before Ellis island there was Castle Garden, a big old barn of a building pictured as shingled...they got off the boat en masse' and walked (1st class rode in horse carriages) to the processing center under the watchful eye of many guards...inside the processing center they sat on wooden bench's awaiting their names to be called for a physical exam and again for an immigration interview, one tried not to cough too much...the central hall was a hodge-podge of noise, kids crying and different languages being spoken...they huddled on the bench's saying prayers and hoping against hope they would be acceptable...it was faith and hope that got them this far...they had braved wind tossed seas on so-called "cattle-boats" with poor food, drinking water and sanitation.

After the INS interview, several hours later, if they were accepted, they gathered up their meager belongings. The old suitcase and the box's and went though the "out" door on to the street...where they were pounded on by a multitude of thieves, union army recruiters, salvation army evangelists, ethnic organization representatives and hawker's of all sorts...If the inside of the building was a mass of confusion the outside street was pandemonium and a circus all at once.

If it was raining they got wet, and many ships arrived in the dead of winter...the immigrant was on their own to find help or directions. Bewildered, poorly clothed for the miserable New York weather, and often alone in a strange new world, they somehow made their way to a new life...though many did not...there was a public outcry in the 1860's over the "deplorable" conditions on the docks where newly arrived immigrants were often robbed and killed.

Our ancestors did for themselves...and their children, they made it though the rain and got a point of view. They gave to us the gift of hope, of life in a new world, a new beginning, and a remembrance of times past when life held little or no hope...They did it on faith alone(and the echo's of the shipping line boy's who ran through the streets back in the old country extolling the glory's of the new world, of America, where men lived free, where land was given to all who wanted it...simply for the asking)...They did it because they wanted better...and they left to you and me a legacy that yearns to breath free, a circle of people, events and promise that somehow strains to be known...It is, to this knowledge that we all work with dilgence and patience in seeking our family history...and somewhere along the way of our search we too have hope...hope that they, as yet unnamed and unknown, will know that we remembered, that their struggle was not in vain, that we know and appreciate what they did...which was, after all, done for us.

Lyttelton Times

The Charlotte Jane, Capt. Alexander Lawrence, Commander, left Plymouth sound at midnight on Saturday the 7th of September. She sighted Stewart’s Island on Wednesday, the 11th of December, and cast anchor off Port Lyttelton on
Monday the 16th of December, at 10 o’clock, thus making her passage in 93 days form land to land, or 99 days form port to port. She carried 26 chief cabin, 19 intermediate and 80 steerage passengers. The Rev. Mr. Kingdon, Chaplain, Alfred Barker, Esq., Surgeon Superintendent.

During the voyage, the usual domestic occurrences of an emigrant ship then occurred, of births 1, marriages 1 and deaths 3, the last being cases of very young children who embarked with the seal of death on their foreheads,
one even died before the ship took the departure, and was buried on shore at Plymouth.

The course of the Charlotte Jane lay inside the Madeira and Canary Islands lay inside the Madeira and Canary Islands. She sighted Porto Santo, one of the Madeiras, on the 17th of September, and on the 19th, Teneriffe and Palma, steering close to the latter. Here she met the N. E. Trades, which gave her but feeble assistance, and left her in about lat. 18 degrees north. Her course was then south- easterly, and in about 6 degrees north, she was driven by currents and foul winds to the eastward as far as long 16 west. Here she met a N. W. wind, under which she again stood to the southward, crossing the line on the 9th October, in long. 19 degrees west.

