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Diary of James McLeod aboard SS LUSITANIA
Diary of James McLeod aboard SS LUSITANIA

Diary of James McLeod aboard SS LUSITANIA

Date8 August 1879 - 2 October 1879
Object number00056318
NameJournal
MediumLeather, paper, string
DimensionsOverall: 222 × 190 × 13 mm, 242 g
ClassificationsBooks and journals
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Gift from Elsa Miller
Collections
DescriptionJames McLeod’s diary details a voyage on the SS LUSITANIA, departing Sydney on 8 August 1879 and arriving in London 2 October. He then travelled the University of Edinburgh in Scotland for post-graduate studies in Medicine (1880-84). McLeod’s voyage emphasises the rapid pre-eminence of the Suez Canal route and the escalating speed of journeys by steamship during the 1870s. His account details shipboard life, as well as the diverse vessels travelling from Australia to Britain during this period. The diary provides valuable insights into transformations in maritime technologies and routes, and the increasingly cosmopolitan connections between Britain and the Australian colonies in the late 19th Century.HistoryThe SS LUSITANIA was an iron-hulled steamship built in 1871 by the Laird Brothers of Birkenhead, England, with a total cost of £91,852. It was initially launched for the Pacific Steam Navigation Company (PSNC) for service between Liverpool to South America. The vessel initially accommodated 70 first, 85 second, and 700 third class passengers. This was later reduced to 84 first, 200 second class and 270 emigrant passengers. The LUSITANIA was among the first iron-hulled steamers (albeit retaining auxiliary sails) that could be considered a liner. Its route against the prevailing winds confirmed the value of steam propulsion, while the need for coal and the opening of the Suez Canal marked a dramatic shift in voyaging patterns in contrast with those from a decade earlier. The popularity of the LUSITANIA owed to its immense speed compared with other vessels during the 19th Century. The vessel was relatively small (115.8m x 12.6m x 10.7m) and a modest 3877 tons, both contributing to its speed. Its efficiency was further provided by fitting three Laird Co. compound engines. Following its failed maiden voyage to Valparaiso, the LUSITANIA was constructed with a wooden caisson around the stern to fit a spare propeller. In February 1877, the LUSITANIA was chartered to the Orient Steam Navigation Company with guaranteed profits for Australian service, where this further progressed to its sale in June by the PSNC to the Orient Line. On 28 June 1877 LUSITANIA commenced its first voyage for the Orient-Pacific Line from Plymouth to Melbourne, via the Cape of Good Hope. This journey was achieved in 40 days and 6 hours at an average speed of 13 knots, which beat the previous record by 10 days. The return voyage from Plymouth to Melbourne via the Suez Canal, which is detailed in James McLeod’s diary, took 41 days. Despite its remarkable speed, reports of passenger discomfort due to strong winds were evident during its voyages. As described by The Argus in January 1879, “The LUSITANIA has not kept up her reputation of past passages owing to having experienced head winds nearly the whole way”. This inability to make headway against strong winds resulted in the final wreck of the LUSITANIA near Cape Race, Newfoundland, in June 1901. An investigation by the Marine Court of Inquiry and given to the Governor of Newfoundland, reported that an erratic current and head winds deviated the vessel 13 miles off course and put the ship ashore. This event resulted in the LUSITANIA’s final voyage. James McLeod was a saloon (first-class) passenger of the LUSITANIA which departed from Port Jackson, Sydney on 8 August 1879 and arrived at the Port of London on 2 October. McLeod graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts in the same year and pursued this voyage for further post-graduate studies in Medicine at the University of Edinburgh (1880-84). In Australia, the first university-based medical school was established in Melbourne in 1862, Sydney in 1883 and Adelaide in 1885. Colonial medical education and training was predominantly shaped by the requirements of the UK General Medical Council (GMC), whose accreditation authority was used to register Australian medical graduates. Despite similarities of the Australian course content to the UK, the curriculum faced many deficiencies due to the limited opportunities for clinical research in Australian universities. Australian graduates progressed their training with postgraduate medical study in Great Britain, an experience which improved their prospects of medical practice in Australia or elsewhere. This diary was kept by a well-educated and well-behaved passenger, nevertheless noting the individual novelty of the many seagoing experiences that were common to hundreds of thousands who crossed the Indian Ocean in the second half of the nineteenth century. The account includes frequent references to other vessels, indicating the rapidly expanding seaways, and even notes friendly rivalries amounting to races between vessels. It outlines some of the social and environmental conditions aboard the ship. The author later returned to the Australian colonies and maintained a successful medical practice. SignificanceNumerous accounts survive of sailing from Britain to the Australian colonies in the nineteenth century, particularly those authored by cabin passengers. However, accounts from Australia to Britain are far rarer, for three key reasons. 1. Fewer people travelled in that direction, given the predominant focus on migration through the period. 2. There was less interest in journals of the voyage as an account or guide to others left behind. 3. The surviving examples would be more likely to have remained in Britain.
McLeod’s journal is highly significant in revealing the experiences of Australian citizens departing from Australia for improved professional and education opportunities. Currently, the Museum’s collection includes five journal accounts which describe voyages from Australia to the UK. These experiences are highly limited in contrast to the wide availability of accounts describing voyages to Australia. Similarly, the collection does not contain any diaries which depart from Australia in the period of 1879-80 and none which are on board of the LUSITANIA. The limited accounts which detail emigration from Australia to the UK is due to the large number of assisted migrants arriving in Australia after 1831. This was consequent upon overpopulation within Britain, where job and housing availability was increasingly scarce. Immigration to Australia was further expanded after the 1850s with the lure of goldfields and mining opportunities. Between 1815-1914, approximately sixteen million people emigrated from Britain to its colonies.
McLeod’s account is highly significant to challenge the dominant narrative of the predominant experience of Australian immigration. His experiences illuminate the limited opportunities for professional growth and improvement, namely in the medical field within Australia in the 1800s. Hence, McLeod’s voyage is significant to reveal the agency of Australian colonists in utilising the opportunities available to them within the Empire and subsequently, pursue improved working and educational conditions away from Australia.
Similarly, due to the collection currently holding no journal material related to the LUSITANIA, McLeod’s account is highly significant to diversify the material in the Museum and provide new interpretations of the experience of emigration from Australia. Furthermore, during the 1800s letter writing was a more frequent method of communication during travel. Letter writing would have been more frequent for passengers on the LUSITANIA, which was renowned for its rapid transmission of messages through its modernised construction with the international telegraph. Its efficiency in communication is described by The Times on 10 August 1877, which reported that the LUSITANIA was a forefront vessel in postal deliveries to Australia and New Zealand, where a telegraph from Melbourne arrived in London in two days. Considering historical accounts were predominantly communicated as letters and telegraphs, McLeod’s personal journal is highly significant due to the scarcity of these sources during this period. Thus, the diary is highly valuable for acquisition into the Museum’s collection to diversify the available maritime themes and forms of historical communication.