S.S. England Calendar of Events
The dates are based on stories from, The London Times, The New York Times, History of McNab's Island, Sister Mary Clare Connolly, Henry Wenner's letter and The Healy Family Web Site. Most dates match each source but some are a day or two off. Click highlighted date to see what happened that day. Or scroll down to view the time line.
March 1866 S_ M_ T_ W_ T_ F_ S_ |__|__|__|__|1_|2_|3_| |4_|5_|6_|7_|8_|9_|10| |11|12|13|14|15|16|17| |18|19|20|21|22|23|24| |25|26|27|28|29|30|31| |
April 1866 S_ M_ T_ W_ T_ F_ S_ |1_|2_|3_|4_|5_|6_|7_| |8_|9_|10|11|12|13|14| |15|16|17|18|19|20|21| |22|23|24|25|26|27|28| |29|30|__|__|__|__|__| |
May 1866 S_ M_ T_ W_ T_ F_ S_ |__|__|1_|2_|3_|4_|5_| |6_|7_|8_|9_|10|11|12| |13|14|15|16|17|18|19| |20|21|22|23|24|25|26| |27|28|29|30|31|__|__| |
From Henry Wenner's letter "At six o'clock on the evening of the 24th of March, we arrived at Antwerp, where the agent took us to a hotel. There we partook of our evening meal and remained until two o'clock the next morning, when we went aboard ship."
From Henry Wenner's letter "At, five o'clock we embarked. All was well until noon, when we fell victims to seasickness, which lasted until we reached Hartlepool, England. This lasted from the 25th to the 27th of March, and was so bad that we couldn't eat. My sister Margaret was much more sick than I was."
From Henry Wenner's letter "On the 27th of March we left the boat and went by rail to Liverpool. We took the train at nine o'clock in the morning, and arrived at Liverpool at four in the afternoon. There we were met by an agent who took us to a hotel where we spent the night."
From History of McNab's Island "The S.S. "England" of the National Stream Navigation Co.; a well appointed ship. Left Liverpool, Eng. March 28, 1866 with over 1200 passengers on board, many more than allowed by the emigration regulations of Great Britain."
From Henry Wenner's letter "About noon of the 28th of March we boarded the large ocean going steamer. This vessel was 140 meters long and 50 feet wide, and we embarked at six o'clock in the evening."
From The London Times "She left the Mersey on the 28th of March..."
From The London Times "...and Queenstown on the 29th, and she had then over 1000 passengers, of whom 400 were Germans, on board."
From Henry Wenner's letter "... when quite a few emigrants from Ireland were taken aboard. In all there were 1300 persons on board."
From Henry Wenner's letter "On Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Sunday we encountered a terrific storm."
From Sister Mary Clare Connolly "After a storm in which the poor people were closed down without a breath of air and the contagion kept spreading..."
From History of McNab's Island "Four days after leaving Queenstown a boy was found dead alongside his mother. Cholera had broken out and as many as 15 emigrants died in 1 day."
From Henry Wenner's letter "Four days after we sailed, cholera broke out and many died of it."
From History of McNab's Island "Finding it impossible to reach her port of destination, New York, the steamer was headed for Halifax which port she made on the night of April 8. She came to quarantine and all night long the silence of the calm night was broken by the sounds made in making coffins"
From Henry Wenner's letter " We sailed until the 8th of April, when we arrived at Halifax. Here the cholera raged fiercest."
From History of McNab's Island "Next morning (Apr. 9) the yellow flag was hoisted and help signaled for. The deck was heaped with coffins. Permission having been given 4 boatloads of coffined emigrants were conveyed to the island where they were buried. The steamer was ordered to anchor at Meagher's Beach." (Pronounced "Major")
From The New York Times "She now lies below the lighthouse."
From History of McNab's Island "Next day (April 10) the old ship "Pyramus" was towed to Meagher's Beach by the Cunard steamer "Merlin." The sick were transferred to her. The healthy passengers were landed on McNab's Island. Tents were put up for them and bedding, straw, etc. supplied. Snowy, rainy weather set in. Trees were cut down and fires blazed day and night. The island looked like a military camp.... Dr. John Slayter, Health Officer of Halifax, and Drs. Garvie and Gossip together with students Frank Garvie had volunteered and gone to the island... "
From Henry Wenner's letter " Then we sailed for fifteen minutes away, and remained on the ship two days. Then we landed on an island, and the sick were transferred to a hospital ship."
From History of McNab's Island "On Monday, the 16th April three Sisters of Charity went to the Hospital ship "Pyramus" to attend the sick."
From Sister Mary Clare Connolly "Dr. Slayter, the city Health Officer, who had been on the island from the arrival of the ENGLAND came to welcome the Sisters which he did very cordially. He spoke cheerfully and told His Grace not to be uneasy about the Sisters, that he would take care of them and see them every day. He then left us. But the poor doctor never saw them after; he was stricken with cholera that evening and died before morning."
From History of McNab's Island " Tuesday, April 17, Dr. Slayter died on the island after an illness of only 6 hours."
From History of McNab's Island " The healthy passengers were taken on board the "England" and as the yellow flag was hauled down three heartfelt cheers were given. On Wednesday 18th at 7 o'clock the England sailed for New York..."
From Henry Wenner's letter " On the 18th after the ship had been cleaned we were again taken aboard and embarked for New York..."
From The New York Times "Steamship England, GRACE, 24 days from Liverpool, via Halifax, arrived here this morning. Crew, 122; cabin passengers, 16; steerage, 1,202. Died on the passing to Halifax, 50; at Halifax, 150. Last night an infant died of whooping cough. Passengers and crew all well. Vessel quarantined in Lower Bay."
From Henry Wenner's letter "...embarked for New York, where we arrived on April 21.
From The New York Times "The steerage passengers of the steamship England having been seventeen days in quarantine, and being free from disease, were permitted to come up to the City last evening."
From The Healy Family Web Site "Dr. Swinburne, a NY health official, reports that all on board the England are healthy, but still in quarantine"
From Henry Wenner's letter "We are still on the ship and ardently hope to leave it soon. The food is better and the sickness has abated, for from the 21st of April until the 8th of May we had only four deaths, three children and one woman."
The ships manifest is dated this day.
S.S. England Custom Passenger List National Archives Film M237 #265
From The Healy Family Web Site "The Louisa Moore leaves Halifax with the remaining passengers from the England"
From The Healy Family Web Site "The Louisa Moore arrives in New York"
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