At
the beginning of the 19th century Liverpool
was the main port used by those wanting to travel to the United States.
As well as English immigrants, virtually all those from Ireland
sailed from this port. So also did large numbers from Germany,
Sweden and Norway.
It is estimated that around a half of all Europe's emigrants went
via Liverpool. In 1830 an estimated 15,000 emigrants went from Liverpool.
This increased to over 50,000 in 1842.
By the middle of the 19th century an average of 200,000 emigrants
a year were leaving from Liverpool.
This was more than half of all emigrants to America. However, as the
century progressed, German ports such as Bremen and Hamburg became
more important, as they were geographically better placed to cater
for the growing number of emigrants from central and eastern Europe.
The beginning of the 20th century saw a surge in the number of people
wishing to leave Europe. Italy was now
the main source of emigrants wishing to go to America. In 1907, a
record 1,285,000 people arrived in the United States. Just under 60
per cent of these people came from just four ports. Naples in Italy
led with 240,000 (Italians, Greeks and Turks). Bremen in Germany came
next with 203,000 (Germans, Poles, Czechs and Hungarians). Liverpool
was in third place with 177,000 (British, Irish) and Hamburg fourth
with 142,000 (Germans, Russians, Scandinavians).
Emigrants leaving Liverpool
in 1850
(1) A journalist from the The
Illustrated London News describing a group of immigrants at
Liverpool
waiting to be taken to Boston (21st December,
1850)
Here are women with swollen eyes,
who have just parted with near and dear ones, perhaps never to meet
again, and mothers seeking to hush their wailing babes. In one place
sits an aged woman listless and sad, scarcely conscious of the bustle
and confusion around her. The voyage across the Atlantic is another
dreary chapter in an existence made up of periods of strife with hard
adversities.
(2)
The Morning Chronicle reported
the start of the maiden voyage of Star of the West from Liverpool
to New York in 1850. Of the 385 passengers,
360 of them came from Ireland (15th
July, 1850).
Many had
to toss their luggage on board from the quay, and to clamber on board
by the rigging. The men contrived to jump on board with comparative
ease; but by belated women, of whom there were nearly a score, the
feat was not accomplished without much screaming and hesitation. Here
and there a woman becoming entangled, her drapery sadly discomposed,
and her legs still more sadly exposed to the loiterers on shore, might
be heard imploring aid from the sailors or passengers above. Many
a package missed its mark and fell into the dock, where it was rescued
and handled up by a man in a small boat who followed in the wake of
the mighty ship. When at last the ship cleared the gate and floated
right out into the Mersey the spectators on shore took off their hats
and cheered lustily, and the cheer was repeated by the whole body
of emigrants on deck, who raised a shout that must have been heard
at the distance of a mile in the noisy and busy thoroughfares of Liverpool.
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