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Allan Line Steamers - Steamship travel in 1889

karro

master brummie
My great grandparents & their childern travelled to Canada in 1889 (on the Polynesian i believe). I'm trying to find out what it would have been like to travel on a steamer. it appears that they travelled STEERAGE. They were definately not in a cabin. I have the Shiplist with the passengers names. Beside their names is what looks like an "a" what would that mean? i thought that it might mean assisted travel but all those in the cabins (ladies & gents) have an "a" beside their names as well. Any suggestions?
I'm looking for resources but have have very little beyond basics about the Polynesian. (there a a few photos of the exterior) Where can I find photos or details about the INTERIOR of the ship ie: steerage? Can anyone suggest the names of any books or other resources? It would be great to have first hand accounts of such a trip (from a letter or diary)
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Cheers Karro
 
This ship had a bad reputation, as she was said to "roll on wet grass" and was called "Rolling Poly".
There was accommodation for 120 1st-class passengers and 850 steerage passengers!
 
Thanks for the tips. I have read that the Polynesian was called Rolling Poly. Not being much of a seafarer myself, I'm having some difficulty imagining this. i'm assuming that it means the ship rocks easily and that there would be more seasickness. Can anyone elaborate??? (I wish I could find some first hand accounts)Would the effects be worse for those travelling in steerage? Would steerage passengers be confined that area for the duration of the crossing or could they freely walk the ship deck?? I hoping to write a short story about my ancestors journey so I'm trying to gather as much information before I begin. Karro
 
This page about the Allan Line and its routes gives a table of fares. Steerage fare for the crossing from Liverpool to Canada was £6.6.0 whereas Saloon class was £18.
Here's a link to a page about steerage passengers ons ailing and steamships; maybe it'll be helpful. Sounds as if they were allowed to walk the decks.

Angela
 
BelfastNewsletter4thOct1888LeavesfromAtravellersNotebook.jpg
Just seeing if this image is any clearer. This is my first upload since the site changed so just wondering - aren't we able to click on the image to enlarge it?
 
No you can no longer click on the image to enlarge it in the 'old' way.
Warren has set it so that any image that is bigger than 2000 wide or 1024 high will be scaled automatically by Coppermine. If the original is legible, the best way round this in your case would appear to be to split the image into two (or three) shorter and put them side by side. They should then be more legible when inserted from Coppermine.

Another way round this problem is to insert the link to the image on Coppermine (use the button with the globe and the link). I've done this with a couple of my large images where I want to preserve all the detail

Les
 
No you can no longer click on the image to enlarge it in the 'old' way.
Warren has set it so that any image that is bigger than 2000 wide or 1024 high will be scaled automatically by Coppermine. If the original is legible, the best way round this in your case would appear to be to split the image into two (or three) shorter and put them side by side. They should then be more legible when inserted from Coppermine.

Another way round this problem is to insert the link to the image on Coppermine (use the button with the globe and the link). I've done this with a couple of my large images where I want to preserve all the detail

Les
Hi Les

Thanks for the advice. I will bear that in mind when posting other images, also thanks for your hard work along with Warren for getting the site back to its former glory:)

Suzanne
 
Thanks so much for all the input. I'd love to read the newspaper article that was posted. I've been searching for weeks for information about the Polynesian. The only information I've found is about a crash with "Clyde" another ship. Is there anyway that you can post a larger readable version? Or is there a way to create a link?
Cheers Karro
 
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