In lat. 2 28’, she entered the S. E. trades, which carried her rapidly over 20 degrees of latitude. On the 12th of October, she spoke the Zeno of Richmond, U. S., from Benguela to New York, and sent letters to England. Her
course then was speedily run southward and south easterly. On the 29th of October nearing Tristan d’ Acunha, she made 250 miles in the 24 hours, the largest day’s run during voyage. From Tristan d’ Acunha, which to the
disappointment of many she did not approach near enough to sight, she steered S. S. E., with a fresh N. W. wind and crossed the meridian of Greenwich on the 29th of October. South eastward still to Desolation Island with strong gales, a dreary drive of three weeks in cold and rain, with no perceptible change in the sea, the sky, or the Cape pigeons in the wake.
Desolation Island passed, she encountered the first foul wind from the eastward, and ran south bearing up again, she ran beautifully on promising a rapid passage, till the 110th degree of east long. Here for a week E. and N. E. winds prevailed, and drove her to the southward, not only out of her course, but to the extreme cold of lat. 52 26’ the furtherest point of the southing reached. Here bets which had previously been freely given in favour
of 95 days and 98 days from port to port, were now freely taken about 105, 110 or even 120 days, she being then 88 days out. However the wind soon changed, and after a splendid run abreast of the Australian coast she at
last mad the land in the afternoon of the 11th of December. Passing close inside the ‘traps’ she was becalmed and baffled for four days on the coast, giving the delighted passengers, as she stood off and on, glimpses of the
coast at Foveaux Straits, Molyneux and Taieri Rivers, Otago and Banks Peninsula.

On Monday morning early she stood into Port Victoria, and earned the proud distinction of being the first ship to land emigrants on the shores of the Canterbury Settlement.

From hence forward the age of the Colony will be described as dating from the arrival of the Charlotte Jane.

Little need be said beyond this sketch of the ships course to describe the voyage. The passengers had their share of the manifold discomforts which go to make a sea voyage a bye word for discomfort. Extreme heat, and extreme
cold, confinement and ennui, are the lot of every Australasian voyager. But whether it was that with this courageous little baud a spirit of hope prophesied better things beyond, or the colonist spirit of resolution was
strong, disregarding petty present evils, while greater menaced at a distance:- or whether it was that the unceasing attention to the wants of all, which characterised the management of the Charlotte Jane, smoothed
everything, it may be safely said that by no party of passengers have discomforts been more patiently endured, by none more easily forgotten.

Of amusements, two manuscript newspapers, or weekly magazines, "The Cockroach", and "The Sea-pie", conducted with much spirit and ability afforded a fund throughout. The wonders of the deep, as they successively
presented themselves, were unfailing in interest and delight, interpreted as they were by an enthusiastic naturalist, the excellent surgeon superintendent. Then there was the maritime, if not manly game of shuffle
katy, the foil and single stick, the piano and the song, and during the fine weather the light fantastic toe. At on time a passion for building model Colonial houses animated the ship, designs and models were in every one’s
hands, and the subject on everyone’s lip, at another, ship building was in vogue, and craft designed on the most courageously ingenious principles, to supersede all existing theories, were modelled, and calmly lectured on.
Thus, as probably with every ship that makes the voyage, time flew rapidly away, anxious and more anxious grew impatient the expectations of the land sick passengers. At How gladly then, Sick of the uncomfortable ocean,
The impatient passengers approach the shore,
Escaping from the sense of endless motion,
To feel firm earth beneath their feet once more,
To breath again the air,
With taint of bilge and cordage undefiled,
And drink of living springs, if there they may,
And with fresh fruits and wholesome food repair,
Their spirits weary of the watery way.
And oh how beautiful,
The things of earth appear,
To eyes that far and near,
For many a week have seen,
Only the circle of the restless sea!
With what a fresh delight,
They gaze again on fields and forests green,
Hovel, or whatsoever,
May wear the trace of man’s industrious hand,
How grateful to their sight,
The shore of shelving sand,
As the light boat moves joyfully to land.last the breeze became softer, and to the sanguine
seemed to smell of land, and one afternoon while all were eager on the look out, the loom was seen by several at once. New Zealand was made, and the voyage was done.

