Maid of Gold is about a voyage that my great-great-grandparents took in the early 1850s. They travelled by sailing ship from New York to Australia and then back again. One of the most useful books for my research was Along the Clipper Way by Francis Chichester published in 1966. It is a collection of stories from various writers about their adventures on the sea, especially in the southern latitudes where these ships travelled.
I learned, first of all, that the fastest way to get to Australia from New York in the 1850s was to go east around the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, taking advantage of the Roaring Forties. These are westerly winds that circle the globe in the southern hemisphere. Then, to return from Australia to New York, the fastest route was to follow the Roaring Forties again and travel around Cape Horn at the tip of South America. This makes my ancestors’ voyage a circumnavigation of the earth.
Such a circumnavigation also gives shape and form to my novel, which is divided into five parts: Quebec City before departure; the trip from Quebec to Melbourne, Australia; life in Australia; Jane’s trip back from Australia to Quebec; and finally, the last part which is divided between Jane’s time in Quebec and James’ voyage back from Australia.
Many of the stories that take place on board ship in my novel come from Francis Chichester’s now out-of-print book. For James’ return trip aboard a clipper ship, I also relied on The Champion of the Seas Times, a weekly newspaper that was published on board the clipper ship Champion of the Seas from 14th July 1855 to 26th September 1855. This I found on line at the National Library of Australia.
James’ voyage on a clipper ship is entirely fictional. I could not find in the online records any indication of how (or when) he made his way back home again. But my character James was enamoured of the clipper ships that broke speed records on the way to bring tea from China, so I thought it would be fitting to allow him the joy of such a voyage.
The cover of my novel Maid of Gold is a stylized reproduction of a picture that I found online of the ship Alexander Von Humboldt from 1851.
This was the ship that Jane took from Melbourne to New York. I found her name in the passenger list, a copy of which is included in the novel. It is marked “Mrs. Houghton, wife.” There is no mention of her husband on this list.
The ship that James and Jane both travelled on from New York to Port Phillip, Australia was the Oneco. A full list of the passengers is available online. James Houghton is listed as a waiter among the crew, and Jane’s name (Anne Jane Inglis) is found near the bottom of the list, presumably among the steerage passengers.
I am sure that my ancestors’ voyage did not happen as I have portrayed it, but since they did not leave a record of their trip, I have had to rely on the records that others have made over the years. To do this has been both a learning experience and a labour of love.
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