SS Great Britain Passenger Lists

[Arwald]

Family tradition holds that my Great-Great-Grandmother AMY GRAY ROBERTS was born aboard the SS Great Britian on November 8th 1870. She was named AMY GRAY after the captain, JOHN GRAY, and her birth was registered in London in 1871.

Her parents were JOHN & LOUISA ROBERTS. JOHN was born in Scotland and LOUISA was born in New Zealand.

Is there anything in the passenger lists to substantiate this?

[ainslie]

Another source which might help is an online newspaper.  I found a relative who had arrived in Australia at that period had signed, with others, a letter of thanks to the ship's captain for a safe and comfortable voyage.  In one issue there were letters from different classes of passenger!  I am sorry I have not kept the site's details.
A

[~MERLIN~]

Family tradition holds that my Great-Great-Grandmother AMY GRAY ROBERTS was born aboard the SS Great Britian on November 8th 1870. She was named AMY GRAY after the captain, JOHN GRAY, and her birth was registered in London in 1871.

Her parents were JOHN & LOUISA ROBERTS. JOHN was born in Scotland and LOUISA was born in New Zealand.

Is there anything in the passenger lists to substantiate this?

Hi Arwald,

The family story about your GG Grandmother Amy Gray ROBERTS birth on the ship Great Britain is TRUE!

Amy Gray ROBERTS birth was registered onboard the Ship at Sea & in Victoria, Australia on their arrival in 1870 not 1871 in London.


From the Ship Register:

ROBERTS Unnamed Female at Sea on Board the Great Britain Reg #26

Born: 8.30 am on 8 November 1870

Place: Latitude - 40.35 South & Longitude - 3.56 East (which according to my computer GPS is off the top coast of Africa)

Father: John ROBERTS farmer born Scotland
Mother: Louisa KETTLE born New Zealand
Married: January 1870 New Zealand reg#8409

Ship Captain: John Gray
Ship Surgeon: Robert McGowan


From the Victorian Indexes:

ROBERTS Unnamed Female born:1870 place:GREA reg:26M

Parents: John ROBERTS & Louisa KETTLE


I also have the scanned image of her birth registration which includes signatures of the captain & surgeon from the ship register if you would like a copy of it you will need to PM me an email address for me to send it to.

[Arwald]

Family tradition holds that my Great-Great-Grandmother AMY GRAY ROBERTS was born aboard the SS Great Britian on November 8th 1870. She was named AMY GRAY after the captain, JOHN GRAY, and her birth was registered in London in 1871.

Her parents were JOHN & LOUISA ROBERTS. JOHN was born in Scotland and LOUISA was born in New Zealand.

Is there anything in the passenger lists to substantiate this?

Hi Arwald,

The family story about your GG Grandmother Amy Gray ROBERTS birth on the ship Great Britain is TRUE!

Amy Gray ROBERTS birth was registered onboard the Ship at Sea & in Victoria, Australia on their arrival in 1870 not 1871 in London.


From the Ship Register:

ROBERTS Unnamed Female at Sea on Board the Great Britain Reg #26

Born: 8.30 am on 8 November 1870

Place: Latitude - 40.35 South & Longitude - 3.56 East (which according to my computer GPS is off the top coast of Africa)

Father: John ROBERTS farmer born Scotland
Mother: Louisa KETTLE born New Zealand
Married: January 1870 New Zealand reg#8409

Ship Captain: John Gray
Ship Surgeon: Robert McGowan


From the Victorian Indexes:

ROBERTS Unnamed Female born:1870 place:GREA reg:26M

Parents: John ROBERTS & Louisa KETTLE


I also have the scanned image of her birth registration which includes signatures of the captain & surgeon from the ship register if you would like a copy of it you will need to PM me an email address for me to send it to.

Hi Merlin

Thanks so much for digging up that record! There's something very exciting about her being born in the middle of the ocean like that. So it's in the Mediterranean by Spain? Here? http://www.mapquest.com/maps?l=40.35&g=3.56

It really is wonderful to be able to confirm the story. I had some doubts because her father had already moved to New Zealand in 1868, and her mother had been born here, so what were they doing on this boat in 1870?

I've also become fascinated by stories about the Captain JOHN GRAY who she was named after. Supposedly he was quite a character and passengers often wrote about him in their diaries. He mysteriously vanished from the ship in 1872 and is thought to have committed suicide by jumping overboard, or was thrown overboard by someone trying to to steal a hoard of gold he had. The boat still sits in Bristol dock and is supposedly haunted by his ghost.

[MarieC]

That's a great story about Captain John Gray, Arwald - indeed he does sound quite a character!  My gggrandmother and several of her children came on the "Great Britain" in the mid 1850s - he was probably not captain then.  I'd love to see the ship in Bristol dock!

MarieC

[Arwald]

Captain John Gray captained the SS Great Britain from 1854-1872 when he vanished at sea.

[MarieC]

Ohh!  Thanks for that, Arwald.  A little more colour for the stories about her passage! 

MarieC

[Arwald]

And if you want to get really geeky about it:

http://www.bayanne.info/Shetland/getperson.php?personID=I45521&tree=bayanne_1

[MarieC]

Thanks Arwald!

Interesting.

MarieC