rest around 1910deb Hi Deb, Why don't you have a look, if you haven't already done so, at any relevant Probates-Wills - his parents, particularly, or an unmarried sibling - and see...
The Dover Castle continues to sail uneventfully on its way. Dec. 5 A duplicate of yesterday, wind mainly aft, run 197 Knots. Dec. 6 Rainy weather and less wind, considerably cooler now than it was a week since. Run 113 Knots. Dec. 7 Still rainy but more wind, sometimes going fast, in all 176 Knots. Dec. 8 Wet again but plenty of wind enabling us to average 10 1-2 Knots durung the 24 hours or 252 Knots in all which makes for the last eight days a grand total of 1576 Knots. Dec. 9 Albatrosses are seen for the first time today, also a small bird called the parson. The last is of a dark brown colour with a little white about the beak. Change in the weather, rain ceased but unfortuneatly a considerable abatement in the breeze. Dec. 10 Like yesterday, run 133 Knots. Dec. 11 Ditto. run 162 Knots. Dec. 12 Very little wind, run 74 Knots. Dec. 13 A good days work, run 196 Knots. Dec. 14 Strong fair wind all day, run 256 Knots. Dec. 15 A falling off, run 172 Knots. Dec. 16 The worst days work as yet, run only 30 Knots. Dec. 17 An improvement upon yesterday, run 105 Knots. Dec. 18 But little wind today, run74 Knots. Dec. 19 Some appearance of a coming breeze and high time too if we are to make even a moderately good pbuttage. Run137 Knots. Dec. 20 A little more wind, run 137 Knots. Dec. 21 Still more wind, run 198 Knots. Dec. 22 Better again than yesterday, run 213 Knots.
And there the journal ends, not because Joseph failed to finish it but simply because the pages have gone missing. The pages that survive were found in the bottom of an old trunk in the attic of the house Joseph bought in Tipperary, but only quite recently. It would have been interesting to learn something about how Christmas was celebrated on the Dover Castle but all we can say with certainty is that the ship docked in Melbourne on January 18, 1863 after a pbuttage of 104 days from London and 82 from Plymouth. Joseph was a partner in Youngman and McCan, Merchants and Wholesale Druggists of 125 Russell St. Melbourne and it seems he must have quickly liquidated his interests because by July 1863 he was back in Dublin with enough cash to buy a large farm. I presume there must be a Registry of Deeds in Melbourne so if any reader is a frequent visitor, I would be most interested to learn if any transactions of a Joseph McCan have been registered in the first half of 1863. The voyage seems to have been troublefree except for the first three weeks and the pbuttenger list shows many young family groups on their way to a new life. Many of the men were send, ideal settlers for Australia. I could have wished that Joseph had told us more about them but he does give us some idea of what a long sea voyage was like in the age of sail.
