Item HT 4746 Passenger Contract Ticket - Issued to Elizabeth & Edward Pratt, 'Netherby', Black Ball Line, Steerage, London, 1862

Summary

Passenger contract ticket for Elizabeth Pratt (aged 44) and her son Edward (aged 15) for steerage passage from London to Melbourne on the Black Ball Line clipper ship 'Netherby', departing 25 April 1862. The cost of the ticket was £28 paid in full. Printed by Rees & Roberts, 'Lombard Press' 38, Gracechurch Street, City. The ship arrived in Melbourne on 3 August 1862.

The 'Netherby' was a wooden-hulled, square-rigged 3-masted clipper ship built at Sunderland, United Kingdom, by Robert Thompson Jnr in 1858. It measured 176 feet long x 33 feet beam x 22 feet depth and was registered at 944 tons. The 'Netherby' made four voyages to Australia for the Black Ball Line between 1861 and 1866. It was wrecked on the west coast of King Island, on route to Port Phillip on 14 July 1866, fortunately with no loss of life amongst the 413 passengers and 38 crew.

Physical Description

Printed on pale blue paper with royal crest. All details completed in black ink.

Significance

This passenger contract ticket provides a rich insight in 19th century immigration from Britain to Australia, documenting a typical shipping line, clipper ship, ticket type and prices, departure and arrival points used during the sailing ship era. These types of tickets assist in representing 19th century immigration processes.