R. N. Foster

Good Hope R. N. Foster

THE DIARY OF JAMES OLIVER HEYMER NOVEMBER 1885 - FEBRUARY 1886. A JOURNEY FROM LONDON, ENGLAND TO SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES ON BOARD THE "WINDSOR CASTLE" IN 1885/6. During the 19th Century thousands left Britain for a new life on the other side of the world, spending months traversing the oceans through all varieties of weather. What was it like to be cooped up with complete strangers for this period of time, in surroundings little larger than two tennis courts? How did these people amuse themselves in their confined and isolated world? Answers to these questions can be found within the 88 pages of a diary kept by one such emigrant, James Oliver Heymer, as he chronicled his twelve-week-long journey from London's East India Dock to Sydney Harbour. His hand-written diary is now presented to the public for the very first time, together with a typed transcription plus investigations into the fates of his fellow travellers and some insights into the world in which they lived.