Jacob Scheef letters (6) 22 June 1885

My husband's family are very fortunate as his great grandfather, Jacob Scheef travelled on holiday to Germany from Armidale, NSW from May to September 1885. While visiting remaining members of his family he sent many letters back to Australia and kept a diary of his time away from home.

John Elder

Port Said

the 22 June 1885

Dear Wife

As I thought to get this letter away yesterday

and so concluded it I was disappointed as we only left

Ismalia about 2 o’clock on Sunday and we were the

sixth vessel in going so we did not get very far

when the vessel in front of us ran on sand and so we had to

stop till it got off again which was more than 1 hour

consequently we did only go about 10 miles on Sunday

today we will be in Port Said if we have luck as we

can only go very slowly about 4 miles an hour

We haven’t seen and passed the spot where the

accident was which was the consequence

of our delay of 6 days, There are various rumours about me

getting to Naples through the loss of time we had

the ship they say is not going to call there they are

going to take me to London and then send me from there

to Naples but I don’t believe anything of the kind

however if it should be the case I will let you know

the land is improving fast now as there is a good deal

of vegetation here and the immense lot of salt that

is laying here you can have no idea of it looks the

same as if there were a heavy fall of snow lying on the

land you see nothing but salt as far as the eye can

see miles and miles I only wish we had 1/2 an acre

of it in Puddledock.

I am always in good heart when the ship is

going however slowly. For the present I say goodbye

and hope you keep yourself well.

Yours truly and affectionate

Husband Jacob F Scheef

The following link is to a photograph taken by H Arnoux at Port Said on 19 June 1995. It's wonderful to be able to find a photograph taken at the exact time Jacob was travelling up the Suez Canal.

Jacob Scheef's voyage so far

Caroline Chisholm

I am currently in England visiting my daughter who is working in London. Naturally I decided I would have to spend some time on genealogical pursuits. The problem was where would I choose for a few day's retreat from London? In the end I decided to go to Northampton to visit the grave of Caroline Chisholm. Caroline is known as the immigrant's friend. She was a well known social reformer of her day. Why is Caroline significant to me and my family? You may recall that Caroline Chisholm was on the original $5 note in Australia. As well as her image there was a picture of a ship. That ship was the Waverley . Caroline agitated at the Home Office to reunite the wives and families of convicts with their husbands and fathers. On 22 June 1847 she wrote that she ‘had just left the Home Office and had obtained a passage per Waverley for forty-nine souls.’ SMH 9 August 1847, extract from letter 30 March 1847. My great great grandmother Matilda Agnew, her older siblings James, Joh...

My WW1 soldiers (2) - Ernest Lee Dawson

Ernest Lee Dawson (500) (1885 - 1968) This is the second post in a series of posts over the next few years to remember all the men in my extended family who enlisted in World War 1. So far I have identified 26 soldiers who enlisted between 20 August 1914 and 2 November 1918 and I feel sure I have missed some. Of the twenty six, five were killed overseas or died here in Australia. My aim is to publish these posts on the 100th anniversary of their enlistment. Ernest Lee Dawson (my great uncle) was the eldest child of William Henry Dawson and his wife Bridget Mylan. He was born in the Cooma district of NSW in 1885. On 25th August 1914, less than three weeks after the outbreak of the First World War Ernie, a farmer who lived at Old Bonalbo enlisted in the 2nd Light Horse Regiment in Lismore. Ernie had previous military experience. In 1906, he answered an advertisement to join the Shanghai Municipal Council Police Force, as a recruit. He ...

The Tree of Me

Search This Blog