Led by band music, as if in joy, seven twelve-person carriages departed Frome, Wiltshire, on the night of Monday, March 21st 1831. To unburden the surrounding parishes Poor Law coffers, 85 families, many young and destitute, filled the black, horse drawn coaches as the unlikely procession headed towards the port of Bristol and their shipping overseas. Mr. Beauchamp and two other farmers went along to accompany the lot to Bristol in case any carriages got stuck and to deal with any other wants. The causes of all this was a sequence of crop failures, the inept and politically driven Corn Law and a quadrupled population due to the still unfolding Industrial Revolution - all exacerbated by the overarching reason for the deepening depression: the
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Smith was a 442 ton, three masted barque built in New Brunswick in 1826. She was built with black birch, pine and oak held together mostly by iron bolts. In its short history, this ship had been nearly destroyed by running aground on Anticosti Island in the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in the fall of 1828. One wonders if the Moores and their new ship mates knew this! Even though it was considered a second class ship and hence a ‘better class’ than many emigrant ships, it would be having a major overhaul the year after the Moores sailed on it. Luckily for everyone on board, the crossing was uneventful and Airthry Castle the entered the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and headed for Anticosti Island once more. There it encountered 6 stranded sailors, for The Quebec Mercury for April 23, 1831 …show more content…
The passengers were in number 254, all in the hold or steerage; all English, from about Bristol, Bath, Frome, Warminster, Maiden Bradley, etc. I went below, and truly it was a curious sight. About 200 human beings, male and female; young, old and middle-aged; talking, singing, laughing, crying, eating, drinking, shaving, washing; some naked in bed, and others dressing to go on shore; handsome young women (perhaps some), and ugly old men, married and single; religious and irreligious. Here a grave matron chanting selections from the last edition to the last new hymn book; there a brawny ploughboy ‘pouring for the sweet melody of Robin Adair.’ These settlers were poor, but in general they were fine looking people, and such as I was glad to see come to America . . . It is my opinion that few among them will forget being cooped up below deck for four weeks in a moveable bed-room, with 250 such fellow-lodges as I have endeavoured to
Smith was a 442 ton, three masted barque built in New Brunswick in 1826. She was built with black birch, pine and oak held together mostly by iron bolts. In its short history, this ship had been nearly destroyed by running aground on Anticosti Island in the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in the fall of 1828. One wonders if the Moores and their new ship mates knew this! Even though it was considered a second class ship and hence a ‘better class’ than many emigrant ships, it would be having a major overhaul the year after the Moores sailed on it. Luckily for everyone on board, the crossing was uneventful and Airthry Castle the entered the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and headed for Anticosti Island once more. There it encountered 6 stranded sailors, for The Quebec Mercury for April 23, 1831 …show more content…
The passengers were in number 254, all in the hold or steerage; all English, from about Bristol, Bath, Frome, Warminster, Maiden Bradley, etc. I went below, and truly it was a curious sight. About 200 human beings, male and female; young, old and middle-aged; talking, singing, laughing, crying, eating, drinking, shaving, washing; some naked in bed, and others dressing to go on shore; handsome young women (perhaps some), and ugly old men, married and single; religious and irreligious. Here a grave matron chanting selections from the last edition to the last new hymn book; there a brawny ploughboy ‘pouring for the sweet melody of Robin Adair.’ These settlers were poor, but in general they were fine looking people, and such as I was glad to see come to America . . . It is my opinion that few among them will forget being cooped up below deck for four weeks in a moveable bed-room, with 250 such fellow-lodges as I have endeavoured to