Transatlantic Migration 1858-1870 - The Shipping Companies

There were a significant number of shipping companies offering passage to the United Kingdom in the 1850s and 60s. These included:

• Anchor Line
• Atlantic Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company: New York to Galway
• British & North American R. M. Steamships
• Glasgow and New York Steamship Company
• Hamburg-American Line
• Liverpool, New York & Philadelphia Steamship Company (Inman Line)
• London Line of Packets
• Montreal Ocean Steamship Company
• New York & Liverpool Packet-Dramatic Line
• North German Lloyd Line
• US Mail Steamer - Southampton & Havre
• Vanderbilt European Line - Southampton & Havre

An example of the type of ships making the ocean crossing was the SS City of Manchester. She was built by the Glasgow shipbuilders, Tod & McGregor. She had a tonnage of 2,109, dimensions of 265 ft x 37 ft, engines of 400 h.p. and four masts instead of three. It is estimated that she could accommodate 52 1st Class passengers, 58 2nd Class passengers and approximately 400 steerage passengers.

These passenger lines all advertised in the newspapers listing their ships, sailing dates and fares. It is somewhat surprising that these shipping lines kept schedules and plied the seas almost as regularly as the modern day airlines. Most of the steamships kept to a fairly regular schedule that is, they sailed as advertised. The sailing ships or packets generally sailed several days after their advertised sailing date, usually delaying the sailing date to insure they had sufficient cargo as ballast to make the trip profitable and safe.

If one were contemplating a voyage to the United Kingdom or Europe, there was a bit of shopping required, not only for the type of ship and amenities offered, but also the price. The price to Glasgow, Liverpool or London varied between $80 to $100 for 1st Class, $60 to $75 for 2nd Class and $30 to $40 for Steerage. The sailing ships or packets had a flat rate of $75 with no advertised rate for 1st, 2nd or 3rd Class.

The steamships going to the continent via Southampton usually charged $100 for 1st Class, $60 for 2nd Class and $35 for Steerage ($10 in 1860 roughly equates to $150 today).