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Archiver > NEW-ZEALAND > 2004-11 > 1099346657


From: Cathy Dowie <>
Subject: Re: [NZ] Sailing Accomodation - Aft Fore & Stg
Date: Tue, 02 Nov 2004 11:04:17 +1300
In-Reply-To: <00a401c4bfcc$a955e9b0$f7c1adcb@oemvsw4ecxi8ft>


Hi Elizabeth,
Immigrants who came by steerage, below decks, were arranged as follows:
Single men were accommodated forward, married couples with young children
were in the centre of the ship, and single women were aft.

The space given to each family was tiny - six ft by 3 and a half wide. This
also included everything they needed about them for the voyage.
I hope this helps.





On 11/1/04 5:28 PM, "Murray Reid" <> wrote:

> Elizabeth.
> The replies I have seen have not done justice to your query. To simply say
> aft is at the back and fore at the front is meaningless as far as standards
> of accomodation are concerned.
> On sailing ships and early steamers all of the services
> (galley/saloon/wardroom etc) were aft. To have your accomodation there was
> to be near all of the services. Thats where the Master and Officers lived.
> The crew lived forward. A passenger with a fore berth could only access the
> saloon etc by traversing the length of the ship, on deck. Not much fun at
> night in a gale in the roaring forties! It was also pertinent that the ride
> on any vessel is best aft. The bow (front of the ship) hits the big waves
> first so it was a much more violent ride there and certainly likely to be
> wet as well.
> Murray
> Howick.
>

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