A ship with two names ...

The day I discovered the passenger list below was an exciting day for me.  It was the result of many hours of searching to determine the exact date that Joshua and Elizabeth Cave McCourt arrived in Quebec from Ireland.  It provided a great deal of information that was helpful in my continuing research.

I learned from the above document that the ship they sailed on was named the SS Waldensian.  It sailed from Belfast on April 18, 1875 and arrived in Quebec on May 14, 1875  -  a 16 day trip.  The McCourt family was listed among the "steerage" passengers, or those who held the cheaper tickets and shared their cramped and public accommodations with most of the other passengers.

SS Waldensian

When I first discovered this document I thought it was strange that none of the sons were listed along with their parents and sisters.  I knew that Moses, the oldest son, had arrived in Quebec prior to 1871 but I couldn't account for the other sons.  I have since learned that the sons were the first to emigrate, in three different groups, and that once they had all arrived in Quebec, Joshua, Elizabeth and the girls all came together on the SS Waldensian.  I learned another interesting coincidence about this particular ship that I will explain below.

There were four sons in the Joshua McCourt family.  Starting with the eldest and in order of age they were Moses, David, Thomas and Joshua.  I have found the emigration records for each of these boys, except Thomas, and according to his obituary (see my previous post - Disaster on the Grand Trunk) he came to Quebec when he was 14-years-old.  Since he was born in 1851, that means he would have arrived in Quebec sometime around 1865 or 66.  However, a thorough search of passenger lists for that time period comes up empty.  I know that he arrived prior to 1872 because he married Mary Thompson in November of that year in Compton, Quebec.

There is a family story that was told to me a number of years ago by a distant cousin who lives near Montreal that could, if true, provide some answers about how Thomas arrived in Quebec.  I, myself, am cautiously skeptical of the story since there seems to be no supportive evidence to its being true, but with the lack of hard evidence to the contrary, it's a story worth sharing, if only for the entertainment value.

According to the story, the first member of the McCourt family to arrive in Quebec came as a young man who had been conscripted into the British Navy while living in Ireland.  During its tour of duty, the ship docked at Quebec City.  As it was leaving port, the young man decided to jump ship and try to swim to shore knowing that once the ship was underway, they weren't going to turn around for one "scrawny Irishman."  As he was swimming to shore, some of the soldiers on board were ordered to shoot him for desertion.  They tried but he was able to make it to shore safely.

This story could explain how Thomas arrived in Quebec at a young age - as his obituary indicates - and also why he can't be found on any passenger lists of that time period.  Conscription supposedly ended shortly after the war of 1812, many years before Thomas was born, but there may still have been some instances of forced service taking place, especially among the working class of Ireland.

The first documented arrival of a McCourt family member is that of Moses McCourt, the eldest son.  He arrived aboard the ship North American through the port of Portland, Maine.  He arrived on April 26, 1867 which is about a year after Thomas would have arrived, if indeed he was in Quebec at the age of 14.  Portland was the starting point of the Grand Trunk Railroad which ran through parts of New England and into Quebec.  Moses probably traveled by train from Portland to Sherbrooke, Quebec (170 miles) where he was living during the 1871 Canadian census.

The next to arrive from Ireland were the two brothers, David and Joshua.  They sailed from Londonderry, Ireland aboard the ship Saint Andrew and arrived in Quebec on May 10, 1872 - five years after Moses had arrived.  David is the fourth passenger in the list below and Joshua's name appears as the fifth.

As I was learning more about the ships the McCourts emigrated on, I discovered a very interesting coincidence.  The Saint Andrew, which David and Joshua sailed on, was built and launched from Glasgow, Scotland in 1861.  It made numerous voyages between Quebec and the British Isles, including the voyage in 1872 which brought David and Joshua.  Later that same year, the Saint Andrew was dry-docked and rebuilt.  New engines were added and the ship was nearly doubled in length.  It was launched again in 1873 under the name SS Waldensian - the ship that brought the rest of the McCourt family over in 1875.

 

Saint Andrew

 So by an interesting coincidence, most of the McCourt family arrived in Quebec on what was technically the same ship, three years apart and under two different names!