SOUTHBY
The only general observation that occurs to us as suggested by the voyage is that of pronouncing it highly injudicious for emigrant vessels to run so far to the southward as the latitude in which the Charlotte Jane made her east
course. The temptation of thus gaining a rapid passage is doubtless very great, but the utmost speed cannot compensate to poor emigrants for the miseries thereby inflicted on them. It is almost impossible on board ship to
escape from cold, and from rain and spray, the only refuge is by huddling under hatches in dirt and darkness. The beds can never be properly aired on deck, and this single consideration should be sufficient to induce the
authorities at home to prescribe a rule on the subject. A grievous loss to the colony was in this instance caused by the extreme cold to which the ship was exposed, out of six couple of partridges and four couple of pheasants,
which up to that time had continued healthy and lively, only one couple of pheasants and one partridge survived the damp and dreary climate of Desolation Island. Our excellent Captain, in this instance, tried the southern passage, having a comfortable and not over crowded vessel, and
succeeded in accomplishing a rapid passage, but in his own opinion, the preferable course for emigrant ships bound for Lyttelton would be along the latitude of Bass’s Straits, through Cook’s Straits, and down the coast with
the prevailing north east wind. Very few more years will set the question at rest for ever.
ends Charlotte Jane.

A SAD TALE OF DESTROYED DOCUMENTS

Bremen Passenger lists were destroyed
With much personal regret, I tell you that no pre-1921
lists of passengers LEAVING Bremen exist today. The city council of Bremen passed a ordinance in 1832 requiring companies transporting emigrants to file a list of all passengers with the city's emmigration department
which contained emmigrant's name, age, occupation, and place of origin. Between 1875 and 1909, the lists dating from 1832 were destroyed by the city archivist for lack of storage space (if you can believe this tragedy!), and the lists covering the years 1910-1920 were destroyed during the bombing raids of WW II. However, other records can be used as substitutes for the missing passenger lists in some cases. Some Bremen/Bremerhaven ships turned in copies of the detailed lists prepared for officials in Bremen to U.S. Officials at the port of debarkation. Gary Zimmerman and Marion Wolfert have indexed Bremen/Bremerhaven passenger lists turned in at New York in their four volume work, "Lists of Passengers Bound from Bremen to New York 1847-1867, with Place of Origin," (Genealogical Publishing Co.). Additionally, the multi-volume series "Germans to America" provides places of origin as they are listed in passenger
lists filed at Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports of the United States. A caveat though - many places of origin in "Germans to America" were not listed, or were very general in nature.
The majority of the information above comes from an
article in the March/April 1998 issue of Ancestry Magazine titled,"German Ports: Gateways to America," authored by Raymond S. Wright, III, Ph.D., AG . . . so if anyone has disagreement with what is stated above, contact Dr. Wright through the magazine (read; don't shoot the messenger!).

SHIPS BISCUITS
were supposed to be 'emergency rations', although owners
often shipped inadequate food, and lots of ships biscuits. The biscuits were just floor and water and were something like dog biscuits. Stored in a barrel, they sometimes became damp, and got maggots in them ('Oh yum...protein'). Mariners didn't care much for them. They might be
dipped in some broth and then eaten... they were usually called 'hardtack', were most unpalatable, and were definitely not very nourishing. They kept the ribs apart, that's all. Soda biscuits would be a very charitable comparison.

A human side to the "biscuit' saga...
this information is taken from Mary Gilmour's "Old Days Old Ways." and is an autentic story.. The Gilmours where pioneer families in Australia..c 1840's.. and this particular reference was about an ex Yarmouth sailorman
who had served on vessels, whaling ships, slave trading etc..and used to call at her father's property...

"...yet even inland in Riverina, he longed for biscuit as he had never loved nor longed for bread. SO much he loved it, that, whenever he was near enough to a port town, he laid up a supply, keeping it as a stand-by,sparing it as
much as he could, and eating it slow as men spared and took snuff on the roads that were then but as the flight of a bird and where to them the only lamp was the North Start they ever saw....he talked so wonderfully to me of
ships biscuits that I pleaded for a bit. he had only one left ,he said, and resisted my pleading. But to please a child who had lived in his life as he told it, there came a day when unroped and unrolled his sway dirty grey
blankets that smelt of tobacco, grease and his body] and out of the heart of it he took what looked like a piece of wood, tooth-gnawed at the edges. With a hatchet he broke off a fragment. It was stale with old must and smelt
like the blankets..........."

