Portal:Last Mail Run

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The Clipper Age brought the development of a highly skilled set of sailors and craftsmen, and great notoriety for both the ships and crews that sailed them. Clippers were designed for fast voyages and this resonated with the 19th Century’s fascination for speed. Today they still represent some of the fastest oceangoing sailing vessels in the world.

Clippers were instrumental in opening new trade routes. The Great Clipper Races, relating to the transport of Australian wool and Chinese tea to the London markets, are an enduring memory of the importance of the clippers. The only two remaining examples of this important era of clipper design are the ‘City of Adelaide’ (1864) and the ‘Cutty Sark’ (1869). That the ‘City of Adelaide’ and the ‘Cutty Sark’ have survived to this day is a testament to the designers and builders of these composite clippers.

The ‘City of Adelaide’ is also rather unique in that she was designed as a passenger ship – and now represents a vital icon of the making of modern Australia and of the relationship between Britain and the Australian colonies.

The ‘City of Adelaide’ travelled around the world on each of its return journeys carrying a wide range of passengers and cargo. The passengers on board included whole families travelling to South Australia to start a new life. They may have already had relatives in the State. There were businessmen returning to Britain or going back to Australia. Children were born during the voyage and illness overtook others and they were buried at sea.

Now a project is underway to move the ‘City of Adelaide’ from the Scottish slipway where it has stood for the past 20 years and transport her to Port Adelaide in South Australia - representing the world’s last ever voyage of a Victorian era clipper ship.

In a joint Scottish-Australian initiative, we can arrange for a letter or letters to travel on board the clipper and be delivered to an appropriate primary school in South Australia. Your school might want to provide information about your area today and how it was in 1864 when passengers first boarded the ‘City of Adelaide’, bound for South Australia.

If you wish to participate please contact us with an e-mail contact so that we can provide details of the deadline for the receipt of letters, the time-table for the sailing and progress reports during the journey. It might also be possible for some accompanied pupils to witness the departure of the ship from Scotland.

No.	Name on Passenger List	GEDCOM Name	Cabin Class	Birth Place	UK Residence	Aus Residence	Voyage(s)	Comment
1	Methuen, Matilda	Methuen, Matilda	First Class (Saloon)	Leith, Scotland			1864	travelled to South Australia expressly to marry her cousin Peter Waite.
2	Wilcox, Annie	Fuller, Annie Caldicot	First Class (Saloon)	Eynesbury, Bedfordshire			1864	returned 1873 giving birth to son at sea.
3	Wilcox, Mr. George	Wilcox, George	First Class (Saloon)	St Neots, Huntingdonshire			1864	Businessman returning to Adelaide having first arrived in 1858
4	Humbley, Mr. H.	Humbley, Richard Humbley Wells	Second Class Cabins	Reading Berkshire			1864	Aged 20
5	Price, Mr. C. J.	Price, Charles Joseph	Second Class Cabins	St Luke’s, Middlesex			1864	Aged 21 probably a plasterer
6	Ringwood, Mr. T. W.	Ringwood, Frederick William	First Class (Saloon)	County Westmeath, Ireland			1864	son of Rev Henry Taylor Ringwood M.A., warden of Wilson’s Hospital, a large school founded in 1725 at Multyfarnham, Westmeath
7	Suter, Mr. E	Suter, Edward	First Class (Saloon)		King’s Norton, Birmingham		1864	& wife Fanny
8	Cockburn Campbell, Sir Thomas	Cockburn Campbell, Thomas	First Class (Saloon)	Exeter, Devon			1864	Aged 19 on his way to learn to be a surveyor in Queensland
9	Nason, Dr.	Nason, Edward	First Class (Saloon)	Nuneaton	Leamington in Warwickshire		1864	Ship's Doctor
10	Hay, Mr. John	Hay, John	Second Class Cabins	Perth, Scotland			1865
11	Barber, Mr.	Barber, William Henry	First Class (Saloon)	New Kent Road, Surrey	Lewisham		1865	Jeweller with five children
12	Todd, Mr. G. G.	Todd, Griffith George	First Class (Saloon)		Greenwich		1867	aged 15 an orphan who had been educated by his uncle in Greenwich
13	Purches, Mr.	Purches, John	Second Class Cabins		Portsea in Hampshire		1867	with 4 children returning from visiting the family
14	Cameron, Niece Mary Ann	Cameron, Mary Ann	Second Class Cabins	Perth Scotland			1867	Same Location as No. 10
15	Brewster, Mr.	Brewster, John	Second Class Cabins	Married Scone, Scotland			1867	& wife Anne Cameron
16	Weld, His Excell F. A.	Weld, Sir Frederick Aloysius	First Class (Saloon)	Chideock Manor, Dorset			1869	Governor of Western Australia with family of 7 and 7 servants.
17	Aitcheson, Mr.	Aitcheson,	Second Class Cabins	Dunbar			1871	& wife and son
18	Miller, Mr.	Miller, Melville	First Class (Saloon)	Leslie in Fifeshire			1871	Draper - wife is Sarah Ferguson
19	Miller, Mrs.	Ferguson, Sarah Moffatt	First Class (Saloon)	Dumfries			1871	Married to above
20	Nancarrow, William	Nancarrow, William	Steerage		Redruth, Cornwall		1873	Assisted Passage - Miner with three children + widowed sister
21	Edwards, Sarah Jane	Edwards, Sarah Jane	Steerage		Redruth, Cornwall		1873	With above but child (See No. 20)
22	Stribling, Alfred	Stribling, Alfred	Steerage	Greenstead, Colchester	Bethnel Green		1873	Labourer
23	Atkins, Edward Charles	Atkins, Edward Charles	Steerage		Bromley E London		1873	Labourer
24	Arthur, James	Arthur, James	Steerage		Springburn Glasgow		1874	Blacksmith with family of six children
25	McLauchlan, James	McLauchlan, James	Steerage	Monifieth in Forfarshire			1874	Mechanic
26	Burton, Isabella	Burton, Isabella	Steerage	Abergavenny, Wales			1874	Dressmaker
27	Shields, Robert	Shields,Robert	Steerage	Mochrum, Dumfries & Galloway			1874	and family of seven children
28	Williams, Richard	Williams, Richard	Steerage	Redruth, Cornwall			1874	Copper Miner and family of six children (See no.20)
29	Phillips, Eliza	Phillips, Eliza	Steerage	Megavissey, Cornwall			1874	Semptress
30	Morley, Helena	Morley, Helena	Steerage	Stoke Climsland, Cornwall			1874	Domestic servant. Only 17 when left. Other family members came on different voyages
31	Alston, Capt.	Alston, Edward Daniel	First Class (Saloon)	Great Bromley Essex			1877	Captain
32	Cheadle, Mr.	Cheadle, Alfred Stanley	First Class (Saloon)	Bradford			1880	Wool buyer

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