SS Great Britain Passenger Lists

[LzzieG]

If anyone has access to the passenger lists for the SS Great Britain which did about 32 voyages from the UK to  Australia from 1852 to 1875, would you please check for a William Whittaker born about 1833/34 in Lancashire, England and his wife Ann (maiden name Armstead) who was born about 1830/31 in Lancashire. They were married on 29/10/1854 at Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, England. They emigrated to Victoria, Australia sometime between 1854 and 1871 (their daughter Ellen was born at Pleasant Creek in Victoria in 1871). Ellen Whittaker who was born in 1871 is the Great Grandmother of a friend of mine who has only just begun her family history research and despite searching through many passenger list indexes has been unable to locate when and by which ship the Whittakers arrived in Australia. I'm hoping they may have been one of the many passengers who sailed from Liverpool, England to Melbourne, Australia onboard the SS Great Britain.  Any help would be most appreciated.

Lizzie

[tropicalj]

The couple had their first child in Victoria in 1858, so narrows the time frame down a little

Jenn

[LzzieG]

Thanks for that Jenn. Do you have any more details on the child such as name and place of birth or reference number for the birth entry? It may be worthwhile ordering the birth certificate.

Lizzie

[tropicalj]

A birth certificate will not say how long in  the colonies but a death certificate usually does.

Births for this couple in Victoria


Benjamin William born 1858 at Kangaroo Ground reg no 19345
Walter William      born 1861 at Castlemaine reg no 16170
Died aged 9months in 1862 at Castlemaine reg no 4048
Mary Ann              born 1863 at Ingl reg no 8409
Alice                      born 1865 at Ingl reg no 15971
Ellen                      born 1870 at Yowe reg no 27273
died 1870 aged 2 months reg no
Ellen born 1871 at Plea reg no 25423


It is possible  the couple ight have  landed in another state first and then went to Victoria.

Jenn

[LzzieG]

Thanks so much for all those details Jenn. You have certainly lessened the time frame during when William and Ann arrived in Australia and given us a lot to work on. We have checked most of the immigration indexes online that we know of for most of the states but we will certainly keep digging.   

Dawn

[tropicalj]

As your  friend  has  the birth details  in England  does  that mean  that your friend is only  looking for  the arrival?

Jenn

[terra]

If anyone has access to the passenger lists for the SS Great Britain which did about 32 voyages from the UK to  Australia from 1852 to 1875, would you please check for a William Whittaker born about 1833/34 in Lancashire, England and his wife Ann (maiden name Armstead) who was born about 1830/31 in Lancashire.  ...

 I'm hoping they may have been one of the many passengers who sailed from Liverpool, England to Melbourne, Australia onboard the SS Great Britain.  Any help would be most appreciated.

Lizzie

Lizzie have you some info such as family stories etc,  that they actually sailed on the SS Great Britain?

Terra 

[LzzieG]

Hi Jenn and Terra

A week ago the only info we had was a schedule of 1871 Victorian births that showed Ellen Whittaker's birth details  that was passed down from a great aunt. From the info on that record we located William and Ann's marriage record in Lancashire just a few days ago.  Family members knew that the  Whittakers came from Lancashire but that was about it. Locating their arrival date in Australia and via which ship is just really a starting point. We are trying to find out as much information about them as we can. William's occupation on his marriage record is 'engraver'. We do know Ellen who was born 1871 married Henry Herbert Fisher in 1893 in NSW and their descendents (one being my friend Sandra who is Ellen's g grandaughter) moved to Qld but we know nothing about what happened to Ellen's parents or siblings.

The reason on my query about the SS Great  Britain is that after being unable to locate the Whittakers on any immigration indexes so far, a person at my workplace suggested checking the passenger list for the SS Great Britain as it did many voyages from Liverpool, England to Australia.

I did locate a website that lists the surnames of passengers who  travelled on the SS Great Britain for the period 1852 to 1875 from Liverpool to Australia. All that information is from the book "Is yours an SS Great Britain family?" from the SS Great Britain Project. The surname of Whittaker is in that list. Unfortunately the email link from that website to the contact person for further info on those passengers is broken.  Hence my query regarding the SS Great Britain

[little meg]

Lizzie,
I have ancestors that came out on the SS Gr Britain, and know of the book.
I copied pages of it.
On page 94 it lists the name Whittaker, none appear to be yours.
the ones mentioned are spelled Whittaker, not Whitaker.

Unfortunately I did not photocopy page 93, which would have the other spelling - Whitaker.

I only copied this page because of my line of Wild.

I imagine if they are not listed in the prov indexes for this ship then they will not be listed in the book.
If you are still desperate I will check my local library for you.

Margaret