“Our keelmen brave, with laden keels, Go sailing down in line, And with them load the fleet at Shields, That sails from coaly Tyne” (W. &...

If your ancestors were sea-faring men then you may find they served on various types of sailing ship such as Brigs, Barques, Schooners...

Recently, my research brought me to South Africa and, in particular, to the defence of the Mission Station at Rorke’s Drift in Natal...

Wages were universally low and Agricultural Labourers and their families often flirted with poor relief, the workhouse and even theft....