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[TSL] Ship Off Course (Or Not?)
"Graeme Owen" <graemeo@netspace.net.au> on 03/01/2010

Hello All,

Here's a query for the experts who know about such things.

A month or so back I found the ship that my ancestors came to Australia on
back in 1857. It was 'Invincible' of The Black Ball Line out of Liverpool.

I established through other means that my 'great great grandmother' gave
birth to a baby during the voyage. The "Born At Sea' Birth Certificate
detailed the date of birth and the co-ordinates as being 9'8 S and 32'29 W.
So I 'fired up' Google Earth to see exactly where it was and was staggered
to find that the given co-ordinates were not far off the coast of Brazil. I
thought they must have been wrong or I was not reading them correctly and
left it at that.

I then was fortunate to find (at the National Library Of Australia) a diary
written by a female passenger on the Invincible on that exact voyage.
Unfortunately the passenger who wrote the diary was travelling in 'Cabin
Class' and not 'Steerage' so it was not really reflective of my ancestors
journey, but a fascinating and eye opening read just the same. However in
the journal she made mention of an island group which they travelled close
to . . . "we were within 20 miles of an island called Terando Noronba, off
the coast of South America, the northern portion of which is exactly the
shape of a church with a very high steeple" . .  Back to Google Earth I went
to find this island,  and found (slightly different spelling) 'Fernando de
Noronha' just a small distance due north of where the birth apparently took
place, (and within 'spitting distance' of Brazil!)

My (very long winded) query is . .  "What In The Bloody Hell Were They Doing
Off The Coast Of South America When They Were Sailing From England To
Australia??"

I'm sure there's a logical explanation but it's got me beat! Anybody got any
thoughts?
By the way there was a small mention in her diary about a birth on board in
Steerage.

Cheers

Graeme
Melbourne, Australia

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