Journal of a Voyage to Melbourne and back, on board the DONALD MACKAY

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Journal of a Voyage to Melbourne and back, on board the DONALD MACKAY

Date1866

Object number00047851

NameJournal

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall (closed): 227 x 190 x 15 mm, 511 g
Overall (open): 227 x 370 x 10 mm

ClassificationsBooks and journals

Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds

Collections

Manuscript diaries, journals and logs

Terms

DescriptionThis neatly written diary documents a voyage by a man named Parry on the DONALD MACKAY from London to Melbourne and back. The diary starts on Thursday 13 September 1866. The vessel arrived in Williamstown on 21 December, departed for London on 8 February 1867 and and arrived at Victoria Docks on 6 May 1867. From his use of nautical terminology it would appear that he was a sailor.HistoryThe DONALD MACKAY was an extreme clipper launched in 1855, at the shipyard of Donald McKay in East Boston, Massachusetts for the Black Ball Line of Liverpool. The vessels dimensions were 266 feet long, 46 feet 3 inches beam and 29 feet 5 inches deep. In 1866 the ship was sold to Thomas Harrison of Liverpool, and chartered back to the Black Ball Line. It was during this time the ship sailed for Melbourne with immigrants. After 1868 the vessel was employed in general trading. The figurehead from the ship, which is a figure of a Highlander in the McKay tartan, is preserved at the Mystic Seaport Museum, USA.SignificanceThis is a rare account of a voyage from London to Melbourne in 1866-1867. It is written by a knowledgable author in very ledgible script so that it is easily read.