Stories From History And More

Sailing Ship Hannibal - James Fulton Pringle (1788-1847) The ship Hannibal creaked and groaned as she made her way across the wide Atlantic Ocean. Plunging waves, storms and swells were the norm as she plied her regular route between New York and Liverpool. A sailing ship of 440 tons she combined her cargo with a small but growing number of passengers. Four formal cabin passengers were increasingly supplemented by emigrants placed in the grim “steerage” area of the ship. On this leg of the route between Liverpool and New York there were ten passengers in steerage including three children aged between 1 and 6 years travelling with their unaccompanied mother. Emigrants travelling in steerage were frequently in a desperate situation, trying to escape poverty with the chance of finding a new life in places like the United States of America. Among these passengers in May 1827 were Henry Blackbourn and four members of his family……. Origins When Richard Blackbourn and his wife Martha uproot...