Comments | little_details: Traveling from India to England, 1890

melannen in little_details

Traveling from India to England, 1890

Feb 27, 2010 07:39

I thought this would be easy to find, but it's not; the Transatlantic crossing, yes, but not India to England - I've tried searching terms from ranging from "steamship india victorian timetable" to "suez canal history", and even tried searching period novels on Google Books, and not found what I need. Help? What search string am I missing ( Read more... )

~victorian era, ~boats and other things that float, ~travel: sea travel, india: history, 1890-1899

Comments 13

starry_diadem February 28 2010, 07:23:43 UTC

I can't help you with specific details, but the main shipping line was P&O - try googling the history of the company and you may get a better idea of some of your points.

melannen February 28 2010, 22:48:34 UTC

Oh, thank you: the sites I found that mentioned the P&O didn't really make it clear that it *was* the primary line I should be looking for, so having that confirmed will help a lot.

icyfire4w5 February 28 2010, 08:25:05 UTC

1) Most British families traveled on steam-powered passenger liners, accompanied by their Indian servants.
2) Most seamen had to shove coal into a funnel so as to power the ship, and according to some of them, the heat was unbearable.
3) In 1921, a voyage from Bombay to London took 22 days. The ship stopped in Saudi Arabia for fuel, then traveled down the Suez Canal. It then passed through Malta and Gibraltar. (The Suez Canal opened in 1869, according to Wikipedia.)
(Source: http://www.movinghere.org.uk/galleries/histories/asian/journeys/journeys.htm)

melannen February 28 2010, 22:46:42 UTC

Thank you! That site looks great. (And so does Behramji Malabari's book, The Indian Eye on English Life, which is available in full-text online. \o/ Not that I needed another excuse to put off writing the thing.)

emo_mz February 28 2010, 09:56:49 UTC

Seems that most outgoing ships to India left from London or Liverpool headed for Bombay, Calcutta or Madras. I'd guess the ships would just turn round and do the same, or a very similar route back. I used a shipping record website (http://www.findmypast.co.uk/passengerListPersonSearchStart.action) which is meant for tracing ancestors ( ... )

melannen February 28 2010, 22:36:22 UTC

Oh, thank you! (I don't actually care where they land in England, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing something blatantly wrong.)

And that website looks helpful, too.

stormwreath February 28 2010, 12:34:08 UTC

There was a weekly service by the P & O line from London to Bombay via the Suez Canal in the 1890s. The voyage took 12½ days and cost £55 first class, around £35 second class.
(Source)

Bombay was called the "Gateway to India" because it was the main arrival port for ships from England. It's also closer to Agra than Madras or Calcutta. In England, London and Southampton were both major ports of embarkation (Liverpool too, but for the transatlantic route). The ship would be likely to stop at Aden, Suez and/or Alexandria, maybe Brindisi en route, to refuel, collect mail, and let the passengers stretch their legs.

rabidsamfan February 28 2010, 15:34:25 UTC

Oooh, you're good! *bookmarks site*

melannen February 28 2010, 22:34:27 UTC

Oh, thank you, thank you! That was exactly what I wanted. (Care to share your search secrets? :D )

stormwreath March 1 2010, 08:29:42 UTC

Care to share your search secrets?

I already knew that the P&O Line would be the most likely carrier, so I Googled p&o line timetable 1890, and then after I saw the results refined that to p&o line timetable 1890 India.
:-)

Thread 5

Thank you so much! anonymous June 7 2015, 10:39:42 UTC

Same problem I had here. Thank you once again!