ship lists from S A

[kentish kate]

Are there any crew or passenger lists for ships arriving from S.A. in the early 20th c, and does anyone know where to find them. I`m trying to find out where my grandad might have enterd the country. His name is John Mountford Van der Velde and he married my grandma in 1926in Birmingham and died aged 30 in London in 1935. Many thanks Kate.

[Sue Mackay]

I was hoping someone else was going to answer this one, as I freely admit to not knowing the answer. Plenty of sites for passenger lists FROM the UK! I would imagine he probably left from Durban or Cape Town and sailed to Southampton, and the only thing that MIGHT give a clue is the Shipping News in one of the South African papers, if you could get to Colindale, but it's a very long shot. I have been transcribing Shipping News from the South African Commercial Advertiser, but from the 1830s, but some passengers were listed on outbound as well as inbound sailings. Trouble is they didn't usually name all the steerage passengers. You could try Google searching for The Union Castle Line, which operated between Britain and South Africa from 1857 to 1977.

[Sue Mackay]

Aha! Try http://www.genealogyworld.net/ellen/shipping/index.html

[kentish kate]

Hi Sue, thanks for that. I`m off to take a look:)