Hello John and all,
Recently I was amazed to find a Diary by Keturah Davies on the Schah
Jehan in 1860 on John Ball's website.
My Great grandparents, Joseph Elijah and Amelia Williams, both aged 27
years and children, Thomas aged 5 years and Amelia, aged 3 years,
from Cwmyoy in Monmouthshire, travelled on this same ship. 318
persons embarked and 322 persons arrived at Port Adelaide, South
Australia on 2 December 1860. They stayed there until 1869 and then
moved to St Marys, near Penrith NSW and died there in 1903 and 1913.
Desalinating seawater for domestic use was on trial on this voyage as
per the South Australia Register Newspaper of 3 DEC 1860.
"The condensing apparatus, known as Dr Normanby's Patent, was fitted
on board the vessel prior to her departure, and throughout the voyage
its merits have been fully tested as an excellent means of economising
the space occupied by the.......stock of water for such a number of
souls. Its use, however is open to some objections, especially when
it is placed in the hands of a person unacquainted with the mode of
operation. In the present case a little exercise of judgement and
observation perfected its custodian in its various mechanical
contrivances, and with the greatest facility 400 gallons of water
could be produced in less than a day with the expenditure of 8 cwt of
coal".
Thank you John and also thank you for publishing all those numerous
pictures of Welsh churches and places.
Lyn Brown in Griffifth NSW