19th Century Emigration to the North Americas
Ship's diet
Steerage passage ticket, 1847
This ticket was issued to, though not taken up by, Pat Quigly, his wife Catherine and their children, Pat, Bartly, Thomas and Michael, who were tenants on Sir Robert Gore Booth's Lissadell estate in County Sligo.
The ship on which they were to travel was the Yeoman of Greenock, sailing from Sligo to St Johns, New Brunswick. Provisions provided for the journey are set out as: 'Three Quarts of Water each day, and Seven Pounds of Bread, Biscuit, Flour or Oatmeal per week, one-half of which supply will consist of Bread or Biscuit.'
Twenty years later, the law declared that passengers should receive: 'To each statute Adult, 3 quarts Water daily, exclusive of what is necessary for Cooking the Articles required by the passenger Act to be issued in a Cooked State; and a weekly allowance of Provisions according to the following scale:
3.5lbs. Bread or Biscuit, not inferior in quality to Navy Biscuit, 2.5 lbs. Flour, 3 3/8 lbs. Oatmeal, 2lbs. Potatoes, 1.25 lbs. Beef, 1lb. Pork, 2ozs. Tea, 1lb. Sugar, 2ozs.Salt, .5oz.Mustard, .25oz.Pepper, 1 Gill Vinegar.
N.B. - The Passengers have only to provide Beds, Bedding, and Mess Utensils.'
