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My log [a voyage from England to Australia on board the SS DURHAM in 1875]
My log [a voyage from England to Australia on board the SS DURHAM in 1875]

My log [a voyage from England to Australia on board the SS DURHAM in 1875]

Author (died 1885)
Date1875
Object number00004620
NameDiary
MediumPaper
DimensionsOverall: 295 × 225 × 5 mm, 0.2 kg
ClassificationsBooks and journals
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from N Pogue
DescriptionThe diary recount Sidney Bignold's voyage from England to Melbourne on board the SS DURHAM in 1875. The diary is dedicated to the author's mother as a fulfillment of her last request to him before leaving England for Australia. The immigrant account is written from notes taken on the voyage and from memory. The first entry is dated Thursday 22 July 1875, the last entry Saturday 11 September 1875. It includes various 'Durham Riddles' and poems dedicated to his mother as well as an appendix at the end recounting what happened to various crew and passengers once they reached Melbourne.HistorySS DURHAM was built 1874 for Messrs. Money Wigram & Sons, of Blackwall, for the Australian trade. The vessel was an iron framed auxiliary screw steamer whose maiden voyage was in January 1875. This diary by Sidney Bignold records DURHAM's second journey to Australia departing 24th July 1875 from London for Melbourne. The ship's captain was Frederick Anderson and the on board were 75 cabin and 200 second and third-class passengers in addition to a mail and a full general cargo. The voyage out was remarkably quick, and the ship received the reputation for being a fast passage. Sidney Bignold settled in Australia and died in 1885.SignificanceRecords and journals by passengers are always significant personal accounts of voyages that are often only remembered from daily dispatches. This diary by Sidney Bignold gives an insider’s view of shipboard life during the last half of the 19h century when sailing voyages were at their peak.