W. N. Bickham notebook comprising two accounts titled 'Journal of a voyage from Sydney, New South Wales, to England by the Overland Postal Route', 1857 and 'Diary of a journey from London to Shanghai by the Overland Route', 1860

MLMSS 8684

fonds

1857-1860

993152

0.01 metres of textual material (1 folder)

William Napier Bickham was born in Manchester, England in about 1833 to William and Mary Bickham. Bickham left London for Sydney in 1856 on the Centurion, which he describes as a business trip. He returned to Manchester in 1857. In February 1860 he left London for Shanghai, a journey taken during the Second Opium War (1856-1860). He was a silk inspector in China and died in October 1862 and is buried in Nagasaki.

References:
Compiled from the collection
Find my past database: http://www.findmypast.co.uk (accessed 31 August, 2012)
Nagasaki Foreign Settlement: http://www.nfs.nias.ac.jp (accessed 31 August, 2012)
Blackburn Standard via 19th Century British Library Newspapers Gale Cengage Database

This volume consists of two accounts of voyages undertaken by W. N. Bickham.

Journal of a voyage from Sydney, New South Wales, to England, by the Overland Postal Route, on the ship European, pages 1-60, 19 June 1857-29 August 1857

Bickham mentions that he has travelled to Melbourne where he meets acquantances from Moss Side and Manchester. He finds a friend at the Philharmonic Society where Eligah [sic] is 'being performed for the first time in Australia'. Describes the rough voyage from Melbourne and the welcome landfall at King George's Sound, (Albany), Western Australia where he goes ashore and describes in some detail the Aborigines whom he visits. Describes his stops at Ceylon, Aden, Suez, Malta and Paris. He arrives in Manchester in August 1857

Diary of a journey from London to Shanghai by the Overland Route on the ships Panther and Cadiz, pages 61-[102], 24 February 1860 - 11 April 1860.

This diary records Bickham's travels from Marseilles on the Panther with Admiral Charmer the French Commander-in-chief of the French expedition being on the same boat. He describes various stops including Caior and Suez. On arrival at Ceylon he transfers with Chinese passengers to the Cadiz, which is carrying opium and other cargo. He describes Singapore in some detail and mentions that General Sir John Mitchell is also a passenger, going out to command the British Expedition to the Peiho. The diary finishes as the ship nears Hong Kong, 11 April 1860.

Copyright status:: In copyright
Research & study copies allowed: Author has been deceased for more than 50 years
Rights and Restrictions Information:: No publication without prior written approval of copyright holder
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and courtesy copyright holder