Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1729-1977 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
8pp
Context area
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Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Copy of an article, 'Diary of Col. Charles Clinton During His Passage from Ireland to America, May 9th-October 4th, 1729’ published inBreifne (1977-1978), pp. 256-257. The article is a transcript of Clinton’s emigration voyage diary.
Col. Charles Clinton, an Anglo-Irish soldier from County Longford who established the Clinton political dynasty in America, documented his intended voyage to Pennsylvania. In May 1729, Charles, his wife Elizabeth, with two daughters and one son, chartered a ship from Dublin called the George and Anne and sailed for Philadelphia with a group of neighbours and friends from County Longford intending to settle in Pennsylvania. According to his papers, he paid for ninety-four of the passengers. The captain of the ship intentionally starved the passengers, possibly as a way to steal their belongings. Ninety-six of the passengers died, including Clinton's son and a daughter. In October 1729, they arrived at Cape Cod, and after paying a large ransom for their lives, the survivors were allowed to disembark.