Crossing the Atlantic

The Cunard ship "Cuba" was an iron built, screw driven steam ship, 338 feet long, 42 feet broad, of 27 feet depth and 2,348 tons, and was built by Tod and McGregor in Glasgow in 1864. On December 3rd she sailed from Liverpool on her maiden voyage to New York via Queenstown. It was sold in 1876 and turned into a four masted sailing ship, renamed the Earl of Beaconsfield. She ended her life wrecked near Withernsea on a trip from Calcutta to Hull.

One of the Cuba's voyages from Liverpool ended on 24th April 1872 in New York. The extract (above right) from the Passenger List for that voyage shows Samuel Gilkes, widower, four of his children and a grand-child on their way to a new life in Canada. About 355 steerage passengers travelled on Samuel's trip, with a further 70 in cabins, but I'm not sure of the full capacity.

It was a brave thing to do to start a new life at his age, but the family were not going into a total unknown. Samuel's eldest son, William Thomas, and his nephew, Thomas William, seem to have gone before him, probably by about a year. Also there was Martin Dew and a good contingent of his family from Neithrop, who arrived in Canada in 1871 in time to be included in the census. Martin Dew was the father of Samuel's grandson, Henry Martin Dew Gilkes! The child was born in the first quarter of 1870, so Martin must have gone ahead to set up a home; or Sarah forced her dad to chase him across the Atlantic. As they married and had 6 further children, it was probably the former.

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