Ships of our Ancestors
Rogues to Royals
Journeys By Sea
Until well into the twentieth century, the only practicable way to travel any distance on planet Earth was by ship. There were other ways to get around, of course — by horse and wagon, by horseback, by walking and by rail. However, when the decision was made to journey to another continent, a sea voyage was the only way. In the early days of emigrant ships (1620-1870), those voyages were fraught with dangers — notably disease.
This section explores the experiences of those who voyaged to far-away lands to find a new life. If you have a story to tell about an ancestor’s journey of any kind, please tell us about it in Rogues Forum.
Above Image: Emigrant ship Thomas Coutts made regular voyages between England and Australia.
Learn About the Immigrant Ships
See the ships on which our ancestors voyaged to new lands:
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Witness Life Aboard
Glimpse living conditions on the immigrant tall ships
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Read Their Diaries
Hear the stories of those who went (and thank your lucky stars for airplanes).
Did You Know? East Indiaman
‘East Indiaman’ is a general term for any ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India Companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. East Indiamen were cargo ships trading between Europe and South Asia. They also carried passengers. These ships routinely called in at the British East India Company’s Island of St Helena, South Atlantic, to provision. My grandmother’s family, the Caldwells, lived there in the late 1700s and early 1800s, during the same period that Napoleon was exiled there .
