The Passenger Lists on ancestorsonboard.com allow you exclusive access to records which help to fill in the blanks in your family tree, to trace ancestors emigrating to start a new life and moving around for work.
Just as importantly, the Passenger Lists can also provide a fascinating insight into the way that your ancestors lived their day to day lives.
One trend, particularly in the Passenger Lists from 1890 - 1910 is the presence of domestic servants, valets and maids travelling with individuals or families.
These domestics were often noted down simply as, for example, ‘Mrs Cooper’s servant’ or tagged on to the end of a list of the family e.g. ‘and maid’.
The anonymity of the servant classes did have some benefits however.
Whilst their being noted on the Passenger Lists as simply someone’s valet or manservant doesn’t help their descendants looking for their records, they were often able to travel first class, a luxury they would never have been afforded on their own steam.
January 31, 2009 at 4:27 am |
How would I search for my great grandmother who was a servant for a family that left England in 1899. She took my Great grandfather and their children?