An interesting point to note when searching the Passenger Lists is that they were usually filled in a day or two before the actual departure date, based on ticket sales, and kept at the offices of the shipping company before being sent on to the Board of Trade.
An illustration of this may be found in the new decade of the Passenger Lists; specifically the list for the Bendigo on 13 October 1927. Passengers detailed on this list can also be found on the Balranald, which sailed on 31 October 1927: seemingly impossible as both ships were bound for Australia.
The explanation is, in fact, a simple one. The Bendigo didn’t sail as scheduled and its passengers were transferred to the Balranald, presumably the company’s next available ship for Australia.
The passengers transferred therefore appear on both lists, accompanied on the Balranald by anyone who bought a ticket after 13 October.
Whilst we don’t know why the Bendigo didn’t sail on 13 October, it could have been for any number of reasons such as mechanical failure, inclement weather or even industrial action (it was a coal strike in 1912 which caused many passengers to be bumped off cancelled sailings and to be re-booked on to the fateful voyage of the Titanic). What we do know is that the Bendigo did sail to Australia on 23 November 1927, as can be seen on our ship search screen:
One of the passengers who sailed on the Balranald is of interest, in that she is a Hilda Margaret Eavis of Worthy Farm.
Perhaps she had foreseen that her relative, Michael, would found the Glastonbury Festival on the site and wanted to avoid the crowds, or maybe she had grown tired of all the mud…
ancestorsonboard 