William Gravell diary, 1863-1867. (Travel Diaries and Journals)

William Gravell diary, 1863-1867.

UPenn Ms. Coll. 723

This leather-bound, ruled diary was kept from 14 July 1863 to 31 August 1867 by William Gravell during his four-year stay in London, England to escape the draft of the Civil War. Gravell traveled from Upper Darby Township, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to New York where after being swindled; he eventually boarded a cargo ship named Plymouth Rock bound for London. Gravell writes daily about his life on board the ship, including his sea sickness, storms, other passengers, amusements, rations, and his acquaintance with a sailor from Philadelphia. Shortly after celebrating his twenty-third birthday on 13 August, William arrives in London, England. He meets his Uncle Thomas, a gilder and framer, and then meets his Uncle William, a watchmaker. Uncle William provides William with "the document which made me a soldier in the U.S. service for the space of three years." William lives with his cousin Thomas, acquires a job at Causton & Sons Printers in a warehouse where he works from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. William's entries in the diary appear weekly, recording events, excursions, holidays, and family gatherings. William describes the yearly tours of the Crystal Palace at Easter time, Guy Fawkes's Day, Christmas, and Boxing Day. He records the passing of his birthdays. William describes going to lectures, museums, plays, pantomimes, recording the titles and theatres. William writes about attending service on Sundays at St. Paul's Cathedral, dinners with his extended family, and games they play, such as Whist. He writes of the walks he takes with his cousin Thomas or Mr. Jewell to Black Heath, Greenwich, and London Bridge Park. At times William becomes depressed and writes of his dislike of London weather and his search for friends. In the summer of 1866, after the death of his Uncle William, Elizabeth, William's sister arrives unexpectedly. William and his sister spend much time together during the year she is there. In May of 1867 William's parents send tickets for his and Elizabeth's passage from Liverpool to Philadelphia. The pair leave in July, arriving in Philadelphia on 31 August 1867, the last entry in the diary. There are two inscriptions on the first leaf: "Minnie presented Aug. 22nd 1878" and "Watch Jacque Roulet Locle No. 28483." Some lines regarding William's departure for London to avoid the draft have been crossed out in pencil. After the last entry the rest of the diary is blank.

Pages

Complete

p. 51

wanted to dispose of at an exorbitant rate, viz. £1 Sterling per hundred weight for the former and 3 shillings per dozen for the latter. They did not sell many at that extreme rate. During the day the sailors were busy in getting the anchors over the side of the Ship. During the day the wind has been very light; and the air is remarkably clear and we can see a great distance, and in the course of the afternoon we counted as many as twenty-two sail. The sun sets in these latitudes about eight o'clock. Our rations were once again served out today, and we expect it will be the last time. We have been on the lookout all evening for the Lighthouse on the Scilly Islands but we could not see it. This day I have attained the age of twenty-three, the first that I have spent away from home.

Friday August 14th.

I was awakened very early this morning by Mr. Coad with the joyful sound of

Last edit over 4 years ago by kishman

Complete

p. 52

"Land Ho." I immediately jumped out of bed and without taking time to dress I threw a blanket around me and ran upon deck to have a view of Old England which we had for so many long days wished to see. Mr. Coad pointed out to me what at first I took to be nothing more than a cloud lying very close to the surface of the sea but which upon gazing steadily gradually assumed the outlines of the distant land. This I was informed by Mr. Coad was Lands End the most westerly point of England. By the time I had dressed and had my breakfast, we had approached still nearer to the land and we could now see more distinctly its more prominent features, such as hills and valleys, trees, fields of grass and yellow & harvest fields. Far inland one tall hill towers above the lower hills lying along the coast; this Mr. Coad informs me is called Carn Brae and is situated in Cornwall soon after we passed Lizzards Point with

