Genealogy Chat

I have been told that my granddad was crew on a ship going to Australia about 1893/4ish.

I have found the details of the ship, who owned it, where it was built etc. but I am in a bit if a muddle trying to find a voyage she made about 1893/4 to Australia.

The name of the ship is, "Wolloomooloo" she was a steam ship with a gross tonnage of 3,531.

Pointers very much appreciated.

Kathlyn

What was your granddads name and date and place of birth

My granddad was born in Bootle in 1873. He was John Roberts, but he may have signed on as John Maudesley.

Hi,

I can't find him in crew lists under either name, but found these voyages for the Wolloomooloo (at FMP):

8 June 1892 London Australia

27 April 1893 London Sydney

10 November 1893 London Australia

27 July 1894 London Sydney

10 July 1895 London Australia

Ship name: WOOLLOOMOOLOO
Official Number:
Master's name: A R Pilkington
Date of departure: 8 June 1892
Port of departure: London
Steamship line: Houlder Brothers & Co
Where bound: Australia, Australia
Where bound route: Australia


Ship name: WOOLLOOMOOLOO
Official Number:
Master's name: A R Pilkington
Date of departure: 27 April 1893
Port of departure: London
Steamship line: Houlder Brothers & Co.
Where bound: Sydney, Australia
Where bound route: Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney


Ship name: WOOLLOOMOOLOO
Official Number:
Master's name: H Goodrham
Date of departure: 10 November 1893
Port of departure: London
Steamship line: Houlder Brothers & Co
Where bound: Australia, Australia
Where bound route: Australia

Ship name: WOOLLOOMOOLOO
Official Number:
Master's name: H Goodham
Date of departure: 27 July 1894
Port of departure: London
Steamship line:
Where bound: Sydney, Australia
Where bound route: Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney

Ship name: WOOLLOOMOOLOO
Official Number:
Master's name: H Goodrham
Date of departure: 10 July 1895
Port of departure: London
Steamship line: Houlder Brothers & Co
Where bound: Australia, Australia
Where bound route: Australia

Registered tonnage: 2221

Found this merchant seaman entry, but a bit younger than your man, so probably not the right chap?

Last name: ROBERTS
First names: John
Age:
Day of birth: 13
Month of birth: October
Year of birth: 1876
Place of birth: Bootle
County/country of birth: Lancashire
Card type: CR10
Discharge number: 770817
Identity certificate no.: 396995
Series: BT350
Date range: 1918-1921

He was a greaser, whatever that is. There is a photo on the card.

Thanks a million for your time Kucinta, I have messaged you.

The name and place of birth are correct for granddad but he was born in December 1873... but if this is him, why he should fib about a couple of years I do not know.

I have been researching granddad for 6 years, and still he is hiding from me. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Kathlyn

Will pm the merchant seaman card, just in case.

I added this info to the pm I sent with the merchant seaman card, but I think the official number for the Woolloomooloo was 98954.

It looks like the MHA has the crew agreements for her, for the years you're interested in:

http://www.mun.ca/mha/holdings/searchcombinedcrews.php

"A crew agreement provides particulars about a vessel, including the port of registry, tonnage, form of propulsion, owner(s) and intended voyage. It also provides information on each crew member including the person's name, year and place of birth, capacity, previous vessel served on, and date of signing on and off the vessel. There are no nominal indexes to the crew lists. For us to search the agreements for a particular seafarer, we must know the name or official number of the vessel, and the approximate dates that person served on it. Once a person has been located, it is sometimes possible to trace his or her career back through previous vessels."

For information on ordering copies of crew agreements from the Maritime History Archive please go to the Ordering Crew Agreements page."

This is the page (link below) I searched to find the Woolloomooloo's official number, please double check that I've got the right vessel:

http://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/vesselsalpha.php

EDIT: It looks like the Woolloomooloo changed her name a couple of times, becoming the Harmonides, and later still, the Khartum, retaining the same official number of 98954 throughout the name changes.