The Emigrant Journal of Stead Ellis aboard EUTERPE

Stead Ellis emigrated from England to New Zealand aboard EUTERPE (STAR OF INDIA) in 1879.

Name: Karl Richter

Boarding EUTERPE

August 1st 1879.



Paid Hotel bill at Watsons, St. Paul’s Church Yard London and went by the Underground Railway to Kings Cross to meet Lizzie & the children; the train arrived only a few minutes late and in a very short time I had all my belongings together. The cart which I had engaged to take our Luggage to Poplar was 20 minutes late and the lad in charge of it only just saved his job for I had just send a Porter to fetch a Railway Cart who met the lad coming just as he was going out of the Station. We then loaded the cart with all our large trunks and boxes and also all Leakes and Beecrofts things. Beecroft (an ex Policeman from Batley) Harold, Claude, Percy with Uncle Arthur & Harrison went upon the luggage right away to the East India Docks, direct; while Lizzie, Guy, Oscar, baby & myself went to No 2 Liverpool Cl: to have a cup of tea &c, Leake and family also going there (Beecrofts wife and Mrs Cotton of Batley were staying there and it was on their representation & partly at their request we went there) We found no one in the house but an old general waiter and a slavey and nothing had been prepared for us - however they buckled to and in some fashion got us a cup of tea and bread & butter ready, and Mrs Cotton (who appeared to be half seas over) brought us in a paper of Shrimps, and Uncle Charlie, who with his good wife had gone with me from the Hotel to meet my family at the Station, also turned out to buy something, but there was a dearth in the land and he was obliged to return with nothing better than a second edition of Mrs C’s paper of shrimps, after, in this rough and ready fashion replenishing the inner man, we set out for the Underground Ry at Kings X and took train for Aldgate, near which station we could get tram-car right to the Dock Gates; the tram proved to be crowded and Guy began to complain saying “I want to go home” my wife told him that he had no home but this poor Guy did not understand. An old man of ebony countenance and who was evidently a Native of “Africs Sunny Clime” talked quite kindly to him and told him it was quite bad enough for an old man like himself to be without home, but that it was something dreadful for such to be the case with a little fellow like him. Guy did not like his looks, though he was a good looking & gentlemanlike old fellow, so I had to comfort him myself and told him we should soon be on a big ship & that would be his home and he was soon pacified. Getting out at Aldgate my old woman looked round to see we had got all our youngsters & parcels &c and found I had left my old drab overcoat behind me, so Uncle Charlie kindly volunteered to go back & get it for me. We then walked a short distance up Aldgate & finding the Car waiting we were soon on our way to the Docks. I had begun to be rather anxious as I had no definite information as to the time the ship would leave the Dock, but we found her then all right, and all our fellow passengers and their friends getting their luggage aboard. I got Lizzie & Aunty Sarah & the little ones on board at once and having fixed them safely over the stairway to our cabin I left them to look out for the luggage which had been sent from Batley before and also for the boys with the luggage cart. Old Mr Duff was very anxiously looking out for me as I had his ticket in my possession (I had lent him £20 at 10% on a promissory note signed by himself and his son, who is just loose from his apprenticeship as Civil Engineer & Surveyor, in fact he has brought up his family over respectably making his children Ladies & Gentlemen & finding himself at 56 without a pound in the world) I gave him his ticket and he set to work with all his old strength to get my things aboard. He had already seen my large cases safely down in the hold and I was just in time to see the Cask (the most gingerly package I had, which contained knick knacks &c) safely sent below. Harold & the party with cart now turned up and for a good half hour we were as busy as bees. I found that all the packages in the cart had been counted by the Dock officers & booked to me, and as the stuff belonged to 4 or 5 people I would not pay up, as I should have had to collect the shares from the others if I had done so. We therefore had all the packages taken out of the cart and placed on heaps each owner having a separate heap. As I had been told that no dues were charged on small parcels carried in the hand, I set to work and had old Duff, Harold, Claude, Harrison and Joss = running with parcel to Lizzie on the ship. The result was that when the lumps were counted up we had something like 12 or 15 parcels too few & nobody knew where they were. The collector was bound to collect for the number of parcels on his paper, so that he gave each a few more than we appeared to have but charged a penny a parcel less. I know I saved about 1/6 by the arrangement. I had also 11/- to pay for dock charges on the large packing cases. The scene on board was about as busy as one can well imagine. We could not get into our cabin for a couple of hours after we got on board as the companion ladder was up and the floor of our Dining Room opened to permit of the passengers luggage “wanted on the voyage” being got down into the hold below us. The same was the case with the main hatchway so that most of the passengers with their friends and a great quantity of luggage cumbered the decks and what with the seamen working at the ropes, people coming & going & one thing & another, it was a perfect pandemonium. However all things come to an end in time & so it was with all the hurry & bustle of our embarkation, things after a while got quietly settled down and though we could not readily find anything we wanted, still we did somehow manage to find sufficient to make ourselves pretty comfortable. Uncle Reuben came while things were at their busiest and he and Uncle Arthur & Harrison stayed on board until quite late, going away with a promise to meet us at Gravesend to bid Goodbye on the following morning. We have a pretty roomy berth which contains two bunks each 6 ft 6 ins; by 3 ft 6 ins wide, the biggest I believe on the ship, special large mattresses having to be ordered for them. We also got a small bunk fixed in which to put baby during the day so as not to upset the beds - it is also useful to contain considerable number of miscellaneous articles as reading books, rugs, the few tools most wanted, corkskrew &c. On the top bunk we fix Claude & Guy at one end and Percy & Oscar at the other end, feet towards feet as we should call it at home, fore & aft they seem to call it here. While my wife & I with baby occupy the low bunk. Harold is in the next Cabin with 3 other young gentlemen & very nice lot they seem to be. Got to bed at I do not know what hour, but after tea which was served very late, we went on deck until the ship had been towed out of Dock, and to us landsmen this was a very interesting sight.