Last edit over 4 years ago by kishman

Complete

p. 53

its two Lighthouses, which we soon rounded and left in the distance. After passing Lizzards Point the land gradually receded from the view and became again very indistinct. Late in the evening we approached land again in the neighborhood of Eddystone Lighthouse but as night had not closed in and as we were 12 or 14 miles distant we could not see it. Altogether we have had a most interesting day. The Sun has shone forth bright and clear and the delightful balmy westerly wind, has carried us majestically up the green waters of the channel amidst hundreds of vessels of every description; some going in the same direction, as we are; others coming out. During the afternoon we were boarded by the crews of small boats having fish potatoes newspapers and other things for sale or exchange; so that in addition to our usually hard fare we have been able to vary it by a little fresh fish. We are this evening just rounding Start Point, a very prominent headland. the

Last edit over 4 years ago by kishman

Complete

p. 54

lighthouse upon which is shining very brightly, to warn us off the rocky shore. Had a long conversation with Dick the Sailor this evening.

Saturday Aug. 15th

During the day we have been speeding up the channel at a pretty steady rate. About ten o'clock we came in view of the Isle of Wight, but being very misty we could ^not see much of the land except the mere outlines, although not very distant. During the morning we were visited by two [Dial?] Pilots but the Captain does not intend to take a pilot until he gets further up. We kept the Isle of Wight in view for for two or three hours when we lost sight of the land altogether until this evening, when we again approached it in the neighborhood of Beechey Point to be a revolving one as it alternately flashes and disappears. We are now rounding the headland and are

Last edit over 4 years ago by kishman

Complete

p. 55

fast leaving the light in the distance. This coming about nine o'clock we were hailed by a tug-boat from London, the first we have yet seen, but their offer for towing us to London was not accepted.

Sunday Aug. 16th

About half past three this morning I was awakened out of a deep sleep by a most peculiar noise, and by a heavy tramping of feet and confused sound of voices on deck. Throwing my blankets around me I ran up to see what was up, whether we were wrecked or what was the matter. It was a cold, chilly foggy morning and as the day had not yet dawned, we could not see any great distance from the ship. I found the ship hove to that is the sails set so as to counteract each other and to bring the ship to a stand still. I found most of the passengers on deck some dressed, others like myself with only a blanket thrown around them, but all deeply interested in what was going on. I ascertained that the noise which awoke

Last edit over 4 years ago by kishman

Transcription Conventions

Multiple Languages: If there is more than one language in the document, transcribe what you can and use the <unclear>LanguageName</unclear> for the language that you do not transcribe with the name of the language. <unclear>Hebrew</unclear>
Capitalization: Maintain original
Dates: Enclose them in the date tag. <date>1896</date>
Deletions: Use Strike.
Gap: Used for a gap in the transcription such as damage to the page or a large block of space. <gap></gap>
Heading: Used for obvious headings. <head>This is a Heading.</head> This is a Heading.
Hyphenation: Preserve hyphens (including "-" characters) at the ends of lines. If a word continues on a new line, preserve the hyphen and then follow the line breaks rule by hitting return once to indicate a new line and continue transcribing the hyphenated word.
Italics: Used for italicized text. This text is italicized This text is italicized.
Line Breaks: Hit return once after each line ends. Two returns indicate a new paragraph, which is usually indentation following the preceding sentence in the original. The times at the end of each entry should get their own paragraph, since the software does not support indentation in the transcriptions.
Punctuation: Add modern periods, but don't add punctuation like commas and apostrophes.
Superscript: Used for superscript text. xls xl^s
Subscript: Used for subscript text. xls xl_s
Symbols: For apothecary and alchemical symbols, use these symbols followed by the meaning of the symbol in brackets: Rx [recipe]; ℈ [scruple]; ʒ [dram]; ʒs [half dram]; ℥ [ounce]; ℥s [half ounce]; ℔ [pound].
Strike: Used for deleted or struck through text. <strike>Morais</strike> ~~Morais~~
Unclear: Used for uncertain text. Transcriber should enter their best guess, with the option to replace individual letters with periods. <unclear>a chicin P</unclear> a chicin P
Underline: Used for underlined text. This text is underlined. This text is underlined.