The Transmigration Hull - Liverpool

By Liv Marit Haakenstad, Hamar, Norway www.genit.no

In April 2004 I had a long 12 day trip to UK. The main purpose of the trip was; “What kind of information could we find in UK about the Emigrants“? I will try to give you some answers in this article.

My trip started at Hamar, and I went by plane to Manchester and from there to Liverpool by bus. The Transmigrants went by boat from the coast of Norway to Hull and from Hull to Liverpool by train. After three days in Liverpool, I went by train to York, and stayed there for some days. Hull is just an hour away by train, so I spent one day in Hull, doing research. The last days of my trip I stayed in London, to visit the Public Record Office (PRO)

Kingston upon Hull

The transmigration through Hull and Liverpool was in use from 1836. Norwegians started their main emigration through Hull from the 1860´s, and ended it about 1913, when Den Norske Amerikalinjen (The Norwegian American Line, NAL) started sailing emigrants directly from Norway to America. Usually the trip went from Christiania through Kristiansand to Hull. The length of this first part of the journey depended upon the period of sailing, what kind of ship it was (sailing ship or steamship), and the weather. Usually it took 2-4 days to arrive in Hull from Norway. The emigrants usually travelled on steerage class. It was not comfortable, just the minimum of what they needed to travel. Food, water, bed and a bucket as a toilet was all they got in the beginning. From about 1900 third class cabins for between two and six people began to replace steerage.

There was a medical inspection on board the ship when arriving in Hull, often a very brief one. You can find examples of how they treated unhealthy people at www.movinghere.org.uk, and search for “Hull and Goole Port Sanitary Authority minutes of proceedings”, but there are no names there. It will tell you what kind of decease they had, how old they where, their position and how the doctor solved the problem. Illnesses could be Diphtheria, Scarlet fever, Measles, Typhoid fever, Cholera or Small pox.

The Wilson Line

The founder of The Wilson line was Thomas Wilson (1792-1869). The Emigration became an important part of this business, because they had the best opportunities at that time to transport the emigrants from the coast of Norway and Sweden to Hull in UK. They had the money, the ships and the experience of sailing here. The Thomas (Thos.) Wilson, Sons & Co (TWSC, 1841) became later Ellerman´s Wilson Line (EWL, 1906). Finding a Wilson Line ship was easy when the ship names often ended with an o, like Hero, Angelo and Rollo.

The Wilson Line also had contracts with the railway companies about transport of the emigrants from the east to the west coast of UK, Liverpool. At the same time as the Wilson Line transported emigrants, they arranged holiday trips to Norway for the rich peole in Britain. There are no passenger lists from these transportations. If they ever existed they were probably destroyed during World War II, but most likely never existed.

The Pilkington & Wilson Line was another company, founded by Messrs. John Pilkington and Henry Threlfall Wilson about 1850 and later known as the White Star Line (Titanic´s line).

The Wilson Lines head office on Commercial Road, Hull. This was located next to the Railway Dock in Hull and the world-wide operations of the Wilson Line was managed by the Wilson Line from here. [Photograph copyright of the Liv Marit Haakenstad Collection, © 2004]

Archives of Hull

There are not many papers of interest back in Hull. The Germans bombed a lot of places in UK during World War II, including Hull and Liverpool. Hull City Archive and University of Hull have some documents left on emigration, but no names.

The railway

The train from Hull to Liverpool was a day’s journey. Because of the travelling time, they decided to build a waiting room close to the Paragon Railway Station at Anlaby Road, Hull in 1871. This was expanded in 1881. At this place, the emigrants could rest; it had toilets etc., and after the expansion in 1881, separate rooms for male and female. Today it is called the Tiger’s Lair.

From Hull to Leeds they travelled on the same railway as today. North Eastern Railway Co (NER) and other companies had contracts with Wilson Line. NER became later London & North Eastern Railway Co. and later the British Transport Commission. It was not very comfortable on the railway – 10 adult people sitting in a small railroad car, no places to move, no toilet and they had to bring whole food for the day.

Liverpool and Merseyside Maritime Museum

The Merseyside Maritime Museum is located at Albert Dock in Liverpool. In the same area you can also find a museum about The Beatles, nice places to eat and some souvenirs shops. The Merseyside Maritime Museum has several exhibitions, like The Transatlantic Slavery, The Titanic Disaster and Emigrants to a New World.

Emigrants to a New World

This exhibition tells the story about the emigrants and their journey. It brings you 150 years back in time, and you can really feel how it was to be an emigrant at that time. Over nine million emigrants sailed from Liverpool between 1830 and 1930. The main reasons for emigrating were poverty, persecution and ambition. Most of the emigrants spend some time in Liverpool, waiting for the ship to sail. It could take one to ten days before they could go on board the ship, for sailing. Before that, they had to spend their time in a lodging-house.

