John Way (1835 – 1911) and Sarah Way née Daw (1837 – 1895) came to Australia on the Trafalgar.  They arrived in South Australia on 28 June 1854 having left Plymouth on 6 March.

They had married at Wendron, Cornwall only four days before departure.(“England Marriages, 1538–1973 ,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NFPT-9DK : accessed 06 Sep 2013), John Way and Sarah Dawe, 02 Mar 1854.)

On the shipping list John was recorded as John Nicholas Way, aged 19, a labourer from Cornwall. Sarah was aged 18.  I have not seen John recorded with a middle name in any other record, I am not sure if this is a transcription error on the part of the shipping clerk.(Passenger list – Trafalgar retrieved from http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/trafalgar1854.shtml )

THE TRAFALGAR. (1854, June 29). South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 – 1900), p. 2. Retrieved September 5, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48553168 Note that there is something slightly wrong about the figures published – the sums do not add up.

The shipping intelligence gave details of the ship – a barque of 717 tons with a number of passengers as well as government emigrants and cargo.  The voyage of the Trafalgar was not always comfortable with heavy weather experienced several times.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. (1854, June 29). South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 – 1900), p. 2. Retrieved September 5, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48553149

The ship also featured in the Immigration Agent’s Report for the month.

Immigration Agent’s Report for 30 June 1854 published in The Register. ADELAIDE: TUESDAY, JULY 25, 1854. (1854, July 25). South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 – 1900), p. 2. Retrieved September 5, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49198167

A barque is a sailing vessel with three or more masts. From the Wikipedia article I learned that the sail plan of a barque allows the ship to be crewed with fewer crew than a comparable full rigged ship. The standard definition for a barque in the nineteenth century is that “the foremasts rigged square and the aftermast rigged fore-and-aft”.  The trade-off was it was slower down wind than a fully rigged ship. (Barque. (2013, July 19). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 01:27, September 6, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barque&oldid=564904528) 

The sail plan of a barque from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sail_plan_barque.svg