Passengers to Natal per William Ackers 1861

ARRIVAL OF WILLIAM ACKERS 7 September 1861

WILLIAM ACKERS, Barque, Capt J McMILLAN, 329 tons, departed London June 1.
64 Emigrants per list annexed. This vessel departed again for Mauritius on Nov 3 1861.

Passengers:
Abbott, Christopher
Beard, James R
Beard, Mary Ann
Beard, Mary Ann
Beard, James E
Crosse, Robert F
Crosse, Emeline
Crosse, Cecelia
Crosse, Frederick
Crosse, Bertha
Crosse, Claude
Dunn, Georgina
Jones, John T
Jones, Amy
Nimmo, Jane
Palmer, Thomas
Shearbridge, Charles
Turpins, Emma
Andrews, John
Algers, George
Algers, Susannah
Bailey, Alfred
Candile, Joseph
Candile, Isabella
Candile, John
Candile, James
Chadrock, William
Clarke, William
Dougworth, Henry
Edwards, Edward
Ellenor, David
Fran...?, William
Hick, Joseph
Harris, Henry
Hale, Thomas
Hoffman, Christian
Jordan, Mangarch
Lyth, Thomas
Leech, William
Leech, Sarah
Massey, Matthew
Pastell, John
Teasdale, Mary
Teasdale, William
Teasdale, Helen
Teasdale, Robert
Heaseed, George
Waters, Hannah
Wood, Robert
Wheeler, Robert
Woodhouse, William
Oppenheimer, Alfred
Woodhouse, Jane
Woodhouse, Thomas
Woodhouse, William
Woodhouse, George
Woodhouse, Frederick
Woodhouse, James
Charles Waters
Child Townsend

According to the immigration register this vessel had sailed from London on 1 June. Length of voyage from England to Natal varied considerably during the 1860s, partly because sailing vessels didn’t take anything resembling a straight course but tacked all over the ocean in pursuit of favourable winds. The clipper ships such as Priscilla and Verulam of the White Cross Line, built for speed, could do the trip in under two months. Priscilla set a record from Natal to England in November 1863 - 52 days – but that was exceptional.

William Ackers carried 64 emigrants, including Henry Dongworth or Dougworth, one of the Redhill reformatory boys mentioned in a series of posts on this blog.

The 1861 voyage was a once-off visit to Natal by the William Ackers.