A reconstruction of The Waterloo Road in Liverpool as it was in 1854 at The Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool. In the end of the road you will find a doctor´s office where he examined the emigrants before they travelled. The walls have posters encouraging people to emigrate. On the right is also a sign for Pilkington & Wilson Line. [Photograph copyright of the Liv Marit Haakenstad Collection, © 2004]

A passport or forms of application was not necessary for travelling from UK. It was only necessary if you got financial assistance from or via the government. Records of passengers are scattered or have completely disappeared.

A reconstruction of the sailing ship Shackamaxon, build 1851 in Philadelphia, USA. This shows how it was to be a steerage passenger for a family during the voyage from Liverpool to New York in July 1854. It was at that time operated by Pilkington & Wilson Line (later White Star Line). It could take about 4-500 passengers, and in the reconstructed area it holds 56 people. The picture shows the beds on right hand side and the luggage storage area at the left hand side. [Photograph copyright of the Liv Marit Haakenstad Collection, © 2004]

Did anybody stay in England?

Some people decided to remain in England. Reasons for staying could be missionary, work, illness or they helped to develop the Jewish communities in Manchester and Leeds. Some missionaries from special Christian groups recruited people when they came into Hull, but we don’t know if that happened to Norwegians. These were churches like Seaman Church and Missions from Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Some Lines also played tricks with the emigrants (many of them were illiterate), and they could tell an emigrant the ship had sailed, and that they had to buy a new ticket, even if the ship hadn’t sailed yet. Several of the Lines also owned the lodging-houses, and they therefore could earn money in two ways – selling a new ticket and more days that the emigrants had to spend in the lodging-houses. If the emigrants couldn’t afford this, they would stay in Liverpool.

There is a Scandinavian Church in Liverpool called Gustaf Adolfs Kyrka. They may have some records. It is also possible to find records from the UK Census. The Census was taken in 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901. The 1881 census is available at www.familysearch.com. The 1901 census is available from www.1901census.nationalarchives.gov.uk. You can also see what sources are available at PRO by go to www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/default.asp and search for naturalisation AND Norway.

It is also possible to search for people in several Births, Marriages and Death records on the internet, known as bmd in UK. For the Liverpool area you could try www.lancashirebmd.org.uk (1875-1935). You can also try this site www.ukbmd.org.uk. Liverpool is in Lancashire County, and Hull in Yorkshire County. You will also find a link to the Censuses from here.

The Liverpool & S. W. Lancashire Family History Society

Local Family History Societies like the one in Liverpool could be very useful to visit. You could visit them online at www.liverpool-genealogy.org.uk, or make an appointment with them if you are visiting Liverpool. Some days people are avalible at the enquiry desk to help you. They know the area and the history.

The National Archives, London

The National Archives or Public Record Office (PRO) in London have a few records on emigration. There are some passenger lists from 1890 that have survived. You can find them at BT 27 Passenger Lists, Outward 1890-1960. You will also find Immigrants to UK at BT 26 Passenger Lists, Inwards, 1877-1888 and 1890-1960. You can also search for information in birth, death or marriage at sea. The Series are BT 153 to BT 160, and BT 334.

Conclusion

If you are searching for a family who emigrated, and you want to know what it was like to emigrate, you should definitely visit Liverpool and the Merseyside Maritime Museum and the exhibitions there. At the Port of Liverpool where the emigrants left UK, there is nothing left. Everything was bombed during the World War II. Even the Missionary House of the Church of Jesusu Christ of Latter-day Saints in Islington has gone too.

You can also use the Archive at the Merseyside Maritime Museum, and find more information about how they travelled. This Archive is based on donations, so you will find some diaries there and a few books with published passenger lists. There are not many names avalible in this archive. You can go through the archive and get an idea of what you can find and where.

If you are searching for your relatives, you should visit the Liverpool Library and Local Record Office and the Family History Helpdesk. You could also contact the Liverpool & South West Lancashire Family History Society.

So, if you want to visit UK, fly to Manchester, take a bus from the airport to Liverpool and take a look there first. Take the train from Liverpool to Hull. The railroad is mostly the same as it was in those days. It will give you a feeling of what it was like to emigrate. It is the same view and the same farms and fields in a beautiful landscape, as it was in those days. UK can give you the feeling, but not the people.

Thanks to Dave Brown at the Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool, the Hull City Archive by Paul Leaver and Martin Taylor and to Veronica Oldham and Kathy Donaldson at Liverpool Family History Society, Information Desk

Sources:

Speech about transmigration:

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