The LONG Crossing of the Hannah Parr - Background Essay

Sailing ships in 1868 took an average of 51 days to get from Norway to Quebec, but when the Hannah Parr left Christiania that year, it was to be 107 days before her passengers disembarked in America. Not all that time was at sea, however, because storm damage led to an unexpected sojourn in Limerick, Ireland for repairs. They were caught in mid-Atlantic by a fierce storm, which could have destroyed the ship and all those on it. Linked to this page there are three written passenger accounts of the storm: a diary fragment by Gulbran Berge, one letter by Michel Rentz, and another by Iver Iversen Ruud. In addition, a number of stories appeared in the Limerick Chronicle while the ship was there. (See also, the chronology, link below) You will find links in the left frame that w! ill help you navigate through the different pages.

According to a Chronicle story dated May 9th, 1868 (which seems to have details from the ship's log), the ship was at latitude 54.46, longitude 26.56 on April 28th when it was overtaken by dangerous weather. On the storm's second day, a wave broke over the stern, carrying away the pilothouse and its gear. Sail was reduced to a bare minimum, but that night even the reefed sails blew out, and the ship could not be steered. It broached, and the sea broke the foremast. Finally, at about 4:00 a.m. on the 30th, the wind subsided. The crew then cleared away the wreckage, rigged what sail they could, and made for the Shannon estuary. They docked at Limerick on May 7th.

The ship, owned by Søren Parr, was built in Bordeaux in 1847. Parr acquired it in 1867, and before he named it the Hannah Parr, it had been called the Sønner av Norge. It was a three masted, full-rigged ship of about 768 tons [1] (384 Commercial lasts, Norwegian), newly reconditioned in 1867. It arrived in Quebec City July 27th with 377 passengers (269 adults, 109 children, 19 infants) on its manifest. Ole Christian Larsen was captain in 1868. Other ship's officers were Eilert Hagerup (first lieutenant) and Andreas Wettre. The Hannah Parr continued in service through at least 1875, but its only voyage with emigrants was in 1868. Parr was an ice exporter.

The passenger lists

Each Norwegian emigrant ship bound for Quebec generated two passenger lists. Norwegian police in port cities made lists (Christiania lists start in 1867.) of people leaving the country; this practice substituted for individual passports. Additionally, ship captains made manifests which were submitted to the authorities in Canada for their records and to provide the basis for the debarkation fees.

The two Hannah Parr lists disagree somewhat with each other. There are names on each that are not included on the other; name spellings and ages conflict in some instances; and the Quebec list has 22 more passenger names. The list made in Christiania [2] has more information and fewer internal problems, and an analysis of it creates a reliable picture of the passengers. (One serious internal problem in the Quebec manifest is that it reports 377 passengers in its totals but lists 400 names.)

Except for a few from the cities of Christiania and Drammen, the emigrants came from communities around Lake Mjøsa, from what now are the counties of Hedmark and Oppland. By far the greatest number came from the parish of Gausdal, in Gudbrandsdal, on the west side of the lake.

There were 96 tickets issued to 378 passengers. 34 were for passengers traveling alone; the rest were for groups, the largest of which was 13 and the smallest, 2. Median group size was 5 to 6. The oldest emigrant was 80 years; the youngest was 3 months; average age was 23 years. Of the holders of single tickets, 1 was a ten-year-old boy; only 4 of them were married; 6 were female and 28, male.

An adult traveling alone paid a fare of 12 to 15 specie dollars.[3] A child was charged half fare, and an infant traveled free. For the purpose of ticketing and landing duties, an adult was 14 or older; a child, from 2 to 13 years old; and an infant, less than 2. Most tickets were issued to groups of people, usually families. The most paid for a group ticket was 173 specie dollars, the least, 21; median group ticket cost was 53.5. The actual ticket prices were greater or less depending on how much baggage accompanied the passengers.

Fares between Norway and Canada had become much less expensive after 1849, when the British navigation laws were altered. Previously, only British ships were allowed to transport goods from British ports. With the changes in the law it was possible for Norwegian ship owners to profit from Canadian trade. Some ships came empty to Canada and hauled cargoes of grain and lumber to England, but more enterprising owners equipped their ships to carry people to Canada and earned a bonus even at the relatively low fares they charged.

The passengers

In a story in the March 1868 Skilling Magazin, "C.A." narrated a hypothetical visit to the docks where an emigrant ship prepared to embark. [4]

If a person goes for a walk on an April day down to the customs shed and the new quay, pretty soon his eye will be caught by a group of well dressed farm families--husband, wife, and child that have traveled here with their baggage, a collection of casks and cases varied beyond description. One reads, Paul Larsen, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, North Amerika; Ole Andersen, Chicago, Illinois, North Amerika; Peder Gulbrandsen, Madison, Wisconsin, North Amerika; Olivia Eriksdatter Nordeie, Iowa, Minnesota; and a multitude of other names and addresses. Here sacks of potatoes, pots, pans, pokers, skimmers, tins, sacks of bread, kegs of beer and brandy, herring casks, sewn up casings of cured meat, sweets for the children, animal feed and bedding straw lie strewn around in chaos. Everything goes on board. Two large ferries pull silently up to a wharf to haul it all away to the edge of the solid ice where it is dragged to the ship on long sleds. With the help of block and tackle rigged to the fore and mainmasts, the baggage is hoisted aboard in large loads, lowered between the cabins, and stowed away in the hold.