Add this book to your favorite list ». Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Mar 14, theirishbooklover added it. Haunting, Poignant, Tragic As this is a diary from Robert Whyte who witnessed first hand the tragic events that unfolded on the ship he was travelling on from Ireland to Canada, it is clearly a haunting read.
The tragic tale told by Robert Whyte who is both an insider to the events that happened on the ship but also at the same time an outsider to suffering experienced by most during this period of time. This books is a poignant reminder of the time in Irish history where many tried to build new Haunting, Poignant, Tragic As this is a diary from Robert Whyte who witnessed first hand the tragic events that unfolded on the ship he was travelling on from Ireland to Canada, it is clearly a haunting read.
This books is a poignant reminder of the time in Irish history where many tried to build new lives elsewhere in the world. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in history especially Irish or Canadian history. As this book is non-fiction and based on real-life events, I will not be rating it. Oct 14, Cecelia Hightower added it Shelves: bill. This book is excerpts of a diary kept by one Robert Whyte, a first-class cabin passenger on a cargo ship carrying Irish immigrants fleeing the famine and tribulations they were experiencing in Ireland due to the potato blight and changing use of farm lands by large property owners.
We all have heard about the people fleeing Ireland seeking a better life, but I belive we don't think about what the people went through and the suffering they had to endure. Just imagine the following: Seeing friend This book is excerpts of a diary kept by one Robert Whyte, a first-class cabin passenger on a cargo ship carrying Irish immigrants fleeing the famine and tribulations they were experiencing in Ireland due to the potato blight and changing use of farm lands by large property owners.
Just imagine the following: Seeing friends and family dying from lack of food, even though there was enough food to export to England and Europe. Being forced off the land they used to grow crops for their own use and out of their one room stone cottages because the property owner wanted to use the land for raising sheep and cattle, which brought them a higher cash return.
Leaving behind all your friends and family, knowing you will probably never see them again. Having the land owner paying the fare for the trip across the ocean to the Americas, but the people had to get to the embarkation point on there own. Ship owners referred to these people "paying ballest". A lot of these ships were lumber ships that hauled lumber from the Americas and needed to ballest their ships for the return trip from Ireland.
Loading all their possessions on a handcart and pulling it or pushing it as they walked to the docks. And then upon reaching the dock the people find out that they couldn't take their possessions on board and had to sell them cheap or just leave them on the dock.
Being assigned a bunk roughly 4 ft. This space was for a whole family and all their possessions for the six weeks it took to cross to the Americas. During rough weather the hold was sealed, to prevent flooding, and not being allowed top-side until calm weather.
Imagine the smell and other unpleasant things that they had to endure during these times. Making due with three quarts of water per adult per week for all uses needs including cooking. Having only one-half hour per day to cook a families daily meal.
The cooking was done over an open fire on deck that was not allowed to be lit in rough seas. This meant that a lot of the meals were only half cooked or even un-cooked when the people had to eat them. No medical facilities onboard for these immigrants, except what the people brought with them. When the people died on these voyages they were buried at sea, but generally by the time they were getting near to the Americas there was so many dying and those still alive were so laid up that the bodies were just dumped overboard.
Being restricted to staying in the hold of the ship with very limited amount of time topside on the center deck. And then, when they finally arrived at their destination the people had to pass a health inspection and the sick were separated from the healthy, even if this meant breaking up families.
Five pounds of potatoes was considered the equal of one pound of flour or rice or oats. The fare for passage to the Americas was five British Pounds when land was selling for the same amount per acre in Ireland. The man that wrote this diary was traveling as a cabin passenger in a cabin that had double bunks that slept two people each and he ate his meals with the captain eating the same foods served the captain, his wife, and the crew.
I believe that sometimes we forget to really think about how much people have suffered trying to make better life and it does a person good to take a few moments to remember the past and what people have gone through.
Feb 03, Patricia J. O'Brien rated it really liked it. Consideration of who wrote this book, which is a diary, is needed to understand you are getting an outsider's view of what the Irish peasants endured on the coffin ships. Robert Whyte was a gentleman who was on an adventure in Barcode Shelfmark Loan type Status Details Statement of responsibility : edited by James J.
ISBN : , Note : "The diary appeared in print in The title was The ocean plague: the diary of a cabin passenger" - Introd. Physical Description : p ; 20 cm. Subject : Whyte, Robert. Added Entry : famine ship diary. Author note James J. Back cover copy Early on the morning of 30 May , the Ajax weighed anchor in Dublin harbour with the passengers facing a six-week crossing of the North Atlantic to what they hoped would be a land of promise somewhere in Canada.
Allow this favorite library to be seen by others Keep this favorite library private. Save Cancel. Find a copy in the library Finding libraries that hold this item Robert Whyte's famine ship diary. The voyage of a 'coffin ship' from Dublin to Grosse Ile, in Canada, described in the contemporary diary of Robert Whyte. Coffin ships transported over , people in flight from famine, fever and conditions involving deprivation of all human rights.
It illustrates what the poor passengers had to endure while en route and many did not survive. Read more Reviews User-contributed reviews Add a review and share your thoughts with other readers. Be the first. Add a review and share your thoughts with other readers. Tags Add tags for "Robert Whyte's famine ship diary : the journey of an Irish coffin ship". Ajax Bark Irish diaries -- Canada. Immigrants -- Canada -- Diaries. Ocean travel -- History -- 19th century.
Ireland -- Emigration and immigration -- History -- 19th century. Canada -- Emigration and immigration -- History -- 19th century. Famines -- Ireland -- History -- 19th century. Ireland -- History -- Famine, Whyte, Robert, -- active 19th century Emigration and Immigration -- history. Emigrants and Immigrants -- history. History, 19th Century. Whyte, Robert -- Journal intime. Whyte, Robert -- Voyages. Whyte, Robert, -- active 19th century.
0コメント