http://www.mariner.org/age/sea_biscuits.html

"And 1st Oatmeal, and cutlings are much used, molasses also; potatoes are
of the greatest value, nothing more so in my judgment. Salt, or hung beef,
pork, bacon or hams, are all excellent in their use; veal when salted, and
afterwards watered, then boiled with beef or bacon, will produce a soup
very desirable. One family here, brought a quantity of fowl in pickle,
which when watered, eat very delicious. Coffee is much preferable to tea,
the water being so bad, as to render the tea rather insipid and tasteless:
bottled ale is good for drink, but in my opinion, cyder when mixed through
water, is a much better and cooler
drink for the stomach than any other; a constant thirst being common to all
on sea. As to spices, pepper, and ginger is mostly used. Flour is
essentially necessary; cake bread or pan cakes being very applicable to
weak constitutions. Eggs are much used, and when well grazed, or put in
salt pickle for six hours, and well packed, will keep fresh a considerable
time, this I found by
experience. Good port wine is very reviving on sea, when used moderately;
but spirits is not so very necessary here. I conceive pickled cabbage to be
very useful, such kind of diet only answering whilst sickness prevails; I
therefore recommend it. Biscuit is much used by seamen, and the only way
for passengers to take it is, to pour boiling water on it, and when steeped
a few minutes toast it before the fire, then butter it, and it will eat as
pleasant as loaf bread, but not otherwise: oat bread well baked in an oven,
will answer well with either tea or coffee; cheese will be very needful;
split peas for soup; and lastly, vinegar, butter, and potted herrings.

To preserve new milk for a voyage, take a large or small jar or jars, and
clean them remarkably well, and when done, put the mild therein, and after
securing it well by corking it close, put the jar or jars into a large pot
of water, and boil them over a good fire, and when done, pack them in a
hamper, or some other place, and it will keep sweet the whole of the
passage. This has been tried by a man of truth and credit, who went last
season to Philadelphia, and used the mild there after his arrival, it
retaining its natural sweetness. There is a diet much used here, vulgarly
called "beggars dish," composed of peeled potatoes and either beef or bacon
cut in thin slices, and mixed through them, affords a pleasant meal, the
soup is much esteemed, being seasoned with pepper. Delft ware will not in
any wise answer in common use, I would therefore recommend tin poringers,
or small wooden noggins and trenchers, these will be found best at sea, as
the constant motion of the vessel will have a tendency
to break any other: a tin kettle in the form of a D will be found very
useful in boiling meat or any other food, as it can hang on the bars of the
grate at any time, this will be highly accommodating, especially where so
many families are boiling their food at one time. The kind of apparel I
would recommend to male passengers would be, short jackets or waistcoats
with sleeves, a
dark handkerchief for the neck, and coarse trowsers:-for women, a long bed
gown, or wrappers with dark shawls or handkerchiefs, as cleanliness cannot
be observed with any degree of precision. It is necessary to provide strong
chests or boxes for a voyage, well secured with good locks and hinges; or
otherwise it is impossible to preserve property:"

THE VOYAGE WAS DONE
How gladly then, Sick of the uncomfortable ocean,
The impatient passengers approach the shore,
Escaping from the sense of endless motion,
To feel firm earth beneath their feet once more,
To breath again the air, With taint of bilge and
cordage undefiled, And drink of living springs,
if there they may, And with fresh fruits and
wholesome food repair, Their spirits weary of
the watery way. And oh how beautiful, The things
of earth appear, To eyes that far and near,
For many a week have seen, Only the circle of the
restless sea! With what a fresh delight,
They gaze again on fields and forests green,
Hovel, or whatsoever, May wear the trace of man’s industrious hand,
How grateful to their sight,
The shore of shelving sand, As the light
boat moves joyfully to land.
LYTTELTON TIMES

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